Category 1: Preferred Communities

In Category 1, ORR seeks to promote opportunities for refugee self-sufficiency and effective resettlement. To that end, funds are made available for grants to voluntary agencies to increase placements of newly arriving refugees in preferred communities where there is a history of low welfare utilization and a favorable earned income potential relative to the cost of living.

In FY 2004, ORR awarded continuation grants, totaling $2,749,927 to national voluntary agencies to enhance entry level services in preferred communities with good employment opportunities needed by newly arriving refugees.

• Domestic Foreign and Missionary Society, $182,045, Preferred Community Sites: Tucson, Arizona; Syracuse, New York; and Concord, New Hampshire

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc., $260,000, Preferred Community Sites: Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc., $462,000, Preferred Community Sites: San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado; Baltimore, Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; and Houston, Texas

• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, $517,314, Preferred Community Sites: Greensboro, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tucson, Arizona; and Springfield, Massachusetts

• Immigration and Refugee Services of America, $400,000, Preferred Community Sites: Akron, Ohio; Binghamton, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; Colchester, Vermont; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• International Rescue Committee, $168,880, Preferred Community Site: Abilene, Texas

• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, $759,688, Preferred Community Sites: Buffalo, New York; Dallas, Texas; Galveston/Houston, Texas; Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Rochester, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California

In the February 2004 closing of the Standing Announcement for Services to Recently Arrived Refugees, the following grants were awarded in the amount of $750,000:

• Church World Service and Refugee Program, $250,000, Preferred Community Sites: Phoenix, Arizona; Decatur, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas

• Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, $200,000, Preferred Community Sites: Indianapolis, Indiana; South Bend, Indiana; Trenton, New Jersey; Austin, Texas; and New Haven, Connecticut

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, $300,000, Preferred Community Sites: Tampa, Florida; Utica, New York; Sacramento, California; Hickory, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Wausau, Wisconsin

In FY 2004, ORR awarded continuation grants, totaling $2,259,290 to nine national voluntary agencies to provide services to the Somali Bantu.

• Church World Service, $150,000

• Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, $159,290

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc., $200,000

• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, $100,000

• Immigration and Refugee Services of America, $300,000

• International Rescue Committee, $270,000

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, $280,000

• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, $650,000

• World Relief, $150,000

Category 2: Unanticipated Arrivals

The Unanticipated Arrivals Program is intended to provide resources that bridge the gap between the arrival of refugees and the time when their numbers are included in the population-based formula social service funds. Situations that Unanticipated Arrivals funds are intended to alleviate include those where bilingual staff are needed for new arrivals, where refugee services do not exist, and where available services are not sufficient to meet the needs of the additional refugees.

In the February 2004 closing of the Standing Announcement for Services to Recently Arrived Refugees, ORR awarded twelve grants totaling $2,586,105 to the following applicants:

• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of LaCrosse, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, $178,170

• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese Milwaukee, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, $217,135

• Fresno Center for New Americans, Fresno, California, $199,612

• Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission, Fresno, California, $200,000

• Hmong Women’s Heritage Association, Sacramento, California, $107,437

• International Rescue Committee, New York, New York, $200,000

• Merced Lao Family Community, Inc, Merced, California, $194,724

• Mohawk Valley Resource Center, Utica, New York, $86,362

• Sacramento Lao Family Community, Inc., Sacramento, California, $200,000

• State of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $675,500

• United Refugee Services of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $130,000

• World Relief, Carmichael, California, $197,165

Category 3: Services for Arriving Refugees with Special Conditions

In Category 3, Services for Arriving Refugees with Special Conditions, ORR seeks to provide resources that will address the needs of targeted groups of refugees. ORR believes that enhanced case management, education, culturally and linguistically appropriate linkages and coordination with other service providers contributes to the overall improved well-being of refugees with special needs.

Situations for which applicants may compete for grants under Category 3 might include refugees arriving with: (1) Medical conditions requiring specialized health care; (2) youth and young adults who have undergone significant trauma or spent an unusually long period under refugee camp conditions; e.g., the Kakuma youth; (3) refugees disabled by the atrocities of warfare, such as those from Sierra Leone; and (4) grave social and emotional conditions including emotional trauma resulting from war.

In FY 2004, ORR awarded two grants totaling $399,855 to the following applicants:

• Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Saint Paul, Minnesota, $199,855

• Southeast Asian Community Council, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, $200,000

Category 4: Ethnic Community Self Help Program

ORR supported 10 multi-site and 44 local ethnic organizational projects with awards totaling $9,491,874. These organizations provided various in-house and referral refugee services, organized self-help networks, and developed newsletters and web sites to enhance ethnic community organizing and interaction. In addition, they conducted community outreach, coalition building, self-assessment, strategic planning, resource development and leadership training activities.

