The Virginia Refugee Resettlement Model is the framework for refugee resettlement in Virginia. Virginia’s Refugee Resettlement Model (VRRM) is based on the guiding principle that refugees are best served by a community based system of care that is comprehensive, coordinated, and responsive to the strengths and needs of refugees and their families. Comprehensive case management connects with service agencies, organizations, and volunteers in the communities in which the client lives and works.
Virginia’s model of refugee resettlement originates from the purpose of the refugee resettlement program at the federal level, namely: promoting effective resettlement through attainment of economic self-sufficiency at the earliest time possible. The VRRM is based on the following six key elements:
- The Comprehensive Resettlement Plan (CRP) is the root and center of the delivery of all services to refugees;
- Long term public assistance utilization is not a way of life in America, and is therefore not a resettlement option;
- A refugee’s early employment promotes his/her earliest economic self-sufficiency;
- The physical and mental health needs of refugees must be addressed in a timely, coordinated and integrated way to promote and ensure the well-being and health of refugee families;
- Community receptivity to refugees is a key factor in successful resettlement; therefore, refugee resettlement offices must take the lead in creating a welcoming environment for refugees through community dialogues involving key stakeholders to provide local awareness of and input into the resettlement process and to ensure adequate levels of local support for the resettlement effort;
- Refugee resettlement involves many services that may be provided concurrently, progressively, or successively, but must always constitute a continuum of services, beginning at the time of the refugee’s arrival into the U.S. and continuing through self-sufficiency leading up to citizenship, and should reflect the following:
- Services must be sensitive to cultural and ethnic issues and must be implemented by a staff that, as closely as possible, mirrors the populations served,
- Language access is critical to the resettlement process and must be fostered by all who work with refugees,
- Refugees are best served by linking them to service providers that are conveniently located in the communities where they live,
- Coalitions of service providers ensure strong public/private partnerships and work to maximize community resources and to create a seamless service delivery system and,
- Ethnic organizations, also known as Mutual Assistance Associations (refugee self-help groups) bring unique strengths and cultural knowledge to the resettlement process and should be included in the service network.