Friends of Refugees

A U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program Watchdog Group

Archive for the ‘Twin Falls’ Category

Refugees struggle to find jobs in Twin Falls

Posted by Christopher Coen on August 14, 2011

Some refugees in Twins Falls, Idaho claim that College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center (CSI) is slow in helping them to find jobs. There’s also the issue of CSI placing refugees with professional credentials in manual labor jobs, according to an article in the Times-News:

Every day, while his nephews watch television and niece chats with friends online, Prithi Rai scours the classifieds.

He and his brother, Man Bahadur Rai, started looking for jobs shortly after arriving in Twin Falls from a Nepali refugee camp on May 5. Though they speak English fluently, they are having a hard time finding positions that don’t require prior experience, education or special certifications.

Man and Prithi have been on only two interviews each, both set up by the College of SouthernIdaho Refugee Center. They want more.

“We’re very concerned about jobs,”Man said…

…Though many Americans are struggling to find jobs, Ron Black, director of the CSI Refugee Center, said positions paying $7.25 to $8.25 are available here. “It’s just, are you willing to work to get the job?”…

…For many refugees from various countries, following etiquette and rules can be difficult, too. Some show up to interviews in inappropriate clothes like flip-flops, despite the refugee center’s coaching. Others clam up during interviews, even if they know English, Black said.

Once they are placed, “the biggest problem we’re having is a lot of them are not sticking with the job,”he said. Some quit after a short time because they don’t like the hours or assigned tasks. The problem is especially acute with refugees who have higher educations and have never done manual labor.

In addition to the refugee center job coordinators setting up job interviews, they also encourage refugees to look for jobs themselves.

Prithi and Man have tried, but “we do not have the knowledge of where the job openings are,”Prithi said. Man was so desperate to get a job that he put in an application at a company in Idaho Falls without realizing how far the commute would be.

The two interviews set up by the refugee center “is not enough for us,”Prithi said. He wonders: Why couldn’t the center send him on 10 or 20 interviews?… Read more here

Posted in CSI Refugee Center (Idaho), employment services, employment/jobs for refugees, Nepali Bhutanese, professionals, Twin Falls | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Refugee resettlement partners continue talking past each other

Posted by Christopher Coen on May 14, 2011

An article in the Twin Falls Times-News illustrates poor communication between refugee resettlement partners, with the refugee resettlement agency College of Southern Idaho claiming that they need $40,000 more in their budget from the Idaho Office for Refugees — for ESL and a driving program for refugees — while the Idaho Office for Refugees says this is the first they’ve about it. It seems that the federal refugee oversight agency, ORR (Office of Refugee Resettlement) in HHS, finally began requiring that ORR Wilson-Fish grant money, channeled through state governments, be earmarked for specific programs (before, loose requirements meant that resettlement agency contractors could easily shift money around with little real oversight). Due to apparent poor communication between partners, however, the College of Southern Idaho now has $40,000 earmarked for refugee employment assistance (help finding jobs) that the refugees instead need for services to help them to keep jobs — English lessons and driving instruction.

In an effort to curb overspending, the College of Southern Idaho’s refugee center has suspended its driver’s education program and temporarily cut back on English classes and transportation.

They’re not budget cuts, emphasized director Ron Black. Rather, the center is rolling back programs until it gets its spending under control. Black hopes to bring them back by July.

The refugee center gets its funding from multiple federal grants. One of them, the Wilson-Fish, provides money for eight months after refugees’ initial resettlement. The CSI refugee center receives $424,000 annually from that grant.

Previously, that money came in one sum, said Jan Reeves, director of the Boise-based Idaho Office for Refugees, allowing centers to spend it on their needs. But in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement announced new rules to Wilson-Fish funding, stipulating the money must be appropriated into contracts, or specific funds.

One of the contracts from the Idaho Office for Refugees was $40,000 for services that extend beyond the eight months that most refugees receive assistance. Refugees might need that extra help if they still haven’t found jobs, Black explained.

In Boise, where more refugees struggle to find work, that extra help is needed, Black said. But in Twin Falls, where most refugees who arrive in Twin Falls find work quickly, that money could better be used for other programs, like English classes or driver’s training.

