Introduction
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) assists refugees as they integrate into American society and attain self-sufficiency. Through a variety of programs, ORR provides new arrivals with short-term cash and medical assistance, case management services, English language classes, and job readiness and employment services. One such program is the Voluntary Agencies Matching Grant (MG) Program. Through this program, ORR awards grants to resettlement agencies to help eligible families develop life skills and find employment. The MG Program aims to help families achieve economic self-sufficiency within six months of arrival. The MG Program is a public—private partnership that engages communities in supporting refugees through donations and in-kind support matched with funding from ORR.
As a part of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Evidence Capacity Support project, Mathematica and Child Trends engaged with ORR to better understand the types of financial matching approaches and partnerships used in the MG Program. The Evidence Capacity Support project team reviewed MG Program reporting documents provided by ORR and interviewed staff from resettlement agencies and their local affiliates.
Purpose
This brief describes common approaches that resettlement agencies and the local affiliates used for securing matching funds and building partnerships. It also summarizes challenges and lessons learned from grant recipients. MG grant recipients and other refugee-serving organizations can use these lessons to secure matching funds and build and maintain successful partnerships.
Key Findings and Highlights
- Securing matching funds
- Volunteers are the most common way to meet the required match.
- Local affiliates use a variety of in-kind and material donations to meet client needs.
- Local affiliates use cash donations for the match less frequently than other approaches.
- Approaches to meeting the match requirement differ by local affiliate size and capacity.
- Partnerships
- Local affiliates partner with a variety of businesses to provide clients with employment opportunities and training.
- Local colleges and vocational schools are also important partners in supporting self-sufficiency.
- Partnerships with faith-based organizations are a valuable source of volunteers and donations.
- According to local affiliates, both affiliates and partner organizations make initial outreach attempts.
- Regular communication and personal relationships are imperative to maintaining long-term partnerships.
- Program visibility is critical for attracting new partners.
- Community engagement is key to sustaining partnerships.
- Identifying challenges and solutions
- Challenge: Variability in refugee arrivals and availability of volunteers and in-kind donations can affect how grant recipients manage partnerships.
- Solution: Cultivate opportunities and partnerships that are responsive to changing circumstances.
- Challenge: Some resettlement agencies and local affiliates sometimes struggle to dedicate staff solely to developing and maintaining partnerships.
- Solution: Encourage and train all staff to build relationships with potential partners.
- Solution: Work with resettlement agencies to expand or replicate partnerships developed by other local affiliates.
- Challenge: Managing and storing donations that are not aligned with refugee needs can impose a substantial burden on staff.
- Solution: Educate the community about refugee and program needs.
- Challenge: Volunteers sometimes struggle to set boundaries with clients.
- Solution: Robust training programs for volunteers can help them learn how to set appropriate boundaries.
- Challenge: Variability in refugee arrivals and availability of volunteers and in-kind donations can affect how grant recipients manage partnerships.
Methods
This brief draws from a document review and interviews with staff from resettlement agencies and local affiliates. The team reviewed documents from a sample of 115 local affiliate sites. During this review, team members compiled descriptive information about approaches to meeting matching requirements, the types of partnerships grant recipients use, how grant recipients engage partners and in what service areas, and the level of community support for MG recipients. The team also spoke directly with staff from all nine resettlement agencies and staff from one local affiliate per resettlement agency, for a total of 18 interviews. These conversations covered the ways recipients secure and manage partnerships or matches, challenges to securing and managing those partnerships, and recommendations for building and sustaining partnerships.
Citation
Williams, Sarah Catherine, Andrea Vazzano, Samantha Ciaravino, and Lisa Kim (2023). Using partnerships to support refugee self-sufficiency, OPRE Report #2023-188, Washington, DC: Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- Voluntary Agencies Matching Grant (MG) Program:
- A public–private partnership that engages communities in supporting refugees through donations and in-kind support. ORR awards these grants to resettlement agencies to help eligible families achieve economic self-sufficiency within six months of arrival.
- In-kind donation:
- Contributions of goods or services other than cash or grants. Examples of in-kind donations include computers, office furniture, administrative support, and so on.
- Resettlement agency:
- These agencies assist refugees during their initial arrival in the United States as they achieve economic self-sufficiency. Methods of assistance can include enrolling in employment services, registering youth for school, accessing medical care, applying for Social Security cards, and connecting refugees with necessary social or language services. Resettlement agencies oversee a network of local affiliates that provide direct assistance to refugees.
- Local affiliate agency:
- These agencies are part of networks overseen by resettlement agencies and assist refugees during their initial arrival in the United States at a local level. Methods of assistance are similar to those used by resettlement agencies but are more specific and relevant to the experiences and needs of refugees within that direct service area. Resettlement agencies place refugees at local affiliate agencies.