I know I should not hold my breath but I can’t help it.  The father in our Karenni refugee family started a new job last week!  He completed a 40 hour week; 4 ten-hour days Monday through Thursday.  So far so good!  I think I can let my breath out.

His job is a temp-to-hire position at a company that makes corporate promotional t-shirts and other clothing.  He does general cleaning and shop floor support.

He LOVES it! When I pick him up after work he is practically glowing.

The problem we are working on right now is transportation.  Although it is fortunate that the company is located only ten minutes from his home, it is not on a bus line.  On top of that, he must start work at 6 am.

I did not have a single person volunteer to drive him to work at that early hour.  Go figure!  Thankfully, the W-2 program has arranged for a taxi cab to take him to work temporarily – for one month.  This will give us time to work out a plan.  Currently, four volunteers pick him up from work at 4:30 pm, each taking a different day of the week.  This is working beautifully.

We are busy checking into a possible carpool situation.  He also likes to ride his bicycle and I know he will do that once he is comfortable with the route and the weather cooperates.  This is a heavy traffic area so outfitting him with a helmet and reflective gear is a must.  When we told him about our worries of him biking to work, he laughed it off.  He used to drive a motorized scooter in an overcrowded city in Thailand, weaving in and out of traffic with little concern of his personal safety.  He told us we worry too much.  We told him we like him too much and are prone to worry.  We are not backing down on the helmet!

Our group is so relieved that the demands of the W-2 job search are over!  As a team, we put in 146 hours of time in 6 weeks for serious job search.  Out of this effort came 3 interviews (one by phone, two in person with an interpreter) and 2 calls from companies interested in learning more but discovering the English language barrier too great for the job requirement.  Although nothing we did directly landed him a job, we did learn some valuable things for the future.

For example, the people that arranged the interviews, and the ones that called to find out more, all commented on how much they liked his cover letter…

I wrote a cover letter explaining his refugee status, refugee info in general, and our commitment in supporting him through the job process as well as being resource for providing interpreters and being the liaison between employer and employee.  I also included a phonetic spelling/pronunciation of his name.  This resulted in a lot of positive feedback on the letter, but most of all they appreciated how to say his name when they called! 

We had never had the foresight to send out a cover letter of that kind before.  We used to focus solely on skills, and work ethic but nothing on the situation and support behind him/her.  It certainly helped with the online applications and made him stand out among the other candidates.

In the end, however, it was not the 146 hours we provided for the W-2 program, but rather the staffing company that put him into the first job that lasted only one day back in January placed him in his current position.

It does not matter how he got this job, we’re just super happy he has one.  And so is he!

Our refugee resettlement funds are used up, the Matching Grant program is finished, and job prospects are thin.  This is the first time out of 7 resettlement efforts that we have failed to find at least one member of the family an ongoing job before funds were exhausted.

Now what?

In Wisconsin, this family is eligible for W-2 (Wisconsin Works), which is a welfare-type program.  We have worked hard to avoid this, but now it is our only option.  We’re not happy about this because the W-2 program is quite challenging for an English-language-limited person to succeed and requires an extremely time consuming effort from us as the co-sponsors.
 
There are several subsets to the W-2 program and our refugee family is eligible for only one of them.  It is called CSJ placement – Community Service Job placement.  This is where an individual works a 40-hour week at a job site doing community service in exchange for $673 a month.  English classes will count for 4 hours a week, making his obligation 36 hours per week of community service.
 
Normally, the work done at a job site by the client satisfies the hours requirement.  However, W-2 won’t place him at a work site right away.  They wait for at least 30 days so he can look for a job. 

Looking for a job is his full time obligation and it must be documented each week.  In this case, he must look for a job and document his search to equal 36 hours a week he would normally be working.  Think about that for a moment and let it sink in…  He must do some type of search activity for employment that adds up to 36 hours per week for the next 4 weeks! 
 
He can look in the newspaper, he can look online, he can fill out applications and he can go on interviews.  His drive time does not count except for the time spent BETWEEN appointments, not to and from his home.

So, imagine yourself in this position.  You can’t read English or understand the employment section of the newspaper, you don’t know how to go online, you don’t drive and you also don’t have a clue how to fill out an application, or how to call for an interview.  How do you go about fulfilling your 36 hours of required activity?  Could you even meet this requirement if you weren’t limited by your understanding?

The caseworker does not help you do this – at least his caseworker made it very clear that she would not help.  There are resources out there like free classes on how to interview and write a resume, but think of the amount of English you would need to complete such a class.  And yet it is imperative that each Friday by 4:30 he accounts for 36 hours of documented job searching time.
 
