ORR Consultations -Six Guiding Principles

During the recent ORR Consultations in Washington DC, Eskinder Negash, ORR director, shared the guiding principles with ORR partners:
"ORR asks all organizations and individuals working with refugees to take this time, at the anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980, to re-ignite their enthusiasm and re-establish their commitment to instill in refugees hope for the future and fortitude to build new lives in the United States. With this in mind, ORR wishes to share the guiding principles that it believes will provide the most effective resettlement and set the groundwork for the contributions of the next generations of refugees.
•                      Appropriate Placement and Services. Appropriate placement and services are essential to successful resettlement. ORR wishes to increase interagency coordination with the Department of State to ensure refugees are placed in locations where there are appropriate services and resettlement conditions. Appropriate placement and services from the onset will be a preventative measure against the challenges brought by secondary migration.
•                      Client-Centered Case Management. Resettlement services must be client-centered and responsive to the individual needs of the refugees. The resettlement program would be most effective if it assessed the diverse strengths, needs and goals of each person. We must respond to refugees with special needs, such as torture victims and ‘warehoused’ refugees, as well as the diverse groups of refugees arriving in the United States (e.g., Bhutanese, Iraqi, Burmese). Because the refugees arriving in the United States today have special and specific needs, ORR wants to tailor services for them through case management. By increasing case management, ORR will ensure that refugees are receiving the hands-on care that is critical to their chances of success.
•                      Newly Arriving Refugees. Resettlement services should focus on newly arriving refugees. ORR wants to front-load resettlement services so that refugees are empowered through early employment, reach self-sufficiency as soon as possible and become active, contributing participants in their communities.
•                      Health and Mental Health Services. Refugee health and mental health play an integral role in the resettlement process. It is critical for refugees to receive expanded health screenings overseas so that we have better information on the types and level of care they will need upon arrival in the United States. ORR plans to strengthen its partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) to ensure that refugees are aware of and have access to the benefits of the new health care reform laws.
•                      Outreach. Outreach across all levels of government, the private sector, and international, non-profit, and ethnic community-based organizations is paramount to cultivating productive relationships between the refugee resettlement community, our partners, and the public at large. In addition, ORR is planning an outreach campaign within the federal government to identify potential opportunities for collaboration.
 
•                      Data Informed Decision-Making. ORR plans to increase the use of technology to develop data-informed programs and to improve knowledge and communication amongst all stakeholders. ORR intends to develop a data system that can track initial placements, secondary migration, resettlement services rendered, and performance indicators; automate some case management functions; and interface with ORR’s many data sources. "