Synthesis of Findings From Three Sites
C. Referral to RSS and TAG
In Houston, the Volag resettling the refugee manages the RSS and TAG cases. Houston provides services through the Texas Consortia of Refugee Providers (T-Corp, referred to as the consortium) comprising five Volags, a private education institute that provides ESL instruction, and the local community college. The Volag that resettled the refugee will continue to manage the case and refer the refugee to other members of the consortium for services as needed.
In Sacramento, the workforce agency for the city and county—the Sacramento Employment & Training Agency (SETA)—has the contract to provide RSS and TAG services. It subcontracts with seven community-based organizations (several of which are MAAs), two school districts, and a Volag to provide services.36 SETA distinguishes between employment service contractors and contractors that provide social adjustment and cultural orientation services. The county TANF agency refers refugees applying for TANF or RCA to SETA or one of the RSS and TAG providers. In addition, in many cases, clients find their way to a particular service provider through word of mouth or through outreach efforts by the providers.
In Miami, eight contractors receive RSS and TAG funds: two for education, four for legal and employability status services, one for employment services, and one for child care.37 South Florida Workforce (SFW), a Miami-Dade County agency, has the contract with the state to provide employment services. SFW, in turn, subcontracts with 14 providers across the county to deliver employment services.
IV. Receipt of Education- and employment-related Services
The RSS and TAG program database provided by each state includes information on the mix of services refugees receive that are paid for with RSS and TAG funding. In addition, some refugees obtain education and employment-related services on their own. This section first describes the RSS- and TAG-funded services and then turns to overall participation in these types of services.
A. RSS- and TAG-Funded Services
Table IV.1 shows the percentage of RSS and TAG participants who received each service component through the RSS and TAG programs within one year after entry into the country. The mix of services refugees received varies by site, reflecting the services offered, the emphases placed by the providers, and the preferences and needs of the refugees.
1. ESL/VESL
Almost 50 percent of all refugees receive ESL or vocational ESL (VESL) services in Houston within one year, 75 percent in Sacramento, and just 14 percent in Miami. These statistics support what was observed during the site visits.
Table IV.1: Receipt of RSS and TAG Services within One Year after Entry
Service Component (%) |
Houston |
Miami |
Sacramento |
|---|---|---|---|
ESL/VESL |
48.4 |
13.9 |
74.9 a |
Employment services |
45.2 |
58.6 |
10.3—71.0 b |
Education/ GED |
1.2 |
1.8 |
- |
OJT/work experience |
1.4 |
1.2 |
12.4 |
Vocational training |
4.3 |
2.3 |
3.3 |
Legal services |
- |
30.2 |
- |
Driver education |
24.7 |
- |
- |
Social adjustment/case management |
32.3 |
- |
24.8 |
|
|
|
|
Sample size |
1,674 |
52,174 |
3,196 |
Source: RSS and TAG program data provided by states
a In Sacramento, VESL refers to ESL integrated with employment services, while ESL does not include employment services. Most refugees in this category were receiving VESL.
b The lower bound reported in the table includes the percent of refugees who received employment services exclusive of ESL and the upper bound includes the percent who received VESL or employment services.
Discussions with service providers and welfare office staff in Sacramento gave several indications of the strong emphasis placed on learning English at an early stage by service providers, case managers, and the refugees themselves. Provision of ESL is often integrated with the provision of employment services; in the context of providing ESL, the program discusses the job search process, transportation, safety on the job, and on-the-job communication. Job developers also meet with students enrolled in ESL. Several providers described a process whereby the English instructors will notify the job developers when a refugee is “job ready.” Most classes have monthly tests and weekly quizzes to determine whether the refugee is ready for employment.
Houston also emphasizes ESL instruction for refugees who recently arrived in the country. One private education institute receives RSS and TAG funding from the consortium to provide ESL instruction to all refugees who need this assistance during their initial months. Because Houston places a high priority on moving refugees into employment quickly, most refugees receive ESL within their first 60 days. The classes are held two hours a day, five days a week, at the school campus and at the apartment complexes where many refugees are resettled. Having classes at the apartment complexes is helpful because many refugees do not have any means of transportation when they first arrive. Additionally, the ESL provider offers babysitting services at the complex so the women can attend.
In Miami, the state contracts with the Miami-Dade Public Schools and with Miami-Dade Community College to provide ESL. These entities hold classes at various times and locations across the city. Staff and respondents reported that learning English is not immediately required for Spanish-speaking refugees because Spanish is widely spoken in the community and refugees can find employment without speaking English. The goal of the Miami program, in fact, focuses on survival first, and then improvement once the client has a better background in English.
