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Matching Grant CY 2005

Calendar Year (CY) 2005 marked the 26th anniversary of the Voluntary Agency Matching Grant program. In those twenty-six years, more than 2.5 million refugees have come to this country and nearly 585,000 clients (about 22 percent of all refugees) were served through the Matching Grant program. In FY 2005, refugee arrivals continued to rebound significantly post- 9/11 lows to 53,813 refugees. With no increase in Matching Grant funding, many agencies exhausted their enrollment slots well before the end of the calendar year. ORR provided funding to the nine Voluntary Agencies (Volags) to serve 25,000 clients. Several Volags overenrolled resulting in a total of 25,447 refugees, Cuban/Haitian Entrants, asylees and victims of trafficking participating in the Matching Grant program. These 25,447 clients were served by 241 affiliate sites of the nine voluntary agencies, in 123 cities in 42 States. The program was successful in achieving self-sufficiency for 81 percent of all clients enrolled in the program. 

The Matching Grant program, funded by Congress since 1979, provides an alternative approach to State-administered resettlement assistance. The program’s goal is to help refugees attain self-sufficiency within four to six months after arrival, without access to public cash assistance. Participating agencies agree to match the ORR grant with cash and in-kind contributions; at least twenty percent of their match must be in cash. The Agency must match at least $1,000 (in either cash or in-kind contributions) for each $2,000 in Federal funds per enrollment.

The Matching Grant program is characterized by a strong emphasis on early employment and intensive services during the first six months after arrival. ORR requires participating agencies to provide maintenance (cash, food and housing) for a minimum of the first four months and intensive case management and employment services through the first six months. Additional services, such as English language training and medical assistance, may be provided in-house or arranged through referral to other programs. Refugees in the Matching Grant program may use publicly funded medical assistance.

The Matching Grant Voluntary Agencies work with ORR staff to establish goal plans to measure continuous improvement in client outcomes. Because the program emphasizes family self-sufficiency (independence from cash assistance), goal plans measure the proportion of cases that are self-sufficient at four months after arrival in the U.S. and self-sufficiency retention two months later. Clients not self-sufficient at four months may continue in the program as long as they do not access public cash assistance. Goal plans establish self-sufficiency and retention goals for individual participants as well as case totals. Goals are also established for individual refugees in terms of job placements, wages, and health benefits. A change in the reporting requirements and goal plans was initiated in 2004. Programs will be evaluated based on the agencies’ abilities to assist all Matching Grant clients to become self-sufficient by the sixth month. The funding for the program is awarded based on the relative performance of individual agencies to the performance of all agencies for the respective reporting period.   Summaries of the progress reports of the nine participating agencies follow, with all data reported covering the calendar year 2005. ¹

Church World Service (CWS) received $3,350,000 to enroll 1,675 refugees in 31 sites (22 main offices and 9 sub-offices). CWS enrolled 1,675 refugees .  The program’s services and support ultimately resulted in self-sufficiency for 88.2% of all enrolled cases and 87.5% of all enrolled individuals. The improved outcomes are due primarily to ongoing efforts to diversify employer bases and market Matching Grant clients.   These efforts have been furthered by economic rebounds and recovering job markets. CWS/IRP affiliates served an expanded range of populations in the CY 2005 caseload, which was comprised of 42 different nationalities and/or ethnic groups.   New populations included Azerbaijani, Bhutanese, Kazakhstani, Meskhetian Turk, Mexican, Nepalese, Nigerien, and Uzbekistani refugees, asylees, and victims of trafficking.   The five largest groups served (in order of size) were Cubans, Meskhetian Turks, Somalis, Liberians, and Ethiopians. Regrettably, the shortage in Matching Grant enrollment numbers created a situation in which eligible non-refugee populations are often excluded from the Matching Grant Program.   At the very least, CWS/IRP’s Matching Grant Program sites could easily have enrolled an additional 500 high needs clients during CY 2005.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	746	1,675
Self-sufficient 120 days	621	1,293	79%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	584	1,205	96%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	663	1463	88%
Entered Employment		771	83%
Average Hourly Wage		$7.54
Health Benefits		325	46%

Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) received $1,864,000 to serve 913 refugees in the Matching Grant program. In CY2005, Episcopal Migration Ministries enrolled 947 clients into the Matching Grant program through 24 of its affiliate sites.   These sites achieved an overall self-sufficiency outcome of 81% at the 120 th day and 90% at the 180 th day for all cases enrolled, marking a 10% and 6% increase respectively at these benchmarks.   Several EMM sites had filled all their MG slots by the end of the third quarter, placing affiliate staff in the difficult position of having to turn away many prospective, needy, and eligible clients. EMM was able to over enroll 34 clients and cover the costs with additional contributions from local churches.   EMM’s Match Grant sites continued to serve refugees such as the Somali Bantu and at-risk Liberians and welcomed new resettlement groups such as the Meskhetian Turks.

EPISCOPAL MIGRATION MINISTRIES
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	418	947
Self-sufficient 120 days	283	723	81%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	279	653	98%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	319	759	88%
Entered Employment		415	84%
Average Hourly Wage		$7.74
Health Benefits		216	58%

Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) received $1,172,000 in CY 2004 to serve 586 Matching Grant clients in eleven sites ECDC’s Matching Grant Program enrolled clients from 25 countries during CY 2005 of which 407 (69%) were from Africa and 179 (31%) were from other regions of the world.. Among them were 482 refugees, 103 asylees, and 1 victim of trafficking.   Houston, Chicago and Phoenix were the largest sites.   The Houston site was especially effective in providing relief services to displaced refugees as a result of hurricane Katrina. The Alliance resettled 310 from the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Near East, Cuba, and Southeast Asia. This total was far less than the 400 arrivals AMCS expected, because new refugee arrivals were diverted from Houston following Hurricane Katrina.

ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	292	586
Self-sufficient 120 days	188	363	70%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	155	286	97%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	199	372	78%
Entered Employment		226	61%
Average Hourly Wage		$8.08
Health Benefits		167	77%

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) requested $2,208,000 to support activities in CY 2004 to serve 1,104 clients. A total of 28 communities participated in the HIAS Matching Grant Program during CY 2005, as compared to 38 in CY 2004 and 51 in CY 2003.   Of the total this year, 5 communities received no Matching Grant eligible arrivals and several have since been dropped as HIAS affiliates and will no longer be participating in the Matching Grant Program.   HIAS ultimately served 1,136 clients in the Matching Grant program covering the additional expenses with agency funds and actually increased the number served with a smaller network of affiliates.   For the third year in a row, HIAS continued to improve its performance during CY 2005 with 58.7% of cases and 57.4% of individuals reported as self-sufficient at the end of 120 days.

HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	557	1,136
Self-sufficient 120 days	298	577	57%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	245	536	93%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	259	585	56%
Entered Employment		367	52%
Average Hourly Wage		$8.67
Health Benefits		159	61%

International Rescue Committee (IRC) received a grant award of $6,202,000 to enroll 3,101 clients at its sixteen regional offices. By the end of the year, 3,186 new arrivals were enrolled in the program. More than forty ethnicities were represented in the IRC caseload. The largest ethnicities were from Cuba, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan and Colombia. IRC headquarters created an e-Source newsletter for IRC resource developers to exchange ideas, share resources and learn from each others experiences.  Through these efforts, IRC continued to grow its volunteer and mentor programs offering clients English language tutoring, household management, employment preparation, and financial literacy to name a few.