Multi-Site Projects

• Free Iraq Foundation, Washington, D. C., $185,258

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Virginia, $165,000

• Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Virginia, $270,000

• Somali Family Care Network, Virginia, $271,792

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Virginia, $300,000

• National Alliance of Vietnamese-American Service Agency, Maryland, $368,280

• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, New York, $176,700

• Free Iraq Foundation, Washington, D. C. , $261,026

• Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, Oregon, $287,502

• Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, New York, $243,036

Local Projects

• Albanian American Women's Organization , New York, $236,870

• Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc., California, $213, 479

• Iraqi Community Association, California, $189,634

• Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Inc., Ohio, $200,000

• Bosansko Hercegovacki Klub, Idaho, $100,000

• Lutheran Community Services of Colorado, Colorado, $119,386

• Southern Sudanese Community, New York, $86,703

• Bosnian and Herzegovinian American community Center, Illinois, $207,943

• Community Team Work, Inc., Massachusetts, $100,000

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Virginia, $195,121

• International Rescue Committee, Utah, $81,574

• National Coalition for Haitian Rights, New York, $100,000

• Haitian American Foundation , Florida, $154,000

• East African Community of Orange County, California, $189,441

• International Rescue Committee, Washington, $147,945

• Office for Refugees and Immigrants, Massachusetts, $245,000

• San Diego Police Department , California , $102,158

• Alliance for Multicutural Community Services, Texas, $154,549

• Somali Community Center of Nashville, Tennessee, $211,700

• Jewish Family and Children’s Services, California, $153,998

• Church of the Beatitudes, Arizona, $225,000

• InterChurch Refugee and Immigrant Ministries, Illinois, $238,693

• Lincoln Interfaith Council, Nebraska, $100,000

• Southern Sudan Community Association, Nebraska, $264,685

• Boat People S.O.S., Inc., Virginia, $178,974

• Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Michigan, $100,000

• Rainbow Community Organization, Inc., Indiana, $50,000

• New York Association for New Americans, Inc., New York, $225,000

• Sudanese American International Corporation, Colorado, $117,558

• Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, Oregon, $105,775

• Eastern European Service Agency, California, $149,395

• Lutheran Community Services Northwest, Washington, $244,499

• Ukrainian Community Center of Washington, Washington, $129,840

• Bosnian American Association of New York, New York, $140,116

• Horn of Africa Community in North America, California, $189,967

• African Credit Education and Financial Counseling Agency, Minnesota, $96,640

• Opening Doors, Inc., California, $125,000

• Vietnamese-American Civic Association, Massachusetts, $149,999

• Somali Mai Community of Minnesota, Minnesota, $100,000

• Somali Association of Arizona, Arizona, $219,062

• Lutheran Family Services in Carolinas, North Carolina, $124,000

• Vietnamese Association for the Aging, Pennsylvania, $165,974

• Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Massachusetts, $149,600

• The Montagnard Human Rights Organization, North Carolina, $184,000

• Refugee Family Enrichment

ORR is committed to promoting policies and programs that help strengthen the strong, positive family relationships that refugees have brought with them to the United States. The Refugee Family Enrichment Program helps provide opportunities for refugees to strengthen their marriages and families. These projects are divided into two groups: (1) programs for marriage education and (2) programs for the youth and elderly.

Refugee couples face unique difficulties because of their flight from persecution and long periods of insecurity, and ORR funds marriage education in order to help refugees cope with these difficulties. This group of grantees provides marriage education workshops to refugee couples in order to enhance and promote healthy relationships by providing the skills, tools, knowledge and support necessary to create and sustain healthy marriages. Refugee elderly and youth have also experienced persecution and face hardships while resettling that pose unique challenges to their families, communities and the agencies that seek to serve them. These grantees operate projects that aid the elderly in accessing appropriate services and work with youth to promote healthy development.

Marriage Education

• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, $1,000,000

• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Inc., $300,000

• Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc., $200,000

• Ethiopian Community Development Council, $200,000

• Lao Family Community Development, $200,000

• Boat People SOS, $200,000

• Orange County Social Services Agency, $200,000

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, $199,941

Youth and Elderly

• Horn of Africa Service, $50,000

• International Rescue Committee, $50,000

• Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, $50,000

• Pacific Asian Empowerment Program, $50,000

• Southern Sudan Community Association, $49,931

• CEDARS Youth Services, $50,000

• Immigration and Refugee Services of America, $50,000

• East Side Neighborhood Services, $50,000

• Wausau School District , $50,000

• Community Teamwork, $50,000

• Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, $50,000

• Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, $50,000

• The Cambodian Family, $50,000

• Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota, $50,000

• Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, $50,000

• Refugee Family Services, $50,000

• Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton Manhattan Beach, $50,000

• International Service Center , $50,000

• Jewish Board of Family and Children Services, $50,000

• Asian American LEAD, $50,000

• Community Relations - Social Development Commission, $50,000

• Hmong-American Partnership Fox Valley , $50,000

• Utah Peace Institute, $50,000

• City of Lincoln , Nebraska , $50,000

• Jewish Family and Children's Services of Minneapolis, $49,985

• Young Women's Christian Association of Tulsa, $49,987

• Bethany Christian Services, $50,000

• Indochinese Cultural and Service Center, $50,000

Refugee Health Initiatives

ORR provided continuation funding to 37 states, awarding grants totaling $4,791,562. Through this program, ORR ensures outreach and access for newly arrived refugees to provide health assessments. Health assessments help to identify health conditions that may be a threat to public health and that may be an impediment to refugees achieving self sufficiency.

In some areas, interpretation, follow-up treatment, and informational services were also provided through the preventive health funds. State Refugee Coordinators reported a total of 45,495 preventive health screenings completed in FY 2004.