Several staff mentioned that for refugees to advance in their jobs, they needed to learn English. Some Miami employers integrate ESL instruction with employment. For example, a rehabilitation center hires refugees that have professional training in health care to be certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The center offers daily ESL instruction to help the refugees learn English to help them pass certification tests that would allow them to advance in their jobs. Another employer, a pharmacy, has contracted with a private language training organization for a special English class for managers and assistant managers.
2. Employment Services
Fifty-nine percent of all Miami refugees receive employment services in their first year, compared with 45 percent in Houston and 10 percent in Sacramento (this estimate only includes employment services that are offered separately from ESL). Given the emphasis on rapid employment in both Houston and Miami, it is not surprising that a relatively high share of refugees receive these services within the first year.
In Houston, the refugees rely on the Volag employment staff to help them find employment. The job developers in each Volag share job leads and often work collectively to develop positions with particular employers or industries (e.g., manufacturing plants and hotels). Most jobs are entry-level jobs that require few skills and only limited English proficiency. The Cubans and other Spanish speakers have the widest range of job options, as Spanish is spoken widely in several large sectors of Houston’s economy, including manufacturing, construction, trade, and services. However, the Spanish speakers often find jobs on their own through family members, friends, and other informal contacts, while the refugees from Africa and other countries tend to be more reliant on the Volags for assistance (see text box for an example of employment services provided by an RSS and TAG service provider in Houston).38
In Miami, employment services are provided by teams of social workers who conduct assessments and serve as case managers, and job developers who work with employers and with clients specifically on employment and job search activities. Miami also offers a certification program for refugees who were professionals in their native country and are not certified to do similar work in the United States. The program assists refugees to obtain the credentials and find employment in a field consistent with the refugees’ career goals.
All Sacramento employment service contractors have job developers who are responsible for finding employment opportunities for their refugees. Employment services are often provided in conjunction with VESL, and, in some cases, job developers will meet clients after class to provide job counseling. The percentage of refugees receiving VESL combined with employment services or employment services alone is 71 percent. The level of employment services delivered as part of the ESL classes varies, from teaching basic English skills relevant to employment and job search to coordination with full employment services. About 10 percent of all refugees received employment services exclusive of ESL. These services were provided to refugees no longer eligible for cash assistance (RCA or TANF), and the emphasis was on immediate employment.
3. OJT/ Work Experience
On-the-job training (OJT) and work experience are used more frequently in Sacramento than in Houston or Miami; 12 percent of Sacramento refugees received an OJT placement in the first year. OJT placements refer to arrangements where the service provider pays half the total wages and the employer pays the other half, for 240 to 480 hours, which generally occurs over a period of six to eight weeks.
In Sacramento, strategies for the use of OJT placements differ among service providers. One provider noted that it uses OJT placements for experienced refugees; the provider tries to match these individuals with stable companies as a way to ensure longer-lasting employment. In contrast, another provider focuses OJT placements on refugees it feels might not be able to find employment otherwise and uses the subsidy to entice employers to hire these individuals. While OJT does not always lead to a permanent job, providers said that they do not continue to offer OJT placements to employers who repeatedly fail to offer permanent employment to OJT participants. Both providers and the employers interviewed said that most OJT placements lead to permanent employment.
4. Vocational Training
Vocational training is provided to between 2 and 4 percent of refugees in the three communities within their first year in the country. In Houston, it is provided by the Houston Community College, and refugees take classes with non-refugees. In recent years, refugees have enrolled in training to become CNAs, auto mechanics, welders, machinists, plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, air conditioning repair workers, and hotel/restaurant workers. Some of the programs, such as the CNA program, require a high school degree and strong English skills. The community college also developed a small hotel certificate training program specifically for the hardest-to-serve refugees, who are illiterate in their native language, that would help them find employment in hotels. While this two-month program has since ended, it emphasized vocabulary needed in the hotel industry as well as job skills.
As in Houston, a single provider in Sacramento has a contract to provide vocational training with RSS and TAG funding. An adult school, it offers training in building maintenance, forklift operations, and office skills. These classes are not limited to refugees. In Miami, the training includes computer-related skills, cosmetology, nursing, pharmacy technician, security guard, and auto mechanics and is provided through the public schools and the community colleges.
5. Social Adjustment and Case Management
RSS and TAG can be used for case management and social adjustment services. Case management services include determining which services to refer refugees to, referring them to services, and tracking their participation in the services. Social adjustment includes such services as emergency services for families in perceived crisis; health-related services, such as information and referrals to appropriate resources, including assistance in scheduling appointments and obtaining services; and home management services, such as assistance on budgeting, home maintenance, nutrition, housing standards, tenants’ rights, and other consumer education services.
