The social services team was established in 2022 to expand the provision of holistic, wraparound support services to HIAS’ legal and pro bono program participants in Silver Spring and New York. The team includes clinical case management and volunteer services, as well as the Asylee Outreach Project for asylees in Maryland.

Clinical case management services are available to program participants receiving legal services from HIAS attorneys and through the pro bono and partnerships program. Services include need-based screening and assessment, emotional and mental health support and education, crisis intervention, and referrals and assistance in accessing community resources.

Case managers work closely with the volunteer program team to enhance mental health support through the provision of volunteer services. The case management program is designed to assist program participants who report unsafe, unstable, or inadequate access to housing, income, food, clothing, transportation, childcare, or education. Crisis intervention and safety planning services are available to program participants experiencing violence or who are in need of mental health services.

Program participants may contact the case management program directly or may be referred by the legal and pro bono and partnerships programs.  All program participants referred to the social services program receive a full intake, screening, and assessment by one of our clinical case managers.

The HIAS volunteer program trains, mobilizes, and oversees community members in direct service, translation/interpretation, and specialized projects to benefit and empower clients in the legal services team and Asylee Outreach Project (AOP), as well as the broader immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C. and New York metropolitan areas.

Direct service volunteers partner with program participants to provide mentorship, English language assistance, translation and interpretation, and accompaniment. Individuals and groups engage in specialized projects that may include donation drives, fundraisers, educational events, and the development of educational or resource material. All volunteers working directly with program participants undergo a recruitment and onboarding process which includes comprehensive vetting and training.

Asylees are eligible for various benefits funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), including everything from health insurance to English classes. Few asylees, however, access these benefits. After securing legal protection through a complex, arduous process, asylees too often don’t receive the valuable supports to which they are entitled.

In 2018, the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees awarded HIAS a grant to address this issue. The grant funds the Maryland Asylee Outreach Project (AOP), an initiative to help asylees in the state access the benefits to which they are entitled. Maryland’s providers of refugee services include offices of the Ethiopian Community Development Council, the International Rescue Committee, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, as well as the state’s many local Department of Social Services offices.

Since then, the Asylee Outreach Project has grown to include national work, advocating for access to post-asylum grant information nationwide through outreach and its Asylee Benefits Orientations held nationwide.