Technical assistance for mental health activities for refugees is available to U.S. resettlement communities under an inter-agency agreement with the Refugee Mental Health Program at the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Department of Health and Human Services. Under this agreement, two mental health professionals provide telephone consultation for communities on mental health treatment for refugee populations. Other activities include presentations at refugee-related conferences, consultation to ORR on mental health issues, consultation on refugee issues within SAMHSA and program development for refugees at SAMHSA.

Under a second agreement, the Office of Humanitarian and Refugee Health of the Office of Global Health Affairs (OGHA), Department of Health and Human Services provides technical assistance in organizing, conducting and financing health assessments, refugee preventive health activities, data management activities surrounding refugee health, medical interpretation, and available prevention and promotion materials in refugee languages. The Office also provides health information on new refugee populations, staff trainings, caring for refugees with HIV and other special medical needs, providing and promoting better communication with voluntary agencies, State health coordinators and mutual assistance associations, and providing mental health resources.

Through the ORR inter-agency agreements with both SAMHSA and OGHA, several health prevention and response activities have been implemented to serve resettled refugees. The activities pursued include:

• The development of the Points of Wellness: Partnering for Refugee Health and Well-Being initiative. This initiative includes the development of a toolkit, website, and service referral system that aims to link ethnic community-based organizations and mutual assistance associations to health care providers and resources at the local, State, and national levels.

• A collaborative effort with the OGHA and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to test and treat Lost Boys and Girls from Sudan for debilitating intestinal parasites.

• A collaborative effort with the OGHA and the CDC to screen and treat refugee children for elevated blood lead levels.

• A multi-agency effort that includes CDC to treat Hmong refugees who were resettled in the US with undetected tuberculosis, as well to educate the broader Hmong community for disease prevention.

• A collaborative effort with OGHA to educate resettlement agencies on the health problems presented in the resettled Liberian and Somali Bantu populations.

• Education Grants

In FY 2004, ORR awarded 38 continuation grants totaling $10,887,406 to State education agencies to assist local education agencies that are impacted by enrollment of large numbers of refugee children. These grants provide support for supplementary instruction to refugee students, fostering parent/school partnership, and assistance to teachers and other school staff in improving their understanding of refugee children and their families. The following States received grants under this program:

• Arizona Department of Education, $235,595

• California Department of Education, $1,207,660

• Colorado Department of Education, $206,146

• Connecticut Department of Education, $235,594

• Georgia Department of Education, $353,393

• Idaho Department of Education, $147,247

• Illinois State Board of Education, $736,666

• Indiana Department of Education, $73,399

• Iowa Department of Education, $180,998

• Kansas Department of Education, $180,998

• Kentucky Department of Education, $147,247

• Louisiana Department of Education, $147,247

• Maine Department of Education, $90,499

• Massachusetts Department of Education, $294,495

• Michigan Department of Education, $588,988

• Minnesota Department of Children/Families and Learning, $883,483

• Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, $289,597

• Nebraska Department of Education, $180,998

• New Hampshire Department of Education, $117,797

• New Jersey Department of Education, $588,988

• New Mexico Department of Education, $72,399

• Nevada Department of Education, $72,399

• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, $144,799

• North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, $144,799

• Ohio Department of Education, $235,595

• Oklahoma Department of Education, $72,399

• Oregon Department of Education, $235,595

• Pennsylvania Department of Education, $800,554

• South Dakota Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, $92,353

• Tennessee Department of Education, $147,247

• Texas State Education Agency, $235,595

• Utah State Board of Education, $147,247

• Vermont Department of Education, $121,089

• Virginia Department of Education, $289,597

• Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction, $235,595

• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, $970,438

• Elderly Refugees

In FY 2004, ORR continued support for elderly refugees with a new discretionary grant program. This program brings together refugee service providers and mainstream area agencies on aging to coordinate programs for older refugees. Approximately $1,300,000 was awarded to 20 States to establish or expand working relationships with State and area agencies on aging to insure that older refugees would be linked to local community mainstream aging programs. Grants were awarded to Arizona, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

In addition, ORR continued its working relationship with the Administration on Aging to identify ways in which both networks could work together more effectively at the State and local community levels to improve access to services for elderly refugees.

• Victims of Torture

The Support for Services of Torture Victims Program recognizes that many individuals residing in the U.S., including refugees, asylees, immigrants, other displaced persons, and U.S. citizens, have experienced torture by foreign governments. It has been estimated that over 400,000 torture survivors reside in the U.S.

This program provides torture survivors with the rehabilitation services that enable them to become productive community members. Although there are opportunities for treatment and training in many urban areas, many torture survivors do not have access to these highly specialized programs in the areas where they reside. This program increases torture survivors’ access to psychological, medical, social, and legal services. Treatment is provided regardless of immigration status. While the program focuses on providing health, social, and legal services to torture survivors, it also provides funds for research and training to service providers.

The program was first authorized under The Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-320; 22 U.S.C. 2152 note) and was reauthorized in 2003 by Public Law 108-179.

In FY 2004 ORR funded 26 projects in the following 17 States: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. These projects are focused on the provision of direct services to persons who have been tortured or to the family members or other close persons who have witnessed the torture.

There is also one project (Center for Victims of Torture), which provides technical assistance to these grantees.

These projects are beginning the first year of a two-year project period.

