Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
The Catholic San Francisco reports about an Iraqi refugee family resettled by USCCB’s Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco that arrived in San Francisco in April. Although the minimum standards of the State Department refugee resettlement contract (see Operational Guidance: furnishings) that Catholic Charities signed requires that they give refugees basic furnishings, they apparently didn’t bother to do so for this refugee family.
The Abeds are clients of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which helped them find an apartment in Daly City and line up what little government aid was available for rent and groceries. But the young migrant family, homeless for five years, is struggling as it tries to set roots in a new land.
The funds the Abeds were given in Jordan to get established in the United States, enough for a car or some furniture, were used up on rent. The Abeds are merely subsisting, on welfare and food stamps, and do not have easy access to services in their suburban neighborhood. They have no cash to take their children to a movie at the local multiplex, let alone for furniture or a car.
…“You see no furniture, no money,” Abed said, looking over the empty apartment. here
So why did Catholic Charities San Francisco place this refugee family in a suburban area without easy access to services? No doubt because rent is astronomically high in San Francisco. But then why not have a van easily available for refugee clinets to transport them around the Daly City area? I guess its silly to ask that question if Catholic Charities won’t even abide by their contracts and give the family basic used furnishings for their apartment.
Here we have a published report of a refugee resettlement agency committing contractual fraud, yet what will be the consequences? None. The State Department’s refugee Admission’s Office believes that because the refugee resettlement program is a “public/private partnership”, that it would be non-partner-like to penalize Catholic Charities for violating its contractual responsibilities and neglecting its refugee clients.
Too bad for the refugees.
