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1992.11.18 :  Private Resettlement Program

Contact:  Larry Dye (202) 401-9215
November 18, 1992

       The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement within the
Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for
Children and Families announced today that beginning Jan. 1 the
Private Resettlement Program will be implemented.  ORR, created
by the Refugee Act of 1980, helps refugees achieve economic self-
sufficiency as soon as possible after arrival in the United
States.
       Public and non-profit agencies that resettle refugees in
the United States will be eligible to apply for funds for the
provision of case management, employment services and short-term
cash assistance for new arrivals.  Eligible refugees include
those who are ineligible for Aid to Families with Dependent
Children and Supplemental Security Income.
       Funds will be awarded on a per capita basis of $2,148 per
refugee.  Refugees will receive cash assistance and services for
seven months following arrival in the United States.  Emergency
assistance may be provided for one additional month.
       The period of assistance was set by ORR based on fiscal
year 1993 appropriations (which began Oct. 1) and estimated costs
of terminating the state-administered Refugee Cash and Medical
Assistance (CMA) programs.
       Since 1980, CMA has been provided through a state-
administered program.  Escalating costs and worsening self-
sufficiency outcomes led the Office of Refugee Resettlement to
propose the Private Resettlement Program.  Congress permitted the
change in the October 1992 appropriations bill.
       "Refugees face special challenges, such as limited
vocational skills, as they establish new lives in the United
States," said Jo Anne B. Barnhart, assistant secretary for
children and families.  "PRP will help ensure refugees become
self-sufficient as early as possible."
       The Office of Refugee Resettlement estimates that nearly
55 percent of refugee arrivals in the United States will be
eligible for PRP cash assistance and services.  One hundred
twenty-two thousand publicly funded refugees are authorized to be
admitted to the United States for fiscal year 1993.  Last year,
approximately 131,500 refugees entered the United States.  The
president, in consultation with Congress, sets the number of
refugees authorized to be admitted to the United States each
year.
       "The Private Resettlement Program allows the Office of
Refugee Resettlement to stretch dollars further, providing more
assistance than possible under the CMA program," said Chris
Gersten, director of ORR.  "PRP also will lead to increased
employment outcomes by keeping refugees out of mainstream welfare
programs." 

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