Special Provisions Relating to Refugees/Unaccompanied Refugee Minors

(1) The Department provides a range of social services to refugee families, in conjunction with the services of other departments (e.g. Transitional Assistance, Mental Health, etc.) and in cooperation with the Governor's Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants (GACRI) and the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants (MORI). The Department offers refugees the full range of services described in 110 CMR. For services available to refugees beyond the social services offered by the Department (e.g. food stamps, SSI, ESL training, etc.) more information is available by contacting MORI directly, at 727-7888. (2) The Department shall periodically offer training to its social work staff on the cultural and ethnic issues of those refugee populations which are statistically significant in Massachusetts. (3) The Department operates an Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program, which provides foster care and case management services to Indochinese (Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian) refugee children who arrive in Massachusetts unaccompanied by a parent or immediate relative. In every case the parents of such children are either deceased or of parts unknown. The intent of this program is to reunite such children with a member or members of their family. Services are provided to these minors by providers under contract with the Department. These providers are required to have a demonstrated ability to respond to the cultural and linguistic needs of the refugees they serve. The Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program is fully funded by the federal government through the Office of Refugee Resettlement. At present, a federal regulation requires that such children not be freed for adoption by the states. A proposed amendment to the federal regulation, to allow states to free such children for adoption, awaits enactment. The Department will adhere to the federal regulation in question.