Refugee-run programs praised

When members of an Illinois Vietnamese association took over job placement for their own community in the 1980s, job placement doubled, says Edwin Silverman. It's an example he calls a "no-brainer."

Silverman, bureau chief of Refugee and Immigrant Services for the Illinois Department of Human Services, offered advice Thursday to Utah's Refugee Working Group. He said integration into speaking English and American culture can be enhanced by organizations created by the refugee communities themselves.

"Language is gold," Silverman said. "What we learned is that services to refugees and other immigrants need to be culturally competent and tied to language."

Silverman said community organizations also have successfully lobbied to continue funding state programs such as a refugee mental-health program.

Between 1983 and 2005, more than 15,000 refugees arrived in Utah. The Refugee Working Group was created by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon to develop recommendations to address gaps in Utah's resettlement program and look at refugee issues.

"It's on the table of proposals we'd be willing to consider," said Tani Pack Downing, executive director of Workforce Services. Downing said the working group will next try to prioritize gaps faced by refugees and come up with proposed solutions.

Pema Chagzoetsang, a Tibetan immigrant, spearheaded the nonprofit Salt Lake City Tibetan Resettlement Project to help Tibetans settle in Utah.

"Community should be involved, and they should definitely be given money," said Chagzoetsang. "Culture and language are tremendous benefits."

Silverman cautioned that such programs aren't fail-proof. As an example of what can happen when even a "simple mistake" is made, he pointed to a Chicago Bosnian center that thrived for a decade until the terms of every member of the board of directors expired at the same time. A new group of people came in without understanding the organization's growth or its donors. The budget fell from $700,000 to $150,000, and the organization is struggling to survive, he said.

He stressed the need for such programs to have prioritized, long-term goals based on their own communities' needs. It's important to understand funding — public and private — and to work for that funding, he said.

"The key is to find the mission you can absolutely accomplish," he said. "It takes work. It's extraordinarily hard work."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com