Oh, and one more thing.  He must complete 4 full weeks of this BEFORE getting a full payment of $673.00, which would come out to less than $4 per hour.
 
It will take 4 volunteers, if we can get that many, an extra 9 hours a week on top of regular refugee resettlement activities to pull this off.  That’s going to be tough.  But we’re 3 weeks in now.

Why am I sharing this with you?  I want you to understand that refugee resettlement can be gratifying.  It can be quite rewarding to help another person take back control of their life.  Yet, it doesn’t always go as planned.  Sometimes we have to adjust.  Sometimes we have to venture into areas that are uncomfortable or unknown.

Sometimes we have to face the systems that our society has put in place that we would rather avoid.  Systems like W-2 are, on the one hand life saving, and on the other hand so messed up that those who are not trying to screw the system have trouble making any progress at all!

All of this reinforces the importance of helping refugees become self-sufficient quickly.  We don’t want to mess with public support because it’s too messy and inefficient.  That path should truly be the last resort.

Can I have an Amen!?

The company that was hiring brought in a large number of people to begin employment at the same time.  During the training day, our hopeful employee was permitted to complete the day, but was not invited back.

The unfortunate part of the story is that he was not told directly that he could not return.  My wife met him that evening to take him shopping and found him to be very happy to have a job and excited to be going back the next day.  She had to break the news that he did not pass the test.  Not a nice situation to be in.  He went from a state of excitement to rather depressed in a matter of seconds.

According to the employer his English language ability was too low.  There were others with poor English, perhaps worse, but they had more work experience.  So the combination of low English and no work experience in the U.S. worked against him in this case.

While this is not the situation we would like, it’s also not unheard of.  It is difficult for employers when communication is not easy.  I cannot fault that perspective.  Generally, since the jobs offered to refugees are pretty low skill, we can sometimes overcome the obstacle by providing an interpreter during training.  In this case the company had enough other qualified options available.

Finding employment is always the last big issue.  We’ve found jobs that turn into careers for our refugees.  And, we’ve had jobs last very short times, for a variety of different reasons.  In that case we try to continue helping out, working to overcome the problems if possible.  Eventually everyone gets the right job where they can excel and take care of their family.  It’s a matter of time.

If you’ve read along with our journey, a resettlement case study that I began on July 20, 2009, you know we started with two Karenni families from Burma.

This resettlement project has been a greater challenge for us than most.  With two families, who did often not get along with each other, and therefore quicker burnout of our team, the last couple months have been a greater stuggle than usual.

However, today I am happy to report that in this past week, for the family that has remained in our care in Waukesha, the father has secured employment!  This coming Monday he will go through training for his job.  Then on Friday he’ll begin work, which is a 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. shift three days per week.

Having a job is of crucial importance to self-sufficiency.  Obviously, we want the refugees to pay for their own existence, and contribute to our society, not be a burden upon society. 

Perhaps a little less obvious is the self-esteem gained by the employed, as he is able to contribute to the welfare of his own family.  We have found that more than anything else, the men of the families want jobs.  They don’t want to sit around and have people take care of them.  They want to be the providers for their families.

Once employment is secured, their relationships in their families improve.  Their perspective on society improves.  And, our relationship with the refugee family can start to diminish.

It is at the point of employment that we can first consider that our project may be coming to an end.  Sure, we’ll still have to help out with little things from time to time, but the biggies are behind us.  Housing, medical needs, schooling, shopping, language training, and more, have been handled.  It’s just the job that remains.  And now, for this family, the job is in place!

The family arrived July 21.  The hire date was January 13 and the job will begin January 22.  Six months?  Yes, I think we can call it a success!

(Check back within the next few days.  I’ll post a summary of our time and expenses on this project.)

It sounds like that should have been the end of the difficulties.  From the perspective of the two families this has been a major relief.  There are no quarrels, no ongoing relationship problems.  Fantastic!

But there is a problem with “the System,” in this case, one small part of public assistance…

Since refugees families arrive with no income we immediately apply for a food card.  This card, like older food stamps, provides the family with a credit for some of their groceries each month.  This helps keep their expenses under control while we search for employment.

(For those who read this and say, “see refugee resettlement does raise my taxes,” slow down.  Yes, we use this benefit.  Please keep in mind that within a few months, most of our refugees are off of assistance and are paying taxes like the rest of us.  They are net contributors into the system, not a burden upon the system.  Part of the reason we can achieve such great results is that some assistance is available when they first arrive.)