Year One Awards

• Center for Victims of Torture (technical assistance nationwide), Minneapolis, Minnesota, $466,365

• Health and Hospitals Corporation/ NYU/Bellevue, New York City, New York, $300,000.

• Center for Victims of Torture, Minneapolis, Minnesota, $400,000.

• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, $300,000.

• Center for Multicultural Human Services, Falls Church, Virginia, $440,000.

• Jewish Family Service of Gulf Coast, Clearwater, Florida, $440,000.

• Boston Medical Center Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts, $400,000.

• F.I.R.S.T. Project, Lincoln, Nebraska, $390,000.

• Safe Horizon, New York City and New Jersey, $400,000.

• Heartland Alliance for Human Needs, Chicago, Illinois, $390,000.

• Program for Torture Victims, Los Angeles, California, $440,000.

• Survivors of Torture International , San Diego, California, $440,000.

• Rocky Mountain Survivors, Denver, Colorado, $440,000.

• Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, $390,000.

• Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Service, Dearborn, Michigan, $440,000.

• Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Minneapolis, Minnesota, $275,000.

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, multi-site, 440,000.

• Lutheran Children and Family Services, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, $330,000.

• Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, Baltimore, Maryland, $390,000.

• DeKalb County Board of Health, Atlanta metropolitan area, Georgia, $350,000

• Center for Survivors of Torture, Dallas, Texas, $350,000

• St. Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center, Garden Grove ( Orange County), California, $275,000

• TIDES Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, $150,705

• Asian Association of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, $370,171

• Boat People SOS, Houston, Texas, $306,879

• Lowell Community Health Center, Inc., Lowell, Massachusetts, $250,000

• City of St. Louis Mental Health Board of Trustees, St. Louis, Missouri, $345,069

Victims of Trafficking

During FY 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (ORR) moved aggressively to address the challenges of victim identification and to improve services provided to victims of trafficking. By the end of FY 2004, an aggregate total of 613 adults and children had been certified to receive benefits or issued letters of eligibility. ORR believes that these certifications are only a small portion of the individuals who are potentially eligible for services under ORR’s trafficking program.

Like the crimes of domestic violence and child abuse some years ago, the crime of human trafficking is one in which the victim will rarely report the offense. The psychological chains based on fear, which traffickers usually employ to overcome the will of the trafficking victim, constrain the victim from seeking help and justice. The ORR trafficking program has implemented the following strategy to overcome this absence of victim initiative in exposing these crimes:

• Motivating intermediaries (persons or organizations who encounter victims of trafficking) to participate in victim detection by making them aware of the phenomenon of human trafficking, of how to recognize a victim of trafficking, and of what to do when a victim is encountered.

• Multiplying the network of anti-trafficking activists and decentralizing the identification of victims through collaborations with local, community-based organizations and government officials.

• Creating an additional avenue by which victims are detected and assisted—augmenting traditional law enforcement actions—by establishing mechanisms for victims to be referred to and enter into a relationship with local service provision and advocacy organizations.

In April 2004, ORR formally launched the Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking public awareness campaign for the purpose of increasing awareness of the phenomenon of human trafficking, particularly among targeted groups and individuals most likely to encounter victims of trafficking. The Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline was also initiated at that time. This service allowed persons encountering a victim of trafficking to call a national toll-free number to obtain a referral to a local organization serving the victims of trafficking or get advice on identifying a case of human trafficking. Local anti-trafficking coalitions were convened in 10 cities to help disseminate the campaign materials to appropriate intermediaries and to sustain local activism on the trafficking issue. And as part of the “Rescue and Restore” campaign, a web-based resource was established; through the end of FY 2004, roughly 40,000 had visited www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking.

A new category of grants was initiated to support direct contact (or “street”) types of outreach to populations among which victims of trafficking may be found (for example, migrant farm laborers, domestic household employees, and prostitutes). This too is an element of the ORR strategy for increasing the pace of victim identification and rescue, by expanding existing outreach activities to look specifically for victims of trafficking.

The success of our initiatives to increase the rate of victim identification hinges on our success in presenting a victim-centered approach to the crime of human trafficking. Victims must be assured of our commitment to providing them access to all of the services and benefits provided for by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Victims must be confident that they will be accorded treatment appropriate to their status as victims of traumatic crime, and given no reason to fear interactions with government officials. Ultimately, the most powerful tools we will have in our campaign to persuade more victims to escape their trafficked condition are the success stories of victims who have rebuilt their lives here in the U.S.

Certification and Eligibility Letters

The Act defines the term "severe forms of trafficking in persons" as (1) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person who is induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age, or (2) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

For adults, ORR reviews whether the individual has been subjected to a severe form of trafficking and whether she meets three certification requirements:

• Is willing to assist in every reasonable way in the investigation and prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons; and

• Has made a bona fide application for a visa under section 101(a)(15)(T) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that has not been denied; or

• Is a person whose continued presence in the United States the Attorney General is ensuring in order to effectuate prosecution of trafficking in persons.

For these victims, ORR issues a certification letter to the victim. The victim can present the letter to agency as proof that she is eligible for federally funded or administered programs to the same extent as refugees. The letter has a toll-free number to ORR so that the benefit-granting agency can call to verify the victim’s eligibility.

