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1993.10.06 :  Refugee Resettlement Assistance

Contact:  Lenny Glickman (202) 401-3446
October 6, 1993

     "We want our children to grow up and be good Americans and
not get in trouble," wrote See Cha, a Hmong community leader, in
seeking assistance to provide for a trilingual English/Hmong/Lao
community service officer to serve the city of Willows, Calif. 
Willows, 100 miles north of Sacramento, has been home to 800
Hmong and Lao refugees since 1987.
     Many refugees and Amerasians, fleeing persecution, settle
across the United States where culture and laws differ markedly
from their own.  Recognizing the refugees' dilemma, HHS' Office
of Refugee Resettlement, within the Administration for Children
and Families, has over a period of six years provided $3 million
to educate law enforcement and refugee communities about one
another. In partnership with the Department of Justice and the
National Crime Prevention Council, ORR funds have helped police
departments and Asian refugee communities hire and train
trilingual community service officers to conduct workshops,
assist in criminal investigations, and to ameliorate and prevent
conflict between refugees and their communities.
     ORR's crime victimization program has established community
outreach storefronts to build bridges between the refugee and the
law enforcement communities in Westminster and Long Beach, Calif;
and Haltom City, Texas; and has also brought bilingual community 
service officers to St. Paul, Minn.; Lafayette, La.; and Boston,
Mass.  In addition, the program has assisted local agencies such
as the YWCA, Elgin, Ill., establish outreach and education
programs.
     Crime prevention services provided to refugees include:
active solicitation of neighborhood and business watch groups;
establishment of community storefronts to increase law
enforcement presence and information; frequent meetings and
seminars with refugees to educate them about criminal laws and
enforcement; provision of drug awareness information; assistance
in obtaining domestic violence protection orders; child abuse and
neglect prevention through parental training; information about
court system operations; and personal safety.
     Over the last 18 years, over one million refugees and
Amerasians have been legally admitted into the United States. The
number of refugees admitted each year is determined by the
president in consultation with the Congress.  In fiscal year
1993, about 122,000 refugees and Amerasians were admitted to the
United States for resettlement.  The major goal of the Refugee
Resettlement program is to provide assistance to help refugees
achieve economic self-support within the shortest time possible
following their arrival.