Anyway, back to the story… With this two-family resettlement we learned an interesting thing about food assistance.  When the question was raised, “do they eat together?” we answered yes.  After all, they shared the same house.  Well, an affirmative answer meant they would get a single food card.  Ooh, big mistake.  (In retrospect we understand they didn’t even like each other so there’s no way they were eating together.  They weren’t even sharing food.)

So a single food card for two families created some of the tension they experienced while sharing the same house.  “So and so spent too much money on that.”  “I want my own card.”  “How come he gets to carry the card and I don’t?”  Blah, blah, blah…

Nearly two months ago the families separated.  It sounds like it should be a simple task to get two food cards.  But, it is not.

Initially when the first family moved out, we took them grocery shopping to use up “their share” of the food card, stocking their shelves.  It was the middle of the October and they would not get a new card until the beginning of November. 

Then November arrived, still only a single food card, rechared for two families.  Now we had to share it.  We packed up the family living near us, drove them to the family living 25 miles away, and took them all grocery shopping.

But since it is a new month, the single vs. two card scenario could be worked out, by those state employees who work out such issues.

Fast forward to early December.  The original food card is replenished with about half the original amount.  This represents the assistance for the family that moved to Milwaukee.  At least they could just continue using the old card.  That allows one family to eat.  We just had to get the card into the hands of the right family.

The bigger problem arose with the family that stayed in Waukesha.  Apparently, though the process was slow, the notice of the new card was mailed, and then followed up shortly by the mailing of the card.  But by the end of the first week of December it had not arrived.  And there was no one to question, because all associated state employees were, apparently, out of the office.

Then early this week, voice contact was once again established!  We learned that the card had, indeed, been mailed.  BUT, since forwarding a food card to a new address is somehow illegal, the postal service returned it to sender.  (What, no one ever moves?)

The card was therefore cancelled, and no one was notified.  Nice, huh? 

So we start the process once again.  It’s now the end of the second week in December and our family does not have their food assistance yet.  Their cash is low.  Our team’s funds are gone.  We’re relying on individual donations at the moment.

We’ve learned a lot with this particular resettlement case.  After a number of very successful resettlements, this double case has been more than double effort.  At first it seemed logical to handle two related families, as if we could “kill two birds with one stone.”  We deviated from our proven model and it’s costing us extra time, extra money, and risking burnout of team members.

It’s the burnout that is the worst part of all.  It means little bumps in the road, which are a normal course of resettlement, seem much bigger.  Stress goes up and there is reluctance to continue.  A burned out team does not jump back in to take on another case.  It means our future effectiveness may also be negatively impacted.

Every resettlement brings about different issues.  Each becomes its own story.  Each varies somehow in its outcome.

Our current resettlement case is still underway.  We’re more than 3 months in at this point and we’ve reached an interesting milestone… 4 moves.  That is we’ve moved the family, or parts of the family, into 4 different living quarters.

Well, to be fair, I should state that our case really consisted of two family units.  So, maybe that’s only two each.  In that case it’s not bad.  If you’re following along, the playbook looks like this…

1. Pick up 8 family members at the airport.  There was much tiredness as the trip from Thailand to Milwaukee is arduous.
2. Same day, move them all into a close relative’s apartment in Milwaukee.  There was much joy in the reuniting.  (move 1)
3. A few weeks later, unpack the sardine-like situation, moving the recent 8 arrivals into a house in Waukesha. There were mixed emotions of separation and settling down. (move 2)
4. A couple months later, split the family in half, with the parents and siblings of the relative in Milwaukee wanting to move back to Milwaukee and away from the others.  Meanwhile the related family unit in Waukesha wanted their separation, and found reason to stay in Waukesha. This was mostly happy, though I think a couple that moved would have been better off staying and one who stayed really wanted to move. (move 3)
5. With the expense of renting a house on their own completely unaffordable at this point, the family remaining in Waukesha had to downsize.  Today we moved them into an apartment. I think they were happy about this. (move 4)

So there you have it.  Four moves – a single resettlement.  With any luck the present situation becomes stable.

I am writing this so that you have awareness that refugee resettlement is not always predictable…

There is a “system” in place in which we have to abide.  (Regardless of my feelings about the system at various points in time, the only way to navigate it successfully in any given moment is to go with the flow.)  There are personalities of the refugees and personalities of the resettlement team members.  Everyone involved, best as I can tell, is human.  That makes us fallible.  We do our best with the information we have and discover the consequences at future points.

This is all to say that as much as we would like to follow a simple checklist of “do this then that,” it doesn’t always work out that way.  For example, my list says, “move them into an apartment where they can live until they decide to move themselves.”  And, there is only one alternative which states, “move them into some temporary housing until the apartment is available.”  That’s it, two moves.