Under the Act, minor victims under 18 years of age do not need to be certified in order to receive benefits. For these victims, ORR issues letters of eligibility, similar to the adult certification letters, stating that a child is a victim of a severe form of trafficking and is eligible for federally funded or administered benefits to the same extent as refugees.

In FY 2004, ORR issued 163 letters on behalf of victims, of which 144 were certification letters to adults and 19 were eligibility letters to minors under the age of 18. These certification and eligibility letters, combined with the 151 letters issued in FY 2003, the 99 letters issued in FY 2002 and the 198 letters issued in FY 2001, bring to 611 the total number of letters issued during the first four fiscal years in which the program has operated. ³

The FY 2004 letters were sent to victims or their representatives in 19 States. The largest concentrations were in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas and New York. ⁴ The beneficiaries of these letters were predominately women (65 percent). ⁵ The countries of origin for the greatest number of victims were Peru (39 percent), Mexico (17 percent) and the Philippines (7 percent). ⁶

Discretionary Grants

Through its discretionary grant program, ORR has created a network of service organizations available to assist victims of a severe form of trafficking. In this endeavor, ORR has collaborated closely with the DOJ Office of Victims of Crime (OVC), which also is awarding grants to provide services to victims of trafficking. ORR and OVC meet regularly to review the status of the national service delivery mechanism. In the case of minor victims of trafficking (under 18 years of age), the policy of ORR is to enroll them in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program. This enrollment can be accomplished very rapidly (usually within 24 hours of ORR being made aware of a victim), and the URM program offers a variety of care alternatives appropriate to the needs of the victim.

Since the inception of the Trafficking Program in FY 2001, ORR has awarded discretionary grants to twenty-eight organizations. The FY 2001 grants provided $1.25 million in funding to eight organizations for an eighteen-month period that ended in March 2003.

In FY 2002 and FY 2003, all trafficking grant awards were for a one-year period, renewable annually for up to three years. ORR awarded the grants in two categories. Category One grants fund projects that raise awareness of trafficking in persons and/or provide case management and direct services to victims. Category One grant projects include establishing nationwide networks of anti-trafficking organizations and nationwide networks of providers to victims of trafficking. Additional Category One projects include establishing regional anti-trafficking networks in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, New York City, Portland (Oregon), Orange County (California), Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic states.

Category Two grants fund technical assistance projects of providing training and technical expertise to law enforcement agencies, social service providers, faith-based communities, and professional associations.

In FY 2004, ORR awarded approximately $3.37 million in second-year continuation grants to the 14 organizations originally awarded grants in FY 2002.

Category One—Local/Community Outreach and/or Services for Victims of a Severe Form of Trafficking

• Boat People S.O.S. ( Falls Church, VA)

• Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking ( Los Angeles, CA)

• Safe Horizon, Inc. ( New York, NY)

• ECPAT-USA ( New York, NY)

• East Dallas Counseling Center, Inc. ( Dallas, TX)

• SAGE Project ( San Francisco, CA)

• Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles ( Los Angeles, CA)

• Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization ( Portland, OR)

• Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence ( Tallahassee, FL)

• Heartland Alliance ( Chicago, IL)

• Category Two—Technical Assistance and Training

• Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles ( Los Angeles, CA)

• Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking ( Los Angeles, CA)

• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ( Washington, DC)

• Johns Hopkins University – The Protection Project (Washington, DC)

In addition, ORR awarded approximately $3.48 million in third-year continuation grants to 15 organization originally awarded grants in FY 2003. All these grants are for Category One.

Category One—Local/Community Outreach and/or Services for Victims of a Severe Form of Trafficking

• County of L.A., Community/Senior Services, Office of Refugee Assistance ( Los Angeles, CA)

• St. Anselm’s Cross-Cultural Community Center ( Orange County, CA)

• USCCB Migration and Refugee Services ( Washington, DC)

• International Institute of New Jersey ( Jersey City, NJ)

• New York Association for New Americans ( New York, NY)

• DWA FANM ( Brooklyn, NY)

• Crisis House, Inc. (El Cajon, CA)

• Nihonmachi Legal Outreach ( San Francisco, CA)

• San Diego Youth and Community Services, Inc. ( San Diego, CA)

• Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center ( Miami, FL)

• Refugee Women's Network ( Decatur, GA)

• Pacific Gateway Center ( Honolulu, HI)

• International Rescue Committee, Resettlement Department ( New York, NY)

• Center for Multicultural Human Services ( Falls Church, VA)

• Refugee Women's Alliance ( Seattle, WA)

Street Outreach Grants

In FY 2004, the ORR Human Trafficking Program announced a new grants program for projects to expand existing outreach activities to identify trafficking victims. The purpose of the program is to increase the identification of trafficking victims, as defined by the TVPA, and to encourage victims to leave their trafficked condition by counseling them on the programs available to assist victims. It also offers to alert local law enforcement where appropriate and connect the victims with a qualified service provider prepared to assist victims of trafficking.

This program strategy is to enlist groups that are already providing outreach to vulnerable populations in specific geographic areas. Such groups have expertise on their targeted populations, have built trust within those populations, and are therefore in the best position to identify victims and convince them to avail themselves of the federal anti-trafficking resources.

Benefits and Services—ORR-Funded Programs

ORR strives to encourage the participation of certified trafficking victims in extant assistance programs for refugees—primarily the Matching Grant program and the Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance program (CMA). Of the 144 adults certified as victims in FY 2004, three elected not to apply for either of these programs, 136 enrolled in the Matching Grant program, and 5 enrolled in the CMA program.

