ORR Network Resources
Resettlement | Integration | Health | Economic Development and Employment
Resettlement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers practical guides and information to avoid scams that target refugees and other new populations. Visit their online portal for downloadable guides, fact sheets, and where to find help when you need it. Resources are available in multiple languages.
The Department of Justice, Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section continues its efforts to inform refugees, immigrants, and service providers of their mission to ensure that human rights violators do not find safe haven in the United States These multi-language brochures are available in English plus French/Spanish/Arabic, Amharic/Somali/Tigrinya, and Chinese/Burmese/Tamil and Portuguese/Swahili/Kinyarwanda.
Heartland Alliance International, in partnership with ORR through the Rainbow Welcome Initiative technical assistance program, offers a new publication highlighting best practices in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) resettlement, A Rainbow Retrospective: Reflecting on Best Practices and Successes from the Field.
Download the report and other helpful information and resources from the Rainbow Welcome Initiative website.
USCIS offers a series of print and web materials to support its Unauthorized Practice of Immigration Law Initiative, including ‘The Wrong Help Can Hurt’ video which highlights scams and how to avoid them. Additional materials—available in a number of languages—provide information on common scams and reporting; filing tips for immigration applications; help to find legal services, and how to become an authorized provider. Visit USCIS for more information and to download materials.
The Rainbow Welcome Initiative, part of Heartland Alliance International and ORR's Technical Assistance partner for LGBT refugees and asylees, offers a new publication, Rainbow Response: A Practical Guide to resettling LGBT refugees and asylees. Download it here, and visit the Rainbow Welcome Initiative site for more information and materials.
The Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence (APIIDV) and the Battered Women's Justice Project announce their new publication, Islamic Marriage Contracts: A Resource Guide for Legal Professionals, Advocates, Imams, & Communities, written by Maha Alkhateeb for the Peaceful Families Project. For more information and extensive resources addressing domestic and gender-based violence prevention, be sure to visit the APIIDV website.
FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) has put together a program guide, Help After a Disaster, detailing FEMA's disaster assistance program, including how to apply for assistance. The guide is available for download in 20 different languages.
USCIS has launched the new Multilingual Resource Center.
This site serves as a hub for all USCIS materials offered in foreign languages, and features 13 newly translated “How Do I…” guides in Chinese. The guides are also available in Spanish via our USCIS Español site. Click here to visit the Multilingual Resource Center.
Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance
A guide by Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) detailing benefits and services available to persons granted asylum in the U.S. (PDF 958KB)
Rainbow Bridges: A Community Guide to Rebuilding the Lives of LGBTI Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Published April 2012 by the Organization for Refugee Asylum and Migration Download the guide in PDF
Integration
BRYCS presents a new handbook on Raising Young Children in a New Country, available for download in English (with Arabic and Spanish translations coming soon). This illustrated guide addresses Family Well-Being, Safety and Protection, Guidance and Discipline, Healthy Brain Development, Early Learning and School Readiness, and Connecting to Early Care and Education, and builds on BRYCS' earlier publication, Raising Children in a New Country. Check out both, and more, at brycs.org.
Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) released the 2013 edition of Welcome to the United States: A Guidebook for Refugees in March, with updated translations of the booklet soon to be made available in Arabic, Burmese, and Nepali. The DVD version is currently available for streaming in Welcome DVD is available for video streaming in English, Arabic, Burmese, and Nepali; by the end of 2013, the DVD will also be available in Chin, French, Karen, and Somali translations. The 2007 version remains available online in multiple languages.
The Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center offers a selection of lesson plans designed for use in conjunction with the Bhutanese, Burmese, and Darfuri/African group-specific videos. Each selection of lesson plans (different for each group, and ranging from four to five in number) addresses topics commonly raised by the refugees interviewed in the video. Check them out on the COR/Center for Applied Linguistics website, at www.culturalorientation.net.
New resources in Domestic Service Providers toolkit
The Cultural Orientation Resource Center is pleased to announce a variety of new resources in its Domestic Service Providers toolkit, including materials produced by the COR Center or provided by local resettlement agencies on topics such as early employment, secondary migration, employment and job readiness, transportation, housekeeping, preventative health, and so on.