Some may be disappointed that we have extra work to do.  Some feel bad for those of us who have to do the same activity over again.  But neither of those is necessary.  We have chosen to help refugees get started with a new life here.  If it takes 4 moves to get it right, then so be it!  We want to get it right.

By the way, we had enough help to get everything moved out of the house into a pickup truck and several minivans, a couple trips back and forth, and we were done in 2 hours.

Now if we can stop moving, let’s get focused on employment!

Each refugee resettlement effort writes its own story.  This one started off as particularly difficult because we were helping two families simultaneously.  Then, if you’ve read along, you remember that we had some issues moving the families into a house in a community 25 miles away from some of their family members who arrived sooner.

The situation has progressed on a downhill slide such that the 25 miles has become an overwhelming emotional distance.  This is intensified by one known factor — that is, the honeymoon is over and reality is setting in.  Nearly all refugees go through this emotionally tough stage. 

And, it’s intensified by a previously unknown factor — that is, these two families came as a linked case and therefore we all made some incorrect assumptions.  We assumed they had been together, liked each other, and wanted to stay that way.  Wrong, wrong, and wrong.  It turns out that these families lived apart in the refugee camp because they don’t get along when they’re living together.  You may understand that living with the in-laws might not be a good time.  Well, that’s the other factor coming into play.

So now what?  Here are some excerpts from a couple emails that were passed through our resettlement team.

“Things do change quickly sometimes, don’t they?
 
Two weekends ago, a crisis erupted between the families and the conclusion to all that came rather fast.   During this past week, there has been open dialog and great honesty between the families, LSS, and many of us on the committee.  I am so impressed with the communication, the love and the caring demonstrated with all involved during this difficult time.

In the end, some key members of the families made it clear that they are very lonely and sad to be living away from family in Milwaukee.  The rest of the family wants to stick together even if they may not be in total agreement about moving out of our community.

The details and consequences are a bit complicated and hard to sum up but bottom-line, they are adults using their free will to make a decision that is right for them.  I truly believe we provided sound information, advice, and encouragement for an informed decision. 
 
We worked hard, doing a great job though the outcome is not what we expected.

Whether they stay or leave, succeed or fail, we have given freely and that does not change based on the outcome.  We can be proud of our efforts!

This was followed by a reply…

“As I have processed and considered everything that has happened over the course of the last couple weeks, I am reminded that there are no guarantees while serving others.  In their shoes, I probably would have made the same decision.

Imagine leaving behind all you know, most of what you own, and going to another country (you don’t speak the language or understand the cultural norms), but you know you have a loved one already established there.  Then you arrive and discover that you aren’t going to live with or even near them.

Add to that the fact that culturally, you are expecting to live with that person.  What a let down — perhaps more traumatic than we realized.  I know we made a great effort to drive the family to visit their relatives frequently.  But, without their own transportation and the ability to see their relatives as often as they wanted (daily) it wasn’t enough.  Milwaukee is very far away from that perspective.

We mustn’t view this as a failure.  First, our role as sponsors is intended to be temporary.  And we have already met the timeline established by LSS for our involvement.  Also, the purpose we serve is to help re-establish independence and security while becoming part of our society.  We’ve done that — the fact that they trusted us enough to be honest about their situation and needs is an example of this. 

Also, that we honor their decision after providing them with the pros and cons from our perspective/experience, is evidence of that.  They could have chosen never to come. Perhaps that would have been better in terms of their emotional well being.  But, having come to Waukesha they blessed us with another experience to serve and witness our calling as Christians and as Refugee Sponsors.  We also gave them the best we could to help get started in this new life in the United States. 

Moving to Milwaukee doesn’t change that.  We helped them get started, now they will take what they’ve learned here and move to a new place, closer to their loved ones, and continue their journey.  It may not be what we hoped for, but it will be what they chose.  They have people who care about them and their welfare who will help them adjust.

I wanted to present this information to help out anyone considering refugee resettlement.  Your goal is to help any refugees become contributing members of society in the shortest period of time.  You may picture the desired outcome in your mind, and it’s great to strive for that, but in the end you must accept the reality of the situation. 

In this case we helped start their new life, but we will not finish their transition.  Our role ends sooner than intended.  The good news is that we can regroup and help another family, probably sooner than otherwise possible!

Actual numbers will, of course, vary by family.  Size of family, health care needs, education requirements, English language ability, background like experiences - all of these will play a factor in the volunteer effort and the amount of time needed to help with their adjustment to a new life.