Of the 19 minor victims on whose behalf ORR issued letters of eligibility, 13 are residing with guardians and are not receiving public benefits. The remaining six minor victims were enrolled into ORR’s Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program.

Benefits and Services— State-Administered Programs

State and local benefit offices are not statutorily required to report information on benefits and services accessed by trafficking victims. ORR strongly encourages the State and local benefit offices to report the benefits and services actually provided to trafficking victims. In FY 2002, ORR established a toll-free “Trafficking Victims Verification” telephone line to encourage a better response rate. To date, however, ORR cannot provide a comprehensive assessment of services and benefits accessed by trafficking victims.

Victim Identification and Outreach—Rescue and Restore Public Awareness Campaign

In order to establish the most comprehensive and effective campaign to achieve success, ORR conducted research to gain an understanding of the environment, assess current efforts in the trafficking arena, and identify gaps in information and communication surrounding the issue. This research provided the foundation for development of program goals, strategies, and measurements of success.

Campaign Strategies

The goal of the Rescue and Restore campaign is to increase the number of trafficking victims identified in the U.S. by enhancing awareness and information concerning the phenomenon of human trafficking in the U.S. In order to accomplish the campaign goal the following strategies were implemented:

• Achieving message penetration through a region-by-region approach targeting high priority geographic areas and media markets.

• Using key points of contact and organizations to disseminate messages to those most likely to come in contact with trafficking victims.

• Saturating local media in target markets, as well as appropriate national and trade media, to increase overall awareness and create a “buzz.”

• Producing and disseminating materials tailored to key influencer groups that define trafficking and outline action steps for when victims are encountered.

• Forming or enhancing NGO-centered local coalitions whose members will know how to recognize victims and can assist those victims in gaining access to services.

• Building the local coalitions to be an ongoing concern that is continually expanding in terms of members, geographic coverage, and cultural reach.

• Placing advertising in non-English print and radio media.

• Distributing TV public service announcements (modified versions of the U.N.-produced PSAs).

Campaign Communication Goals

To raise awareness about human trafficking, the following communications goals guided materials and message development for the campaign:

• Increasing awareness of the phenomenon of trafficking among people most likely to encounter victims (intermediaries).

• Encouraging intermediaries to screen for trafficking victims.

• Equipping intermediaries with appropriate messages and action steps for use when encountering victims.

• Increasing awareness among vulnerable populations, and among trafficking victims themselves, of services and benefits available.

Campaign Target Audiences

Campaign efforts focus on outreach to intermediaries who are most likely to encounter trafficking victims on a daily basis, but who may not otherwise recognize them. The campaign educates these groups about human trafficking, thus enabling them to screen for trafficking victims and equipping them with tools to assist victims in accessing benefits and services. These intermediaries include:

• Local law enforcement/justice system

• Social service providers

• Health care workers

• Faith-based organizations

• Migrant and labor outreach organizations

• Child and homeless youth advocates and caregivers

• Legal Outreach advocates

• Ethnic organizations

Campaign Identity and Materials

To raise public awareness about human trafficking on the domestic front, ORR recognized the need to develop an identity that would make it clear information coming from ORR was part of a single, comprehensive, and credible campaign dedicated to fighting this issue. ORR spent several months of the program developing a foundation of messages, materials, and resources that would serve as the content and basis of the campaign. In the end, ORR developed a campaign identity to reflect the victim-centered approach to combat human trafficking and ultimately brand the outcomes as part of the ORR anti-trafficking effort. The identity included:

• Campaign Name:Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking embodies the goal of increasing the number of trafficking victims identified and assisted.

• Logo: The logo illustrates the theme of freedom for victims.

• Theme: “Look Beneath the Surface” drives home the message that intermediaries may be encountering victims in their daily lives and that they need to look beyond the obvious, asking specific questions or noting certain behaviors of those who may be potential victims.

Rescue and Restore Web Site

While conducting research to develop materials for the Rescue and Restore campaign, it was discovered that there was not one source online that could offer a comprehensive overview of the human trafficking issue. Moreover, ORR had information about benefits for victims of human trafficking, but it was very difficult to find. To help position ORR as a leading Federal agency with comprehensive online information about human trafficking, ORR developed a campaign web site (www. acf.hhs.gov/trafficking) which includes all campaign materials and extensive information about human trafficking. All campaign materials are provided in a downloadable format and in multiple languages. The site is updated and maintained regularly to ensure it is a valuable resource. Through FY 2004, the Web site had received more than 58,000 unique visitors.

Human Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline

Although there are multiple toll-free hotlines nationally and locally to assist trafficking victims, there was no national hotline operating 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and offering multiple language options. Under separate contract, ORR established a relationship with Covenant House to develop the Human Trafficking Information Referral Hotline (1-888-3736-888), which provides all of these services to callers. To promote the hotline, Rolodex cards were developed with the number, as well as the types of services callers may receive by calling the number. Phone stickers were also produced. The hotline is prominent on all campaign materials and is promoted heavily in all media outreach. From April 2004 through the end of FY 2004, the hotline had received more than 1,600 calls, and cases involving potential victims are surfacing in several markets as a result. It has been included in numerous print and broadcast news stories, and President Bush also referenced it as the national hotline for trafficking victims in his speech to law enforcement officers at a training conference in Tampa, Florida in July.