These documents join others previously posted, to total nearly 100 ready-to-use items in the Lesson Plans and Promising Practices section of the toolkit, as well as the many Program Development Resources, in the categories of Tools for Trainers, Staff Training, Program Descriptions, and Outreach.
Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE)
CORE is a technical assistance program designed to strengthen linkages between Cultural Orientation (CO) programs and staff working at Resettlement Support Centers overseas and at national Resettlement Agencies and their affiliates in the United States. The goal of preparing refugees to navigate an unfamiliar landscape, society, and culture is one shared by many individuals and organizations. CORE provides responsive, practical, and timely information, and comprehensive resource materials to domestic and overseas CO providers as well as the many others welcoming refugees into their communities. Resources include population specific backgrounder documents, fact sheets, informative videos, comprehensive CO curricula and student handbooks (available in a number of languages), as well as online learning opportunities and other materials. To find out more about newly available resources, as well as upcoming workshops, webinars, and other events, please visit the site and subscribe to CORE’s eNewsletter, the CORE Connection.
BRYCS (Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services), a program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), supports service providers for refugee children, youth, and their families. BRYCS provides one-on-one consultations, training and conference presentations, and access to an extensive online clearinghouse focused specifically on migration and child welfare.
The International Rescue Committee’s Project SOAR provides technical assistance, including site visits, workshops, and telephone and e-mail consultations to ethnic community-based organizations serving refugees. IRC’s technical assistance focuses on resource development, financial management, board training, and capacity building so that organizations can improve the vital services they provide to refugees.
Health and Mental Health
The Center for Victims of Torture’s National Capacity Building Project offers resources, training, and networking opportunities primarily for survivors of torture programs. The resources on the www.healtorture.org website include information on webinars, CVT’s annual institute, consultation services, and online courses, as well as publications, and a map of U.S. based torture rehabilitation centers.
HealthReach features a searchable database of health and mental health resources in many different languages. The resources include information about the potential health conditions and cultural experiences of refugees and asylees, which may be of interest to both displaced individuals and their health care providers.
Healthy Roads Media is a resource for quality health information for refugees, presented in a variety of languages and formats. Browse their website for a list of their free publications and the languages in which they are available.
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
Through their Rainbow Welcome Initiative, Heartland Alliance is working to create resource materials, trainings, and recommendations specific to developing the network’s capacity to meet the resettlement needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) refugees and asylees, including the establishment of pilot projects at a few selected, geographically-diverse sites.
Pathways to Wellness offers resources to identify depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress in refugees and connect them to the care they need to heal. It also trains mental health providers how to effectively deliver services to refugee populations, and partners with refugee communities to better understand and address mental health issues. Resources include the Refugee Health Screener-15 (RHS-15), a screening tool which measures symptoms of depression and anxiety, an ORR-sponsored webinar and presentation on promoting emotional wellness through adjustment support groups.
The Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center (RHTAC) provides resources with information on access to care, physical and mental health, suicide prevention, and community dialogue. RHTAC collaborated with the CDC on An Investigation into Suicides Among Bhutanese Refugees. Findings from the report, are available on the RHTAC website. Additional information about suicide prevention may be found on the CDC website.
Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services’ National Partnership for Community Training provides community needs assessments and trainings on refugee mental health. The resources on their website include request for technical assistance, webinar and distance learning information, archived webinars, and country guides.
Find a SAMHSA grantee working on mental health service, substance abuse prevention, and substance abuse treatment in all 50 states. In addition, the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health website features the Health and Wellness program which includes information about wellness strategies, Mental Health First Aid, Whole Health Action Management, smoking cessation, and spirituality in Healthcare. The website also provides information on integrating behavioral health and primary care through Integrated Care Models.
Economic Development and Employment
The Department of Justice, Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, has created a series of flyers, posters, and other materials on federal protections against immigration-related discrimination in the workplace. These helpful resources, tailored to refugees and asylees and employers who hire them are available in a variety of languages, including Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Farsi, French, Kayah, Nepali, Russian, Sgaw Karen, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Spanish, and Tigrinya. ORR and DOJ/OCS are working together to expand awareness of refugees' rights. Visit the Office of Special Council's Worker Information website for these and other helpful materials.