North Carolina Division of Social Services

Refugee Assistance Program

The primary focus of the NC Refugee Assistance Program is economic self-sufficiency as soon as possible.

The NC Refugee Assistance Program (RAP) consists of two primary service areas - refugee public assistance and refugee social services. The NC-RAP also includes other discretionary grant funded programs. They are: assistance to public schools for educational support to refugee children (School Impact), targeted employment assistance in Guilford and Mecklenburg counties (Targeted Assistance Grant), aging services to older refugees, preventive health screening and targeted services to certain populations-the Hmong and Cuban/Haitians.

Refugee Public Assistance

Refugee public assistance involves two programs - refugee cash assistance and refugee medical assistance. Refugees are eligible for up to eight months after arrival in the USA. Eligibility criteria parallel the state's Medicaid and TANF programs. Application for this assistance is made at the local department of social services.

Refugee Social Services

Refugee social services include employability services (help preparing for, obtaining and keeping a job), case management and other services such as English Language Training, interpreter services, citizenship preparation and orientation to the community.

Local departments of social services and private-non-profit service agencies, under contract with the state, provide specialized services to refugees.

These services are provided to:

In North Carolina, approximately 8,500 refugees receive services through local providers.

Employment performance goals are established each year by the NC State Refugee Office regarding the refugee’s employment. In FFY06, over 900 adults received pre-employment services and 625 were placed in jobs with an average wage at placement of $8.48.

Ninety-five percent (95%) of all refugees keep their jobs and are still working 3 months after initial placement. This means NC refugees have one of the highest job retention rates in the nation.

Refugees are individuals fleeing from persecution in their homelands who have been designated for resettlement elsewhere in the world. In order to make determination of refugee status, representatives of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) interview and approve refugees overseas who are found to have a valid persecution claim and are deemed admissible to the US after careful criminal background checks and health/mental health screening.

Once refugee status is established, a joint effort, conducted by the US Department of State, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and DHS-CIS, brings approved individuals to the United States for resettlement.

Each year, in consultation with Congress, the US government allows up to 70,000 refugees to be admitted to the US. However, since 2001, annual refugee arrival numbers have been well below the ceiling – just over 52,000 in 2005 and 41,269 in 2006. Increasingly, more are being resettled in North Carolina; about 4% or 1,557 came to NC in 2006. In 2006, refugees were resettled primarily in Charlotte/Mecklenburg (539), Guilford/Greensboro (450), Wake/Raleigh (217), Craven/New Bern (78) and Buncombe/Asheville (47) areas. However, refugees settled or joined relatives in 26 of NC’s 100 counties.

Other eligible recipients of the Refugee Assistance Program include: Asylees, Certain Cuban and Haitian Entrants, Certain Amerasians (from Vietnam) and Victims of Human Trafficking.

For more information about the NC Refugee Assistance Program, contact the North Carolina State Refugee Coordinator or one of the Program Consultants at (919) 733-4650 or via email. To volunteer or make donations, contact local refugee service providers under contract with the State.