Description
Refugee/Migrant Services
The primary goals of the program are to help refugees bec ... ome self-sufficient through access to employment; access to a variety of community resources that enhance their physical and mental health; and through facilitating their integration into the larger communities in which they live.
The Reception and Placement Program begins upon initial entrance to the United States and lasts for the family’s first 30 days. Its core services provide new refugee families with assistance with basic needs such as housing, clothing, food, medical, education, orientation and employment during their initial period of resettlement. The program aims to take care of a family’s basic needs as they move towards the goal of achieving economic self-sufficiency through employment as soon as possible after arrival in the United States.
The Match Grant Program is an alternative to public cash assistance providing services to enable eligible populations to become economically self-sufficient through employment. Eligible families may transition to this program upon exiting the Reception and Placement program if placements are available. Services required under this program include, but are not limited to, case management, employment services, maintenance assistance and cash allowance, and administration. Self-sufficiency must be achieved without accessing public cash assistance.
The Refugee Social Service program assists in the resettlement of refugees who are not in the Reception & Placement or Match Grant Program. Those eligible can receive services up to five years in the United States; however, priority is given to those who are receiving public cash assistance or have been in the U.S. for less than one year. The program aims to assist families in achieving self-sufficiency as soon as possible through employment by removing barriers, finding and retaining jobs, increasing refugee employability and enhancing refugee job market. The program also aims to diminish refugee dependency on cash assistance, emphasize program participation of public cash recipients, and increase access to community resources.
Employment Development
The Employment Development Team utilizes a holistic approach to employment readiness to assist refugee clients in reaching economic self-sufficiency in the United States. The team manages and grows employment partnerships with local business owners, secures job placements for recently resettled refugee clients at partner sites throughout Kansas City, develops and teaches a variety of employment-related courses and also provides cross-cultural educational programming for clients and community contacts. Specific client-focused services offered in-house are intensive Job Readiness classes, English Language classes, and Cultural Orientation program with on-going case management provided to clients as they navigate the job search, application, interview and career development process.
La Luz Immigration Clinic
La Luz Center for Immigration Legal Assistance was established in 2010 to provide low cost professional immigration legal services to low-income foreign-born individuals and their families needing assistance with matters before the United State Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Department of State and the Department of Labor. This assistance often means the difference between life and death for those fleeing persecution, it reunites families separated by many years and thousands of miles; it secures permission to work in the United States enabling immigrants to supports themselves and their families; it allows individuals to seek help from the police, doctors, and school officials without fear of removal; and it provides a reliable source of legal information, advice, and representation from a highly trained and experienced professional staff.
New Roots for Refugees
The New Roots for Refugees program works at the intersection of refugees and agriculture. Staff works with refugee communities to develop community gardens where families can grow food to feed themselves and pass on agricultural traditions to their children. Together with Cultivate KC, we operate a 9 acre training farm in NE KCK where refugees learn to develop their own farm businesses.
