“A Whole Child Response to the Refugee Crisis”
According to United States law, a refugee is anyone who is displaced from their native country because of persecution or fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 100 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Included within that group are millions of families and children who are likely struggling to navigate education. According to The UN Refugee Agency, approximately 48% of refugee children remain out of school, and those who are enrolled are more likely than non-refugee students to fall behind. This data highlights the need to partner with community organizations to address the whole child and reduce non-academic barriers.
Listed below are a variety of resources within Greater Cleveland to assist in serving refugee students and their families.
Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services - helps resettle refugees by providing employment and legal services, English language training, and health and wellness support. Additionally, the Ohio Center for Survivors of Torture (OCST) consists of a multi-disciplinary team who provides strength-based and trauma-informed services.
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants - provides newly arrived refugees with comprehensive services, including housing, employment, interpretation, legal, health and mental health, and social services.
Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland - is a collective of Cleveland organizations that have joined together to better serve refugees in Northeast Ohio. The Collaborative includes refugee resettlement agencies, area school districts, healthcare providers, and community and faith-based organizations.
The Refugee Response - serves children, adolescents and adults through a variety of programs including Youth Mentoring, Teen Response project in Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), Corner65 a youth-led extracurricular program, multilingual content creation, and their Ohio City Farm.
US Together - coordinates, organizes and initiates services for refugees and immigrants through education, advocacy, support and networking. US Together helps children and families through resettlement, intensive case management, interpretation and linguistic services, placement and youth mentoring.
For additional information on refugees in Greater Cleveland as well as resources to support refugee students, consider attending the Northeast Ohio School Counselor/Social Worker Network on December 8, 2022, from 12:30-2:00pm. Our guest speaker will guide discussion on meeting non-academic needs of refugee students. Register here.