Agencies combine efforts for refugees
Five Franklin County service agencies have joined forces to help refugees find jobs. Their success rate: 100 percent.
The collaboration is like no other in the state and entails the agencies helping each other help refugees find employment soon after entering the country.
Franklin County Job and Family Services leads the collaboration. It is the only county job and family services agency in Ohio that receives state funding for single refugees with no dependents.
Though the collaboration that began in 2014 took some adjustment, the agencies now work together more successfully than they would apart. They also get more government funding for the programs they run, said Susan Gregorek, social program developer at Job and Family Services.
“It’s led to more positive outcomes,” Gregorek said.
In 2016, 740 refugees were served through the refugee social service program, according to agency figures.
Along with Community Refugee and Immigration Services — or CRIS, Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services, US Together and Jewish Family Services, the group calls itself the Central Ohio Refugee Social Services Program.
The collaboration began after the county Job and Family Services asked the other four agencies if they wanted to bid for funding from the state together or separately — which is how other Ohio regions and counties approach the process.
“We all decided the model would be stronger if we worked together instead of separately,” Gregorek said. “We all sort of work together for the aid of the refugees, which has been highly successful.”
Januka Sarki, a Nepali refugee, was sitting in a classroom at CRIS’s Northwest Side office this past week in part because of the collaboration. Along with three classmates, she was learning to tell time with a cardboard and plastic clock in an English for Speakers of Other Languages class.
Sarki and refugees like her receive instructions in English and employment services, as well as support services to remove any barriers they might have to employment, Gregorek said.
Refugees don’t step off the plane and go right into a job; they get services from the county and local agencies to help them prepare for the American work environment. The agencies have eight months to prepare their clients to get employment, during which the new residents receive cash and food assistance from the county, said Marcus Gorman, with CRIS.
On average, people in the program Sarki is in work with agencies for six to eight months to learn English, culture and job skills, with an emphasis on in-depth job training and preparation and on finding the right employer, Gorman said.
“There’s an emphasis on job placement, but there’s also an emphasis on job retention,” Gregorek said. That’s why refugees aren’t only taught English, but about American culture on the job, such as how to dress for work, call in sick and more.
The agencies’ teamwork manifests itself in many ways. Each agency has its niche and they frequently call on one another for help.
For example, Tariq Tarey of Jewish Family Services often works with Gorman. The two might visit potential employers together, call on each other to ensure carpool opportunities for clients and more.
“At CRIS, there’s a real team environment,” said Angie Plummer, Executive Director of the resettlement agency. “Sometimes, someone else can do a quick interpretation ... or I’m calling someone from Jewish Family Services and the individual is providing the support I need.”
For the local agencies, “challenges are not internal,” Tarey said, recalling times he’s called on another CRIS employee for help. “He’ll never say no.”
“On any given day, teams will partner with each other to visit employers and explain why refugees make a good workforce,” Gregorek said.
That relationship is unique to Franklin County. The county partners and provides services for refugees as a “gateway to the country,” said county Commissioner Kevin Boyce.
“We feel it’s an important passage.”