Campaign Media Outreach

The earned media revolved around the city-by-city launch events, with some additional efforts focused on national media and other local story angles. Through FY 2004, the campaign has garnered more than 68.7 million media impressions.

Local Launch Events

Media outreach was primarily driven by the campaign launch events that occurred between April and October 2004 in the following cities: Atlanta, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Tampa, Orlando, Newark, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Portland, and Seattle. Once a market was selected, key media outlets and reporters were identified in each market and outreach was conducted in conjunction with the rollout press event in that market. Media coverage promoting the Rescue and Restore campaign was secured in the following outlets including, Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Arizona Republic, Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Tampa Tribune, Newsday, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Newark Star-Ledger, Miami Herald as well as local broadcast network affiliate coverage in every market.

In each city, the team also concentrated on the appropriate ethnic media. This was particularly useful with the Hispanic media where we were able to leverage the availability of a Spanish-speaking ORR spokesperson to garner coverage on Univision and Telemundo.

Public Service Announcements

The team identified two public service announcements (PSAs) developed by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime in 2003 addressing human trafficking. ORR modified the content of the PSAs to address both sex and labor exploitation and added the Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline, Rescue and Restore logo, and Department seal to the end of the spots. ORR also worked with the UN to have the spots translated into Spanish. The PSAs have been distributed in mass quantity in the rollout markets and to date have aired in 23 markets on 35 stations for a total of 246 airings (4.8 million+ viewers). In addition to distributing them to the local network affiliates in each market, materials on how to encourage affiliates to use the PSAs were provided to Rescue and Restore coalition partners. Congressman Dan Burton (R-Indiana) also distributed the PSAs to national and cable networks with a letter signed by himself and six other Members of Congress. The PSA was aired in 23 markets on more than 35 stations reaching 4.8 million viewers.

Local/National Coalitions and Partnerships

A key component to building awareness about human trafficking among intermediary groups involved forming or enhancing coalition partnerships with intermediaries in target markets and outreach to high-profile national organizations to aid in the campaign. These groups play an integral part in the campaign by disseminating materials to their local contacts and raising awareness through training and speaking events. In FY 2004, the campaign welcomed more than 325 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as coalition partners, including faith-based organizations, health care providers, social service organizations, and law enforcement officers.

ORR targeted national organizations representing a variety of sectors including faith-based, law enforcement, child advocacy, health care, and social service organizations. To date, more that 45 national partnerships have been secured with organizations such as Catholic Charities USA.

Together with NCMEC, ORR unveiled its new child exploitation materials, which were developed in partnership with NCMEC at the annual Dallas Crimes Against Children Conference in August.

In FY 2004, the campaign also rolled out local coalitions in the following ten regions: Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, Central Florida ( Tampa and Orlando), Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Portland ( Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle. These coalitions are structured as ongoing NGO-governed entities that continually expand in terms of members, geographic coverage, and cultural reach. The coalitions seek to include all intermediaries that are most likely to come in contact with victims. ORR trains the coalitions in public awareness activities and in what to do when they find victims.

Through its grantee network, ORR ensures that the coalitions have access to the social and legal services that are necessary for assisting victims in coming forward and negotiating the federal trafficking system. These resources give the coalition members the confidence that their efforts are likely to result in helping victims and in helping to overcome the extreme fear with which victims and non-governmental intermediaries often view law enforcement. Once they have surmounted a start-up period in which they receive training and become familiar with the federal system, the coalitions have all been active in identifying and assisting victims.

The coalitions also reach out to Federal and State law enforcement trafficking task forces in their areas. Many of the coalitions have representatives on these Federal, State, and local task forces. ORR encourages these collaborations, as they provide important communication between the law enforcement and social services/victim advocate efforts.

Speaking Opportunities and Event Participation

In FY 2004, ORR also presented at several conferences and other events to promote the Rescue and Restore campaign and raise awareness about human trafficking.

As the “Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking” campaign enters its second year, the goal remains constant—to increase the number of trafficking victims identified and assisted. In addition, many of the communications goals and strategies will remain consistent. Campaign elements will focus on increasing awareness of the trafficking issue, establishing and maintaining coalitions, as well as helping to inform the target audiences about preferred identification and action steps when encountering a victim.

In year two of the campaign, focus will remain on outreach to intermediaries and the media to raise public awareness and provide resources, as well as training to identify and assist victims. Rescue and Restore will build coalitions in six or more additional regions with the goal to ensure that organizations’ members understand how to recognize trafficking victims and assist those victims in getting access to services. Training sessions will be conducted in each target city to define trafficking and outline action steps for when victims are encountered. The campaign will promote the benefits of the hotline that connects victims with local assistance, and intermediaries will continue to be provided with resource materials that help in identifying and assisting trafficking victims.

Follow-up meetings with 10 existing Rescue and Restore local coalitions will be conducted to identify issues, provide technical assistance, and establish fully sustainable structure and feedback. In addition, strong national partners that reach key intermediary groups will be identified. Paid advertising in ethnic publications in the selected launch markets will also be used.

The success of our activities on the local level, whether related to the information campaign or to the performance of grantees, will be carefully evaluated in order to discern the most effective strategies for victim identification and rescue. As in the past, ORR will continue to revise existing programs and implement new activities until the pace of victim identification improves.

