Utah may soon select a refugee director

The state's first director of an emerging Refugee Services Office could be in place by early next year.

It's a first step in a comprehensive plan for the state to take a more organized approach, with better staffing, to meet the needs of Utah's refugee community, says Palmer DePaulis, executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture.

The plan is the result of a year's worth of exploring the issue by a Refugee Working Group. It was announced last month by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.

"We're moving very quickly," DePaulis said of organizing the office, which for now will be federally funded under the Department of Workforce Services.

The refugee group also has requested that Huntsman allocate $200,000 in state funding for refugee services in the governor's budget, which is set to be released Monday, DePaulis said.

The office would do a job currently handled by one person — Norman Nakamura, a program specialist at DWS who coordinates refugee resettlement, directing federal funding and assisting in coordination of agency services. Nakamura says an office with a staff would be better able to ensure an increasingly diverse population's needs are met.

"It's been something I've wanted for a long time, recognizing that one person can't do it all," Nakamura said. "The needs of the refugees over the last five to seven years are significantly different from the needs ... when the program was created.

"In the '80s we had a huge population coming from a handful of countries in Southeast Asia. Now, we've got a handful of people coming from all over the world."

The directorship, posted at jobs.utah.gov, is open until Dec. 17. DePaulis said experience working with refugees is preferred but not required.

"This is a way to really elevate this issue with the state and the county to give this the visibility and strength we needed to get some of these issues addressed," DePaulis said.

Adding state funding would create a way for refugees to be served beyond the five-year deadline placed on federal funding for refugee services, Nakamura says. And, he says, the new office will be better able to help emerging community-based organizations establish themselves.

As an area where the new state office could help, Aden Batar, refugee resettlement director for Catholic Community Services, points to Burmese refugees who are arriving, often after having lived in refugee camps for years.

"They are struggling with life skills," Batar said. "We have to be flexible in dealing with them. Hopefully this new office, I hope we can get some guidance."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com