Approximately 25 percent of refugees in Sacramento receive “social adjustment and cultural orientation,” or SA & CO, services (on the federal level, these are referred to as social adjustment, information and referral, outreach, and other services). The activities covered under the contract include translation and interpretation, crisis intervention, individual or group counseling, and information or access to services (e.g., housing, health services, legal services, and citizenship). During the site visit, one provider estimated that half the SA & CO funding is used for medical interpretation, as many families have health problems and disabilities. Another provider noted that the recent wave of Hmong refugees has needed more assistance with interpretation and resettlement than other groups. The text box provides an example of how one service provider helped a Hmong refugee in Sacramento address her health issues. Case management services are not captured separately in the Sacramento RSS and TAG program database.
In Houston, about one-third of all participants receive what the site refers to as case management services, but which is limited to helping refugees remove barriers to employment. Services may include health and emergency services as well as cultural adjustments for healthy family services. Cultural adjustments include helping refugees shop for clothes and use the bus system to get to their jobs. Some refugees, such as the Somalia Bantu and Liberians, were unfamiliar with modern urban life and had great difficulty adjusting to apartment living and hygiene in the workplace (the Volags supplemented the RSS and TAG funding with discretionary grant funds to assist with this population). In addition, RSS and TAG staff in Houston manage cases and make referrals to services, although this might not be captured in the case management program component.
In Miami, each subcontractor monitors participation in activities and makes appropriate referrals. This information is not captured in the program database. The activities considered social adjustment services are provided primarily from discretionary funding and not through the RSS and TAG programs.
6. Additional Services
Other services funded with RSS and TAG include a limited amount of basic education in Houston and Miami (1 to 2 percent of refugees), legal services in Miami (30 percent), and driver’s education in Houston (25 percent). Houston offers a basic literacy class for the recent refugees who are illiterate in their native language. Generally, refugees do not complete the 80-hour course but leave when they find employment. Miami’s adult and vocational schools provide general adult education classes.
The relatively high share of refugees who received legal services in Miami reflects the special assistance Cubans and Haitians require to obtain proof of work authorization (EADs). Legal services help them obtain parolee status, or for Haitians (who are ineligible for parolee status), their asylee status. The legal service providers in Miami described challenges including a backlog in the issuance of alien numbers, a backlog in court procedures, and difficulties obtaining asylum status for Haitians.
The relatively high share of refugees receiving driver’s education in Houston reflects Houston’s large, dispersed metropolitan area with limited public transportation. One Volag in the consortium offers a driver’s education course, which includes both classroom instruction and driver’s instruction that ends with a written and driving test. This component is popular, and there is a waiting list for the course.
B. Overall Client Satisfaction
The Refugee Assistance Survey asked refugees how they would assess “services and assistance received to help settle, become adjusted, and support” themselves (see Table IV.2). Although the majority of refugees in all sites rated services as “excellent” or “good,” a substantial share in Houston (30 percent) rated services and assistance as “fair or poor,” higher than the share reported in Miami (16 percent) and Sacramento (12 percent). The Houston Volags resettle refugees with the greatest barriers across the three sites and can only provide limited cash assistance (6 to 8 months). Refugees in focus groups in Houston were particularly critical of the limited amount of cash assistance available to them and having to take the first job they could get. Many would have preferred spending more time learning English and improving their skills before moving into the job market, but they could not attend the ESL classes regularly owing to their work schedules.
In Sacramento, because of California’s higher welfare benefits, refugees can spend more time gaining the necessary skills before they move into the workforce. In addition, because the Volags do not resettle free cases, most refugees have additional support in the community and from their families. Finally, focus group participants were generally satisfied or happy with the services they had received, although some voiced specific complaints about class sizes, limited availability of services outside work hours, and not being alerted to some services available to them. The Sacramento survey respondents’ satisfaction was the highest among the three sites.
Table IV.2: Assessment of Services and Assistance Received
Rating (%) |
Houston |
Miami |
Sacramento |
|---|---|---|---|
Excellent |
25.8 |
32.1 |
37.9 |
Good |
44.2 |
50.9 |
49.8 |
Fair |
18.1 |
11.7 |
10.6 |
Poor |
11.6 |
4.0 |
* |
Don't know |
* |
* |
* |
|
|
|
|
Sample size |
316 |
335 |
306 |
Source: Refugee Assistance Survey
* Indicates a category that contains fewer than five individuals
C. Education and Other Service Receipt
The Refugee Assistance Survey captures additional information on service receipt. Some of this information reflects services refugees received from RSS and TAG providers, but it also includes additional services they received from other funding sources or on their own. Unfortunately, because refugees often do not know the funding source, it is not possible to distinguish RSS and TAG services from other services.
