Refugee Resource Community Plan
Executive Summary
September 13, 2010
In April 2009, the City of Boise and the Idaho Office for Refugees began a strategic planning process with the primary goal of strengthening supports for refugee resettlement in the greater Boise area. The planning process mapped resources, assessed service needs, and identified areas where resources for the effective resettlement of refugees could be better utilized, coordinated or expanded. A secondary goal of the process was to better inform all persons involved about the principles and practices of refugee resettlement, especially as they are applied to the community of Boise. More than one hundred community leaders, policy makers, service agency representatives, resettled refugees, volunteers, advocates, educators and community members-at-large were engaged in the planning effort.
A Steering Committee made up of twenty-five community leaders guided the early stages of the planning process and nominated subject matter experts to participate on six subcommittees that addressed needs and resources related to transportation, education, housing, employment, health, and social integration. Each subcommittee met to define the needs and to recommend resources and strategies for improving services and opportunities for refugees. The subcommittee chairs, directors of the refugee resettlement agencies and representatives from the Office of the Mayor and the Idaho Office for Refugees drafted goals and objectives based on the work of the subcommittees. These goals and objectives were then reviewed by the Steering Committee, which in turn identified responsible parties and community partners to move the plan forward.
The plan document is organized by subject matter, addressing each of the six subcommittee topics in order, essentially creating a plan in six sections. Each section specifies an overarching goal and contains a list of objectives, actions steps recommended to accomplish objectives, responsible parties for each objective, community partners, and key dates and expected date of completion. The plan also identifies early successes related to each objective.
Significant findings
The initial planning process culminated in the publication of a written document that identifies many significant resources currently employed in support of Boise’s refugee population, as well as several collaborative initiatives that are underway to improve services and opportunities for refugees. The leadership of the Office of the Mayor and the engagement of a wide variety of departments within city government were key factors in the development of the plan and the high degree of coordination among state and county agencies, community based organizations, resettlement agencies and ethnic community organizations contributed greatly to the effort.
Although the focus of the plan was refugee resettlement, it became clear early on the many of the resource gaps identified were larger systems issues that affect similarly situated low-income populations, but which tend to have a particular impact on recently resettled refugees. These issues included limited availability of affordable housing, limited public transportation options, lack of employment opportunities due to high unemployment, and barriers to access to health care and mental health services.
In the process of compiling and analyzing the work of the six subcommittees, several cross-cutting issues emerged and were identified as crucial elements of effective refugee resettlement.
§ Transportation: The challenge of accessing affordable and reliable transportation cut across all subcommittee observations.
§ Language Assistance: There is a broad-based need for expansion of qualified interpreter and translator resources, development of training programs and establishment of standards for quality control.
§ Refugee Education: The need for more educational programming across the board, from basic skills to accessing higher education to expansion of and access to recertification programs, was identified in all subcommittee discussions.
§ Community Understanding: A number of subcommittees identified the need to continue to expand public awareness and education around refugee resettlement.
The range of recommendations that emerged from the subcommittees fell into several broad categories:
- Need for systemic change—systems ranged from international to local—to improve the safety net for refugees, as well as for others living in or near poverty.
- Expansion or creation of programs and services to address unmet needs of refugees. While some of these needs require immediate action, others present a longer-term challenge.
- Suggestions for increasing public education, awareness and advocacy on behalf of refugees.
- Expansion of partnerships and broader engagement of additional decision-making stakeholders.
- The advancement of a coordinated, community-wide effort to achieve the plan goals and objectives
Conclusion and Next Steps
Boise has a strong, welcoming and proactive community that is committed to providing refugees with the resources and opportunities they need to become self-reliant, engaged citizens. The collaborative relationships among government, resettlement and community-based organizations, and the refugee community itself provide a solid foundation for continued improvements that impact refugees, at both a systemic and individual level, and over an extended period of time. Key to this effort, however, will be continued administrative support, outreach to and feedback from stakeholders and updates to the steering committee and community by the responsible parties identified in the plan