|
ATLANTA—In the first week of a crisis overshadowing the
refugee resettlement program of Catholic Social Services, steps were being
taken to stabilize the program long term and, in the short term, to relocate
refugee families moved out of poor housing in south Atlanta.
Among the developments:
—One family of five, a husband and wife and their three
children, were relocated by CSS staff into an apartment in DeKalb County. They
were among the families moved out of the Crescent Hills Apartments Oct. 1 and
into a motel temporarily by the archdiocese.
Caseworkers from the Office of Migration and Refugee Services of
CSS, assisted by archdiocesan staff and volunteers, continue to serve the daily
needs of seven refugee families still at the motel, providing transportation,
food and other support around the clock. They will be moved into suitable
rental housing as soon as possible.
The families, all Sudanese, but speaking a variety of dialects,
range from four to nine people each, and total approximately 48 people.
—Two senior staff people from the U.S. Catholic Conference
Office of Migration and Refugee Services, through which CSS receives refugees,
came to assist the archdiocese Oct. 3-6. Based on their preliminary evaluation,
one or two staff people will return to provide the Atlanta MRS staff specific
training and ongoing support.
—Karen Clark, a USCC field support coordinator who came to
Atlanta last week, will return Nov. 1 on an extended basis in order to help
identify a qualified person to direct the refugee resettlement program.
—Catholic Charities USA, the national umbrella organization
for Catholic Charities of the archdiocese, which oversees CSS, has been
requested to help locate an experienced person to serve as executive director
of Catholic Social Services for an interim period of time. That will enable an
adequate search to take place for a permanent director.
Jim Kantner, Ph.D., archdiocesan Secretary for Catholic Charities,
said that there will be a moratorium on the process of receiving more refugees
until “we can get a game plan.”
“There are a lot of things that need attention” in the
basic infrastructure of the Migration and Refugee Services unit, he said,
including such areas as staff training.
Betti Knott, director of operations for the archdiocese, has been
working to identify housing sites and Lloyd Sutter, senior administrator of the
Department of Religious Education, is the liaison for parish and volunteer
support.
Pam Buckmaster, executive director of Catholic Social Services,
resigned Oct. 4, in the wake of a public apology by Archbishop John F. Donoghue
for the placement of refugee families in the “deplorable” Crescent
Hills Apartments in south Atlanta. On Oct. 2, the 21-year director of refugee
resettlement for the archdiocese, Bui Van Tam, resigned. Tam’s resignation
was prompted by disclosure by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of a conflict of
interest involving his wife, who co-owns an apartment building near Turner
Field in Atlanta where refugees have been placed by CSS. She acquired the
property in 1994, according to Tam.
A preliminary internal audit shows that from 1994 to 2000, CSS
issued checks totaling approximately $19,635 for rentals at that apartment
complex but no funds were payable directly to Tam’s wife, according to
Kathi Stearns, archdiocesan vice chancellor for special projects.
Kantner said that CSS undergoes a mandatory annual audit by an
outside accounting firm, which was already in process. In addition, he said,
the archdiocese will conduct its own internal audit of Migration and Refugee
Services.
Touching on the resignations of the executive director and
resettlement director, Kantner said he believes both looked upon their work as
a vocation and not as a job. Buckmaster had worked at CSS for 16 years.
In stepping down, “Pam assumed, as a director should,
responsibility for the problems which have surfaced,” he said.
While in Atlanta this week, the USCC team visited the Crescent
Hills Apartments and other housing currently utilized by the CSS refugee
resettlement program.
As part of an overall review of the CSS program, Crescent Hills
was evaluated in 1998 by the USCC and found to be acceptable at that time, the
team said. However, they said they found the quality of the apartments now to
be “very poor” and the crime surrounding the apartments to also make
it unacceptable for housing refugees.
In interviewing MRS caseworkers, Clark said, they had expressed
concern about Crescent Hills to their supervisor. “It was bad judgment on
the part of the former resettlement director that something wasn’t done
earlier,” she said.
However, Clark said, other CSS sites they toured were acceptable
and, in some cases, the program is exceptional.
“The community center (at Grant Park) was very, very
impressive,” Clark said. “An ESOL class had just ended, vocational
training had just ended ... I found that community center to be very
resourceful and right on site where the refugees live.”
The USCC representatives said the CSS model of having centers
staffed by caseworkers at the housing sites where refugees live has been given
positive feedback by the U.S. State Department.
“Refugees don’t have to come downtown. They
(caseworkers) are right where they need them. We know these services have been
exemplary,” said Clark.
When CSS, as a local resettlement agency, accepts refugees through
the U.S. Catholic Conference, they commit to provide basic core services during
the first 30 days the refugee is placed, including assessing the refugee’s
needs and developing a plan for employment and resettlement. That plan is
followed over a course of 90 days for refugees who already have relatives in
the area or for 180 days for refugees who have no immediate family to help
assist them.
Clark also said that CSS had developed a model program for refugee
mental health that was the first of its kind. Funding for the program, which
was in place from 1996-99, has expired and it is not currently in place. CSS
also has a strong foundation of corporate support, she said, from chain
bookstores and other companies who have held dictionary drives for the ESOL
classes and helped to refurbish children’s playground equipment.
“There are so many good things about the program,” she said.
The USCC makes an on-site inspection every three years, more
frequently than the federal requirement of every four years.
“We would not be sending 500 refugees a year here if the
program did not have a lot going for it,” Clark said.
Paul Ragan, chairman of the board of Catholic Social Services,
said the board “is as deeply troubled as others are and our organization
is acting quickly to respond to this.”
At an emergency meeting of the executive committee, “we
reviewed the status of all efforts relating to this and we will be meeting
regularly to monitor the agency’s response,” Ragan said.
“We are proud of the hard work of the staff who are
tirelessly serving these families and we appreciate the assistance of the USCC
experts who are helping us assess the situation and propose
recommendations.”
“The board has tremendous confidence in Jim (Kantner) and the
refugee staff who are dealing with the crisis. To the staff, this hurts
tremendously.”
While accepting criticism of the program, Kantner has also
expressed frustration that MRS caseworkers’ efforts are being attacked and
overall problems of substandard housing in Atlanta overlooked.
“I wish people would lay down their swords of criticism and
destruction and beat them into plowshares,” Kantner said.
If the “people of God in Atlanta roll up their sleeves,”
a difference could be made in the larger problem of substandard housing in the
city, he said, which affects not only refugees but all poor people.
HOW TO HELP
The primary need that has surfaced immediately to help the
archdiocesan Office of Migration and Refugee Services is:
—The need for families and parishes to sponsor individual
refugee families, by giving time and energy to orienting them and to forming
relationships with them.
This sponsorship is primarily a gift of friendship and
relationship and would involve, for example, assessing what the needs of the
family are to begin adjusting to a new society; helping them with English
skills in a fundamental way; helping them learn basic life skills like using
the telephone and accessing public transportation; helping to tutor children
and helping children first adjust to school.
“This is a really big task even for one refugee family,”
said Lesley Rice, special assistant to the program director of MRS. “They
really need a friend in this country to help them meet these needs. It is not
material needs, but life skills and friendship needs that we can give to each
other.”
Call Lloyd Sutter, senior administrator of the archdiocesan
Depart-ment of Religious Education, at (404) 885-7412. He is coordinating
parish outreach and volunteers for this project. |