As Table IV.3 shows, over 50 percent of refugees in all three sites received job search services at some point after entering the country. Over 90 percent of all refugees served by RSS or TAG in Sacramento received ESL at some point, compared with 69 percent in Houston and 61 percent in Miami. These percentages are much higher than those in the RSS and TAG program data, implying that many refugees attend other ESL classes offered in the community. Similarly, a higher percentage of refugees reported receiving education and vocational skills training than is reported in the program data. A relatively high percentage also received legal services and translation and interpretation services. Legal services are defined on the survey as help getting documentation for employment, help with citizenship and naturalization preparation, help getting a green card, or other legal assistance.
Table IV.3: Receipt of Employment and Education Services
Percent receiving service |
Houston |
Miami |
Sacramento |
|---|---|---|---|
Ever received services (%) |
|||
Job search |
68.0 |
52.5 |
53.5 |
Subsidized employment |
8.0 |
2.1 |
8.6 |
Vocational skills training |
16.1 |
16.7 |
11.8 |
GED/ABE instruction |
13.6 |
5.7 |
6.2 |
ESL/English language training |
68.7 |
61.2 |
91.2 |
Legal services |
49.7 |
29.3 |
58.6 |
Translation/interpretation services |
35.8 |
11.9 |
42.7 |
Sample size |
316 |
335 |
306 |
Source: Refugee Assistance Survey
V. Who Receives RSS and TAG Services?
Refugees and other eligible groups39 can receive RSS and TAG services for up to five years after entering the United States.40 The survey captured detailed information on the characteristics of refugees receiving RSS and TAG (and in Houston, Matching Grant) services.
A. Household Composition
As Table V.1 shows, the typical refugee receiving services had between three and five individuals in the household (with averages ranging from 3.0 individuals in Miami to 4.7 in Sacramento) at the time the survey was conducted. On average, there were 1.7 working individuals in the household in all sites. Most refugees lived in households with at least two adults, and close to one-third of households had at least three adults. Sacramento households were larger relative to the other two sites, with a smaller share of single-adult households and a significantly higher share with at least three minors. Refugees in Sacramento were more likely to be married and living with their spouse (74 percent compared with 53 percent in Houston and 46 percent in Miami), and 70 percent were living with their children.
Table V.1: Household Characteristics
Characteristic |
Houston |
Miami |
Sacramento |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
Average number of individuals in household |
3.7 |
3.0 |
4.7 |
Average number of working individuals in household |
1.7 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
Number of adults (%) |
|||
1 adult |
20.3 |
21.2 |
10.8 |
2 adult |
51.6 |
46.9 |
57.5 |
3 or more |
28.2 |
31.9 |
31.7 |
|
|
|
|
Number of minors (%) |
|
|
|
1–2 |
40.5 |
51.9 |
35.6 |
3–5 |
15.2 |
2.7 |
28.4 |
6 or more |
2.5 |
0.0 |
7.2 |
|
|
|
|
Percentage of respondents living with: |
|
|
|
Spouse |
52.8 |
46.0 |
74.2 |
Parent(s) |
10.8 |
14.0 |
16.7 |
Son/daughter(s) |
59.5 |
59.1 |
70.3 |
Grandparent(s) |
* |
* |
* |
Grandchild(ren) |
1.6 |
2.7 |
2.6 |
Sibling(s) |
10.4 |
7.5 |
14.7 |
Other relative(s) |
6.0 |
7.2 |
3.3 |
Nonrelative(s) |
14.2 |
18.8 |
2.0 |
Sample size |
316 |
335 |
306 |
Source: Refugee Assistance Survey
* Indicates a category that contains fewer than five individuals
36 An MAA is a nonprofit community-based organization whose governing board comprises mostly current or former refugees. The purpose of an MAA is to address the social service needs of refugees. Generally, MAAs are not national organizations with affiliates like Volags, nor do MAAs have direct contracts with Department of State to resettle refugees. They are smaller grassroots organizations that work in specific communities and geographic areas.
37 Legal assistance is assistance in obtaining Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) and citizenship and naturalization preparation service.
38 According to the survey, 55 percent of refugees from Africa reported they found their first job after coming to the United States with assistance from a refugee service agency, mutual assistance association, or voluntary resettlement agency, compared with just 16 percent of refugees from a Latin American country.
39 Eligible groups include asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Amerasians, and victims of a severe form of trafficking.
40 States can apply to waive the five-year limit on service receipt. Among the study states, California received a waiver.