OBJECTIVE: To prov ide tutor ing and educat ional serv ices to re fugees enter ing the South At lant ic reg ion o f the Uni ted States in order to increase the number o f re fugees apply ing for permanent Uni ted States res idency.

The Reading Refugees Program

Mike MarreroSOC-402-01

April 22, 2014

Community Need

There has been an extremely large number of refugees entering the United States, with the South Atlantic region gaining the largest percentage. This region is comprised of: Delaware Florida Georgia Maryland North Carolina South Carolina Virginia West Virginia Washington D.C.

East South Central

Pacific

Mountain

West South Central

New England

South Atlantic

U.S. Territories

East North Central

West North Central

Middle Atlantic

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00%

Documented Nonresident Population by U.S. Geo-

graphical Region

Total

Community Need Data

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement:http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/refugee-arrival-data

Problems…

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department (http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/refugees), a refugee is an individual who: Is located outside of the United States; Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States; Demonstrates that they were persecuted due to race,

religion, nationality, political origin, or membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; and

Is admissible to the United States.

Often times, however, these individuals experience an array of new issues upon arriving to the states, including but not limited to: Cultural Isolation Limited Resource Availability Linguistic Barriers

All of these factor into the extremely large number of refugees that have difficulty filing for permanent residency.

Logical Approach

Literature Review

“If [refugees] do not possess a citizenship status, influence, connections, and language skills (competency in English in this study), they will feel alone and bare in an unconquered environment, [and] consequently will be at risk of mental health deterioration.”

“A much lower percentage of refugees (25.6%) work in skilled jobs compared to other immigrants (41.7%)…This occupational difference for refugees should not come as a total surprise as refugees, due to lower English ability and educational levels, often end up in the first available job they can find…”

“Language barriers can represent a major challenge for the social integration of non-English speaking refugee populations.”

Works Cited

Carbajal, María José and Jesús María de Miguel Calvo. 2012. “Needs Assessment of Mental Health Services among Cuban Refugees Resettled in Roanoke, Virginia, USA: An Explanatory Study.” Cuadernos de Trabajo Social, 25(2):477-487.

Connor, Phillip. 2010. “Explaining the Refugee Gap: Economic Outcomes of Refugees versus Other Immigrants.” Journal of Refugee Studies, 23(3):377-397.

Tshabangu-Soko, Thandi S. and Rosemary M. Caron. 2011. “English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): Improving English Language Acquisition for Preliterate and Nonliterate Adult African Refugees.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 9:416-433.

Assessment

Evaluation Question: Are refugees in The Reading Refugees Program more likely to improve English language proficiency and obtain aid in the citizenship process than those not in the program?

Evaluation Design: After Only with ControlsEvaluation Statistics:

CrossTab/Chi-Square Logistic Regression—Control for Gender and

Education

Data Analysis—CrossTab

• Of the sampled total participants in the program (398, or 53.1% of the sample), 46.2% of the participants reported having insufficient English language comprehension skills. But…• Of the sampled total participants not in the program (351, or 46.9% of the sample), 52.4% of the sample reported having insufficient English language comprehension skills (a 6.2% difference!)

Data Analysis—Chi Square

• Even though my CrossTab test shows a respectable percentage difference for refugees enrolled in the program versus those not in the program and corresponding English proficiency, my program cannot be ruled a statistically significant cause for this change, as the test was not statistically significant at at least the .05 level (95th percentile).

Data Analysis—Logistic Regression

• Again, after controlling for two other variables—respondents’ gender and level of education—my test was not statistically significant at the .05 level, as the significance level was .095. Thus, I cannot (statistically) conclude that my program was the direct cause of refugees gaining English comprehension over time.

Sustainability

Step 1: Find estimated salaries for employees in Florida—the site of the program.

Step 2A: Research average number of hours worked by employees in United States.

Step 2B: Convert hourly salaries into annual (estimated) by multiplying values from Steps 1 and 2A.

Step 3: Research average monthly rent for office space in Florida.

Step 4: Look up average market costs of material items.

Step 5: Create formalized budget.

Step 1

Source: http://www.floridajobs.org/labor-market-information/data-

center/statistical-programs/occupational-employment-statistics-and-wages

Step 1 Continued

Step 2

Source: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS

Step 3

Source: http://www.loopnet.com/Orlando_FL_Market-Trends

Step 5