Unaccompanied Alien Children Program

Pursuant to Section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the custody and care of unaccompanied alien children transferred from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR), Division of Unaccompanied Children’s Services (DUCS) in March 2003. Since then, the number of children in DUCS care has steadily increased. With an operating budget of $52.7 million in 2004, ORR/DUCS placed 6,200 children in its various housing facilities. This averaged to about 661 children in care at any time. In response to the increase in number of children in care, ORR/DUCS added more than 200 beds to its capacity of care.

A Continuum of Care

ORR/DUCS focused on developing a full continuum of care for unaccompanied alien children, adding a variety of care options, such as 25 shelter facilities, transitional foster care homes, 3 staff-secure facilities, 4 innovative secure facilities, and residential treatment centers for children with psychiatric and mental health needs. In 2004, ORR placed 15 unaccompanied alien children in residential mental health treatment centers.

In addition, through agreements with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), ORR/DUCS expanded its foster care beds to 70 placements to serve special needs children, including parenting and pregnant teens and children under the age of 12. Unaccompanied alien children who have been in shelter care for prolonged periods of time, are of young age, or have demonstrated that their needs would be best served in a less structured environment are considered for long-term foster care. In FY 2004 DUCS referred and placed a total of 53 children in DUCS-funded long term foster care. Of the 53, thirty-five were Federal custody placements and the remaining 18 were Asylees and Cuban/Haitian Entrants .

When the former Immigration and Naturalization Service transferred its program to ORR in early 2003, approximately one-third of the unaccompanied alien children in its care were housed in secure county or local juvenile detention centers. In 2004, as an alternative to the court-administered juvenile detention centers, DUCS developed 34 staff-secure (medium secure) beds to house unaccompanied alien children with serious behavioral concerns or with non-violent, non-assaultive criminal backgrounds. DUCS focused on ensuring only youth with violent or repeated juvenile offenses were placed in a secure detention setting. As a result, less than three percent of all unaccompanied alien children in DUCS’ care are in secure detention, a 78 percent decrease from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Release and Reunification

In August 2004, ORR/DUCS took over from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the responsibility for the release of unaccompanied alien children in DUCS’ custody to family members or other eligible sponsors living in the United States. This entails completing background checks on children’s sponsors, which is accomplished through an inter-agency agreement with HHS’ Program Support Center. This inter-agency agreement is being developed and implemented in stages and will be fully operational by FY 2006. Case Managers on the DUCS staff review and evaluate sponsors’ documentation with the shelters’ case managers, review the release recommendations from the DUCS Field Coordinators, and consult with Department of Homeland Security officials, when needed, to ensure a prompt and safe reunification takes place.

Home Suitability Assessments

DUCS also completes home suitability assessments on select families to whom the children are being released through agreements with USCCB and LIRS, two voluntary agencies with a nationwide network of affiliate social service agencies. Previously, under the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, home assessments were limited to Chinese and Indian families due to smuggling concerns. DUCS continues to require home assessments on every Chinese and Indian child before releasing to family members, but has expanded home assessments to potential sponsors of any nationality. In these cases, questions may arise on the family members’ ability to care for the minor’s specific needs, on the child’s ability to adapt to a home environment, and for safety concerns overall. In FY 2004, DUCS completed a total of 157 home suitability assessments, including a 90-day follow-up for all minors.

A Field Presence

In FY 2004, DUCS established a field presence in conjunction with USCCB and LIRS. Ten Field Coordinators were deployed to high immigration apprehension areas across the U.S. The Field Coordinators, employed by USCCB and LIRS, work as DUCS liaison in the field, review family reunification requests and make preliminary recommendations to DUCS as to whether the child’s potential sponsor is a viable, appropriate release option. They regularly meet with children, identify alternate placements, do crisis intervention, and assist DUCS in developing procedures.

Other Infrastructure Development

In FY 2004, DUCS began developing a web-based database which will ultimately track children from initial placement by DUCS to release or return to the home country. Populating this database will greatly enhance DUCS’ reporting abilities and will assist DUCS Project Managers in monitoring facility activity.

Inter-Agency Agreements

In FY 2004, ORR/DUCS implemented an interagency agreement with the Public Health Service to provide medical/dental/mental health services and special therapeutic placements for children in DUCS’ care.

DUCS also finalized an inter-agency agreement with the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families to provide care and placement for UAC at runaway and homeless youth shelters in California, Washington, and Texas. This effort proved effective in reducing administrative costs by using established ACF programs.

Encouraging Pro Bono and Child Protection Advocates

DUCS compiled a list of pro bono legal service providers that is distributed to all DUCS facilities. In addition, DUCS funded a pilot child protection advocate project in Chicago to serve as a model for a nationwide program.

Over the year, DUCS established a pro bono working group whose goal is to establish a national coordinated outreach program to ensure legal representation for all children in DUCS’ care. Work group partners included representatives from the Executive Office of Immigration Review of the Department of Justice, the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, the Department of Homeland Security, the American Bar Association, UNHCR, and the Office of General Counsel of HHS.

Minors in Care FY 2002 and FY 2004
	FY 2002	FY 2004
OCT	290	506
NOV	289	488
DEC	274