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In March of 2000, all of the officially recognized refugee service organizations in the Central Pennsylvania region agreed to form a cooperative organization, the Refugee Services Coalition of Central Pennsylvania (RSCCP), in order to best serve the needs of refugees arriving in Central Pennsylvania communities. Current RSCCP member agencies include:
Member organizations are equal partners in this coalition. Coalition members collectively function as the regional refugee social services provider. The Coalition’s directing and policy-making body is a management team made up of the directors of these five refugee service organizations. The management team meets regularly to assure proper cooperation and coordination among the service providers and invites other non-refugee service organizations to meetings as well. The Coalition’s mission is to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to enable refugee families to attain self-sufficiency as soon as possible after arrival in the Central Region through a well coordinated network of refugee resettlement and service programs; to increase the cooperation among all service providers and other organizations serving refugees in the Region, and assure optimal utilization of existing resources and prompt response to problems and new initiatives as they occur. Background and Mission of RSCCP Member Agencies Immigration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities (www.hbgdiocese.org/charities.html ): Over the course of the past 61 years, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Inc. has provided a wide range of human and social services to individuals regardless of race, sex, age, religion, disability or political belief. As the agency continues to grow in the scope of service, size and budget, it is proud of its tradition as being one of the largest social service agencies in Central Pennsylvania . It is staffed by over 200 full and part-time members complemented by volunteers who assist in various aspects of its operation. The mission of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA, Inc. is to respond to the human service needs of people throughout the fifteen counties comprising the Diocese of Harrisburg. Catholic Charities does this by creatively fostering the ideals of Christ through a caring, living faith by: promoting and advocating respect for all human life, and; providing a continuum of services to families, children and youth. IRS/CC has been providing services to refugees for over twenty-five years in Central Pennsylvania . In this region, IRS/CC is the only voluntary agency providing such a large range of services which include Reception and Placement Services, Match Grant Program Services, Refugee Employment Services, English Language Training and Immigration Counseling/Processing Services. Years of experience in providing these services to refugees have helped IRS/CC to systematize interagency referrals, establish good client tracking procedures and carry out a well-coordinated delivery of services. For additional information on Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities contact Jonathan Witmer, jwitmer@hbgdiocese.org . Lutheran Children and Family Service (http://lcfsrefugees.blogs.com/lancaster ): Lutheran Children and Family Service (LCFS) is a faith-based social ministry organization serving individuals through central and southeastern Pennsylvania . The LCFS Refugee Resettlement Program is an affiliate of the national Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which assists refugees and asylees through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of State. With offices in both Philadelphia and Lancaster , LCFS provides the following services: Case Processing (AOR's, VISA 93): Persons who entered the U.S. as a refugee or obtained asylum in this country may be able to apply for their family members, by filing an Affidavit of Relationship (AOR). Nationals of the following countries are currently eligible: Afghanistan , Burma , Burundi , Colombia , Congo , Cuba , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Former Soviet Union, Haiti, Hmong Lao, Iran , Iraq , Meskhetian Turks, North Korea , Rwanda , Somalia , Sudan , Uzbekistan , and Vietnam . Resettlement Reception and Placement: LCFS works with families and congregations to ensure that new refugee arrivals become self-sufficient as soon as possible. Families are expected to assume responsibility for arriving family members, including housing, food, transportation and material assistance. LCFS seeks congregations to assist refugees who do not have family here. Employment Services: Refugees and asylees are generally eligible for either Matching Grant assistance or the state funded RSS employment program. LCFS will assist clients in getting connected to the services that they need to locate and secure a job. Counseling for Survivors of Torture: LCFS offers services for restoring hope and providing healing for torture survivors, and facilitates access to a broad network of medical and legal assistance. Immigration Services: LCFS is accredited by the BIA to provide a variety of immigration counseling services, including green cards, travel documents, family petitions, and more. Unaccompanied Refugee Minors: Provided through LCFS Foster Care, this program provides semi-independent living opportunities for foreign-born children who arrive in the U.S. without their parents or legal guardians. For information on LCFS’s refugee programs contact Eric Kennel, erick@lcfsinpa.org . Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (http://www.churchworldservice.org/Immigration/lancaster/index.html ): As Church World Service, we believe it is our call to assist strangers in the name of Christ. Our founding mission has been to welcome those who have fled oppression in their homelands and have gained legal admission to the United States under refugee status. Each year between 100 and 150 refugees arrive to Church World Service/Lancaster through the U.S. Reception and Placement Program. Convinced that the church community is uniquely equipped to welcome newcomers, we encourage local congregations to befriend refugees by sponsoring them during their initial months in the United States . The various staff members, who among them speak nine different languages, co-labor with sponsors in this ministry. Church World Service (CWS) has also been designated an agency especially entrusted to assist some of the Cuban and Haitians who enter the U.S. as parolees in the Cuban/Haitian Entrant Resettlement Program. We provide these newcomers with both resettlement and employment services, helping them to become self-sufficient within 3-6 months of their arrival to Lancaster , PA. To supplement the above-mentioned resettlement programs CWS/Lancaster has three programs that contribute to the goal of early self-sufficiency for refugees/asylees/parolees. The Matching Grant Program provides intensive employment and case management services, a monthly maintenance grant, and rent and utility payments to clients who agree to forego welfare benefits and attain early employment. This program is made possible by the donations of church congregations and individuals which are then “matched” 2:1 by the funding agency, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Our Employment Program offers free employment services including job preparation, job readiness, resume building, job search, job placement, employment counseling, transportation, job follow-up, and interpretation to eligible refugees/asylees/parolees. Through our Preferred Communities Program we are able to offer additional case management and resource development to special or newly-arriving populations as they begin to develop a community here in Lancaster County . In addition to these programs, CWS/Lancaster offers a wide variety of immigration counseling services. As an alternative to the high cost of private immigration lawyers, CWS/Lancaster offers one of the few low-cost immigration counseling services between Philadelphia and Harrisburg . Some of the services we offer include: applications for permanent residence (“green cards”), citizenship, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions, immigrant relative petitions, travel documents, employment authorization documents and more. CWS/Lancaster is recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals as a non-profit approved to provide legal immigration services. Three staff members are accredited to represent clients in front of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and the Immigration Courts. Thus, in a variety of ways, we try to serve the needs of people who have so much to offer our communities, their new homes. In doing so, we remember the words of Christ, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me”. For information on CWS’s refugee programs contact Sheila McGeehan, smcgeehan@churchworldservice.org . International Service Center (www.isc1976.com ): In November 1976, the "Spirit of Vietnam", a charitable organization was born out of the idealistic vision of a group of like-minded people to provide essential services and needed opportunities to the Vietnamese refugees in the Central Region of Pennsylvania. In 1978, responding to the needs of the growing Southeast Asian population, the "Spirit of Vietnam" expanded to become the " Indochinese Service Center ." In January 1986, the " Indochinese Service Center ," which has matured into a multi-cultural social service agency serving all disadvantaged people regardless of their ethnic backgrounds and national origins, changed its name to the International Service Center (ISC) to reflect the full extent of its inclusive mission. Since then, thanks to the dedication of its staff and volunteers, the "ISC" has been benefiting of an increasingly broader base of support from both the public and private sector, including County government agencies, foundations, corporations, and the United Way of the Capital Region. To respond to the emerging needs in the community, the ISC has occasionally secured performance-based contracts from State and Federal government agencies to provide special services to specific client populations. Incomes generated by the staff through consultations, lectures, and technical assistance honoraria have often significantly enhanced the overall operating budget of the ISC. The ISC relies heavily on the support of volunteers from all sectors. Committed volunteers have been closely involved with the ISC in the provision of food, shelter, and other vital services to the needy. ISC provides the following services: Social Services for Individuals & Families (SSIF) COUNSELING SERVICES In partnership with the Dauphin County MH/MR Program, the ISC has been providing the following services to clients identified by the Case Management Unit: I) INDOCHINESE BILINGUAL SUPPORT SERVICES Conduct telephone reassurances and friendly visiting to enable Indochinese clients to overcome barriers of isolation and develop specific social skills related to facilitating mutually functional and satisfying interpersonal relationships. II) ETHNIC REHABILITATIVE SERVICES (DAY PROGRAM) Help MH Vietnamese clients develop appropriate behavior and inter-personal communication skills to function adequately in a normal daily living environment, through participation in various supervised occupational therapies, including group discussions on current events, completion of application forms, watching videos, basic computer operation, organization of food pantry, preparation of ethnic meals, board games, etc. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM In collaboration with the Dauphin County Human Services Director's Office and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, the International Service Center is operating a Food Pantry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. This program provides emergency food assistance to disadvantaged and underprivileged people regardless of their ethnic background, national origin, gender, religious affiliation or sexual preference on a "first come, first served basis." INFORMATION & REFERRAL SERVICES Information related to adult/children protective services, consumer's education, emergency/disaster assistance, domestic violence, employment, health care, housing/shelter, public assistance, schooling, immigration processes, legal matters, substance abuse prevention/treatment, etc., are provided to all clients who contacted the ISC. For information or services the ISC could not directly provide, referrals are made to other resources in the community and timely follow-ups are conducted to ensure that clients' needs are met. LANGUAGE SUPPORT SERVICES Language Support services consisting of certification of translated documents and interpreters' competence for legal identification and employment purposes will be provided to Limited English Proficient clients to help them overcome language barriers. Refugee Cultural Services (RCS) CITIZENSHIP SERVICES In partnership with the Greater Erie Community Action Committee, the ISC is providing Citizenship Services to clients residing in the Central Region of Pennsylvania who meet the following federal definitions of a refugee: "Refugees admitted to the United States under sections 207 and 208. Parolees and Asylees admitted to the United States under section 212 (d) 5 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as well as Entrants from Cuba and Haiti admitted to the United States under section 203 (a) 7 of the INA." Community & Economic Development Services (CED) IMMIGRATION GUIDANCE Immigration assistance including completion of appropriate application forms as well as translation, certification and notarization of relevant documents, is provided to clients in the following processes. LANGUAGE BANK The Language Bank of the International Service Center (ISC) is a translation and interpretation fee-for-service available in the most commonly used foreign languages in Pennsylvania . The ISC's Language Bank will enable service providers who are the direct or indirect recipients of government funds to meet the linguistic accessibility requirement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The key to ensuring meaningful access to programs and benefits for Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) persons is effective communication. Service providers can ensure effective communication with LEP clients by relying on the translation and interpretation services offered by the ISC. Language capabilities: Albanian, Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Farsi, French, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Kurdish, Laotian, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, Thai, Tigrinya, Urdu, and Vietnamese. For additional information on International Service Center contact Truong N. Phuong, ISC1976@aol.com . Institute for Cultural Partnerships ( www.culturalpartnerships.org ): PROGRAMS AND SERVICES The Institute for Cultural Partnerships (ICP) facilitates opportunities for understanding among diverse cultures and communities. ARTS AND HERITAGE ICP promotes quality traditional arts programs throughout Pennsylvania as a partner to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). ICP has developed and administers PCA’s statewide Folk and Traditional Arts Program, which supports art forms and practitioners that are part of a living tradition defined by shared ethnicity, religion, occupation, or region. Through outreach and grants to individuals and organizations, ICP supports high quality traditional arts programming and the conservation of the traditional arts found in the Commonwealth. COMMUNITY HEALTH RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS The Healthy Choices Through Family History Awareness Project engages folklorists, anthropologist, genetic health specialists, and consumers in a program designed to increase African American and Latino consumers’ understanding of genetic health information while working with them to develop ways of organizing and preserving their family history and family health related information. CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONSULTATION AND TRAINING ICP provides customized strategies and programs to businesses, community organizations, educational institutions and government agencies to meet the challenges offered by our diverse society. Services include all aspects of cultural diversity and cultural competency training such as: organizational effectiveness, prejudice reduction, team building, effective communications, and coaching. EDUCATION AND THE ARTS ICP’s Arts Education programs fall into three categories: curricular development, training and artist residencies. Drawing upon years of fieldwork and documentation in diverse ethnic and cultural communities, ICP has developed cultural and artistic profiles that feature the arts, traditions, customs and beliefs practiced by members of these communities. These profiles are the framework of a variety of curricular materials which are available to educators through our website and as stand-alone publications. ICP believes in the power of ethnography and hands-on experiences with artists, working consistently over the course of several months and up to a full year, in school and community settings. The students begin our residency program, The Art of Many Voices, by working with folklorists to conceptualize the roles of traditional arts in society, learn ethnographic methods, and experience the power of stories and personal narratives. Students explore their own personal stories and the stories that are important to their communities and neighborhoods. Following this, students participate in a series of residencies with master traditional artists who practice artforms which are rooted in the aesthetics and beliefs of their cultures. In each of the residencies, the students are working toward a final production for the public; an exhibit, a play, or a performance. NEWCOMER COMMUNITY PROGRAMS The GAIN Project, funded by the PA Department of Welfare, provides employment and training services to eligible refugees in South Central PA. Clients are assisted through short-term vocational training programs at local community colleges, tutoring in vocational English language training, job coaching and mentoring and on-the-job training.
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