“We have jobs, but we have to prepare our people to compete for them,” Black said.

Since the refugee driving course’s inception last year in Twin Falls, more than 100 refugees have received driver’s licenses, according to Black — more than organizers had anticipated. Between having that $40,000 from the Wilson-Fish grant earmarked and spending more than it expected on driver’s education, the refugee center has overspent by $20,000. To correct those costs, the center has reduced English-language classroom time from three to two hours daily and suspended driver’s education. Staff members are also asking refugees to carpool or find other rides to work instead of relying on the center for transportation.

Black wants to reinstate the programs as soon as possible.

“So that’s why we’re saying to Boise we need that $40,000 in our regular budget,” he said.

But Reeves said in an April 22 interview that he hadn’t heard from Twin Falls about the budget problems.

“If that were the case, I would certainly be receptive to some proposals for revision,” Reeves said. “But I have not received any from the CSI program.”… Read more here

Posted in Burma/Myanmar, employment/jobs for refugees, funding, Idaho, Nepali Bhutanese, ORR, Twin Falls | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

USCRI affiliate, CSI Refugee Center in Idaho, asks what the government can do for them

Posted by Christopher Coen on July 2, 2010

The College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center has a list of issues for what the government should do for them, and for refugees — ideas for President Obama’s NSC review of the resettlement program, here.

According to Ron Black, the manager of CSI Refugee Center, he would like:

… more focus on support services, such as transportation and programs to deal with housing evictions. He’d also like an increased emphasis on English language education, along with the creation of training programs with local businesses, such as hotels.

He’s also concerned that the NSC officials conducting the review did not ask his agency for any comments.

Changes sought by the Obama administration would have to be approved by Congress, with input from national resettlement agencies. But, Black said, local agencies such as his had no input.

“They asked some centers, like in Chicago,” Black said. “But needs in Chicago are different from ours.”

CSI Refugee Center’s national affiliate, the USCRI (U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants), however, did have a seat at the table. (I wonder what sort of relationship Mr. Black’s organization has with the USCRI if he doesn’t think any of his organization’s concerns made it to the NSC via the USCRI?  Hmm.)

Mr. Black is also skeptical about some of the volag’s reform ideas:

While local resettlement managers told the Times-News that reform is long overdue, some proposals may not improve the system, said Ron Black, manager of the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center.

One change would extend the maximum duration of federal financial aid refugees receive from eight months to 18. Some people may need more time to find work, Black said. Refugees from places such as Nepal and Burma need to learn English, learn to drive a car and adjust to cultural differences, such as hygiene and being on the clock.

But refugees who arrive with some education and knowledge of English shouldn’t need 18 months to get on their feet, Black noted.

“It can be a disincentive to work,” he said.

CSI’s Twin Falls center provides housing and helps refugees find work by providing English classes, employment counseling and job placement. The U.S. State Department requires refugee centers to place a certain percentage of refugees in jobs within five months, although Black said the department had backed off that mandate during the economic downturn.

Black said some refugees want to work, but some will drag their feet as long as they receive benefits.

Yet, refugees who are highly employable are often placed in the Matching Grant program, instead of refugee cash assistance. It’s the refugee cash assistance, as well as refugee medical assistance, that they are proposing extending from the current 8 months to 18 months. So I’m not sure where the disincentive would be for these refugees since the program encourages them – supposedly helps them – to find employment within four months. Refugees who don’t speak English could definitely well-use 18 months of help. Also, many states make refugees ineligible for refugee cash assistance who are employable and have voluntarily quit or refused to accept a bona fide offer of employment. So, if Mr. Black wants flexibility, wouldn’t he have to take that up with his state government?

Of course, this reform suggestion from the volags means the government would pay the added costs, rather than the refugee resettlement charities adding a dime. That’s how it always seems to work with their suggestions.

Posted in CSI Refugee Center (Idaho), employment/jobs for refugees, ESL & ELL, funding, Idaho, Matching Grant program, Nepali Bhutanese, NSC (National Security Council), Obama administration, reform, Twin Falls, USCRI | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

 
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