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	1,279	3,186
Self-sufficient 120 days	1,020	2,338	78%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	896	2,032	95%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	988	2,283	79%
Entered Employment		1,308	72%
Average Hourly Wage		$7.76
Health Benefits		673	58%

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). Calendar year 2005 was both a challenging and successful year.   The LIRS network served 3,620 clients in the Matching Grant Program and managed to improve upon already strong employment outcomes despite many challenges, including serving a diverse caseload with multiple barriers to self-sufficiency in a highly competitive job market.   We are pleased to report that 77% of clients enrolled in the program achieved self-sufficiency within 120 days and 83% achieved the same goal within 180 days.   Many of our partner agencies transferred the skills and knowledge they have built in the MG program to assist people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Existing networks of congregations and volunteers mobilized quickly to respond to the needs of evacuees.

LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE SERVICE
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	1,601	3,620
Self-sufficient 120 days	1,180	2,695	78%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	1,204	2,630	98%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	1,313	2,920	83%
Entered Employment		1,501	76%
Average Hourly Wage		$8.10
Health Benefits		909	64%

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) received $14,834,000 million to serve 7,417 clients. The USCCB/MRS Matching Grant program ultimately enrolled and served 7,779 clients through 65 diocesan Matching Grant program sites comprising more than 110 different nationalities and ethnic groups with 76% of clients becoming self-sufficient. USCCB was again able to serve some hundreds of additional clients beyond those provided for by the ORR grant with agency resources, but even this was not sufficient to close the gap between the demand for and availability of services.    Perhaps the most conspicuous accomplishments of the program during the year, despite the fact that they involved less than two dozen Matching Grant clients, was the evacuation, relocation, and continued provision of services to clients affected by Hurricane Katrina.   At that time the disaster struck there were seven families comprising 28 persons who were receiving or had just completed Matching Grant services.   Through excellent work under very difficult conditions by our New Orleans   staff and other diocesan Matching Grant programs none of these families suffered a disruption of assistance and services; they went on to destinations such as Dallas, Galveston-Houston, Memphis, and Syracuse where their services were continued and completed as needed, even when this meant restarting Matching Grant services from scratch.  

UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	3,325	7,690
Self-sufficient 120 days	2,056	4,903	78%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	1,849	4,089	92%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	2,092	4,685	76%
Entered Employment		2,666	68%
Average Hourly Wage		$8.22
Health Benefits		1,347	56%

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) (formerly the Immigration and Refugee

Services of America or IRSA) received $10,194,000 for the enrollment of 5,097 refugees at twenty sites. USCRI served clients from 65 different ethnic groups. Miami continues to be the largest program, enrolling 2,590 clients. More than 45 percent of the caseload consisted of Cuban/Haitian entrants, 15 percent were asylees and 41 percent were refugees.    At the 180 th day mark, 88% of the cases were self-sufficient earning on average $7.59 with 49% of jobs having health benefits available.

US COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	2,730	5,097
Self-sufficient 120 days	2,063	3,790	82%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	2,094	3,704	96%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	2,288	4,028	88%
Entered Employment		2,545	86%
Average Hourly Wage		$7.50
Health Benefits		1,166	49%

World Relief Corporation

World Relief (WR) received $2,966,000 to resettle 1,483 refugees in its ten affiliate sites. WR enrolled 1,510 clients. 80% of clients reaching 180 days were self-sufficient. Eleven affiliates participated in the program. The largest ethnic groups served were refugees from Africa and the Former Soviet Union.

WORLD RELIEF
Measures	Cases	Individuals	Percentage
Enrolled	618	1510
Self-sufficient 120 days	430	1036	72%
Self-sufficiency retention at 180 days	423	949	94%
Overall self-sufficiency at 180 days	481	1149	80%
Entered Employment		571	71%
Average Hourly Wage		$7.89
Health Benefits		449	83%

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¹ The attached tables represent Matching Grant clients that have completed the respective point in their service period, and not the outcomes for all clients that were enrolled in the calendar year.  For example, “enrollments” is for the total number of enrollments for the calendar year; while outcomes for “self-sufficient at 120-days” counts clients that were enrolled during the period from Sept. 2003 through August 2004 and were self-sufficient at 120 days.   

Last Updated: September 18, 2008