USCRI January 2022 Updates

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** January 2022 Newsletter
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FOR OVER 110 YEARS, ADVANCING THE RIGHTS AND LIVES OF REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
WELCOME TO 2022!
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) wishes you a happy 2022. As we continue our work, we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who, through generous donations of time, talent and treasure, was instrumental in our achievements.

While 2021 brought many challenges, it also gave us new opportunities to learn and adapt to the realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We found new and better ways to serve our clients.

As we prepare to continue our work in 2022, we hope to assist our Afghan friends as they resettle in their new communities and start making the U.S. their permanent home.

Despite the difficulties we faced in 2021, the end of the year gave us a chance to connect with our community. Our offices went above and beyond to make the holiday season special for our clients, volunteers, and staff by organizing thoughtful and inclusive initiatives. In Cleveland, for example, our field office joined forces with the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) and Project Seva to distribute 250 meals to 60 families. In Detroit, we provided $4,000 worth of holiday baskets and big boxes of snacks and food items to APA clients.
To our staff and affiliates, thank you for your relentless commitment to our principles, our mission, and our vision through your efforts. To our donors, no words can fully express our gratitude for your valuable support.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH
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As part of Human Trafficking Prevention month, please join USCRI for a virtual discussion centered around implementation gaps in child and youth trafficking policy.

The briefing will feature three distinguished panelists from different facets of the trafficking protection and prevention community, and will be moderated by USCRI Vice President AnnaMarie Bena. Policy Analyst Campbell Dunsmore will also be providing an overview of her paper Falling Short on Follow-Through: Assessing and Alleviating Implementation Gaps in U.S. Trafficking Policy for Foreign-National Children and Youth Trafficking Survivors.
Panelists:
Lauren Devine, MSW
Child Trafficking Protection and Prevention Coordinator, Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.
Ifeyinwa Mbakogu, PhD
Assistant Professor and Chair of the Diversity and Equity Committee at the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Canada.
Alix Janke, LMSW
Youth Program Manager, Inspiritus, Atlanta, GA.
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A 20-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE OF THE UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
In partnership with the Children's Village, USCRI has begun a one-year project looking back at the Unaccompanied Children's Program from the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA) until today. The HSA was transformative as it laid the foundation for the Unaccompanied Children’s Program going into the 21st century. This project will look at how the care of unaccompanied children has changed since the HSA. It will explore the transfer of the program from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and other major legislation passed since the transfer. It will analyze policies and executive orders issued from past administrations. It will also assess the next possible steps for the Unaccompanied Children’s Program in the United States. Part of our project includes conversations with former unaccompanied children to learn more about their personal experiences.

In December 2021, we published the prequel leading up to the first report of the project, which presented an overview of the state of affairs and significant events affecting unaccompanied children that led to the inclusion of section 462, Children’s Affairs, in the HSA. Please click here to ([link removed]) read more ([link removed]) .
USCRI SELECTED TO RECEIVE
WELCOME.US GRANT AWARD
USCRI is pleased to announce that it has been selected to receive a grant from the Welcome Fund, an initiative of Welcome.US. The Welcome Fund, launched in September, has raised more than $15 million for organizations supporting Afghan evacuees since its inception and is funded by more than 800 individual donors, foundations, and corporations.

"We appreciate their support as we work to meet the housing needs of thousands of Afghan arrivals. Thanks to the Welcome Fund, we can truly welcome home our new Afghan neighbors by ensuring their ability to rebuild their lives here," said Eskinder Negash, USCRI President and CEO.

As we are working tirelessly to resettle refugees in more than 40 cities across the U.S. through our field offices and partner organizations, the funds will help secure housing, including temporary housing, in communities where Afghans will relocate.

USCRI thanks Welcome.US for the support provided through the grant and through the Welcome Exchange. This online platform has provided us access to essential supplies for our clients and has facilitated donations between non-profits and the private sector at a critical time.

If you would like to contribute to our efforts, please use the "DONATE NOW" button below. We are so grateful for your support, and we thank you for allowing us to continue this vital work.

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PROJECT TRUST
NEW RESOURCES ON OUR WEBSITE
Project TRUST is a national training and technical assistance program funded by the Office for Victims of Crime from October 1, 2018, through March 31, 2022, to support agencies as they integrate a trauma-informed approach. The project is a collaboration between USCRI, the Sanar Institute, and Brandeis University’s Institute for Economic and Racial Equity and offers regular peer-to-peer engagement events, specialized webinars, and individualized training and technical assistance. Project TRUST seeks to support service providers, publish key findings, and help organizations to think creatively about how to solicit meaningful input from clients in every aspect of service delivery.

We are happy to announce that the Project TRUST resource library has been migrated to our website ([link removed]) . Please click here ([link removed]) to find all the resources currently available and check back for more Project TRUST’s trauma-informed curriculum materials, which will be available on the new webpage by the end of March.
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Copyright ©2022 U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. All rights reserved.

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 350, Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 310-1130
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U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants . 2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 350 . Arlington, VA 22202 . USA