In addition to time there will be expenses.  At first the largest expense will typically be housing.  The second greatest expense will typically be food.  Both of these will vary depending on family size and location of resettlement.

Since I started this blog series as a case study of our current refugee resettlement case I’d like to demonstrate the effort that we’ve already expended.

The family arrived on July 21.  Through July 31 our resettlement team contributed 69.75 hours, had driven 552 miles, and spent $750.97.  The biggest segment of time (32.25 hours) related to housing issues, mostly preparation of space and coordination of donations.  The largest expense ($377) was food.  

In August our resettlement team added 286.5 hours, drove 1,081.5 miles, and spent $772.41.  The greatest use of time was, once again housing, with 145 hours.  Move-in day was in August so many people were involved with transporting donated goods and helping to convert an empty house into a home.  Again the biggest expense was food with $462 in that category.

So, our six week summary reports 356.25 hours of volunteer time, $1,523.38 spent on their behalf, and 1633.5 miles driven.

Volunteer time will drop significantly in September.  Since 30 days has passed and the family now has a food assistance card, our obligation to pay for food has ended.  They are receiving cash in the form of a matching grant so we should not have to pay for incidentals at this point either.

Our total expenses will go up for the next couple months, however.  Because of timing, in this resettlement case we were able to apply some of the refugee’s own resettlement grant money to the first month’s rent and security deposit.  That’s why housing was not our greatest expense above. 

Since the family is enrolled in the matching grant program we cannot use their matching grant funds for their own housing.  Therefore, our financial assistance for housing will take a big jump up in September.

In our current refugee resettlement project we took a step forward today with the establishment of a checking account.  As soon as refugees have some money they can call their own it is time to get started with a banking relationship.

Our family just received their first matching grant funds.  We took these checks along with social security cards, I-94 cards, and a member of the family to sign the paperwork.  Fortunately the process was smooth today because the banker who helped us had worked with other refugees in the past.  Therefore she knew what she was doing.  We’ve had tougher situations when the banking employees have no idea what to do with an I-94 card.

We deposited most of the money but held back a little so the family would have some cash on hand.  We also tried to explain that $25 had to go to pay for checks so the amount remaining in the account did not match the original value of the checks.  We’ll have to explain in greater detail when we have access to an interpreter.

We had a couple options available to us today.  The first was whether we wanted basic checks or duplicate checks.  While duplicate checks costs more, they are worthwhile.  You will be teaching the family to write the checks on their own.  With a duplicate of the written check remaining you have a reference to make sure they are issuing them correctly and recording them accurately.

We second option was a choice as to whether or not we would get ATM cards right away.  Sometimes in the past we declined them, only to discover that the family learned about them from someone else and started requesting them from us.  This time we agreed to get them right away.  A powerful advantage is that the family can go grocery shopping without taking cash.  The can use their food card and their ATM card to cover all expenses.  The process to using each one is the same – swipe card, punch in pin number.  Therefore training is easy.

Next we’ll have to explain finances in greater detail and show how to keep a check register up to date.

This past week we’ve continued to dedicate time to the medical appointments of our refugee family.  Being a large family we’ve had more appointments to deal with than usual.  You may have read about our transportation issues earlier.  One of the things we’ve done to help alleviate the driving pressure is to tap into our church’s team of drivers for shut-ins.  If we provide a few days notice we have access to other volunteer drivers.  Yes!

Now, due to confidentiality requirements, I will not write directly about this family’s medical issues.  But you can imagine that when someone spends a decade or two in a crowded refugee camp, without proper care, that there may be problems.  We are seeing some of those problems now.

It is important that arriving refugees have access to medical care very early after arrival.  First of all, it’s good to discover any problems as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of cure and recovery.  Second, their access to insurance is easiest in the beginning.  (As refugees they will receive some kind of coverage for 8 months from arrival, but the Title 19 they get at day 1 might only last 30 days before a shift to state or local coverage.  Yet even the state or local coverage is probably easier to work with than the deductibles and requirements of employer-provided insurance.)

After getting through the medical appointments with checkups, followups, immunizations, specialists when necessary, medicines, and monitoring, then it’s time to get into the dental appointments.  From what we’ve seen, it is rare for a refugee to arrive without some dental problems too.

Stick with it though; arranging appointments and transporting to each one.  Once the medical and dental issues are properly handled, it is a relief to the refugees to have greater health than they may have had in years.  This provides a foundation upon which they can begin to rebuild their lives. 

A healthy person can learn English.  A healthy person can get, and keep, a job.  A healthy person will be able to better face some the new-life challenges and adjustments periods that will be on the horizon.