Overview of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants.

Overview

The Office for Refugees and Immigrants (ORI), within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), was established in 1992 by Section 205 of Chapter 6 of the Massachusetts General Laws.¹ ORI is administered by a director, who is appointed by the Secretary of EOHHS, with the approval of the Governor, and had 14 employees as of June 30, 2018. Section 206 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws states,

The director shall be the state refugee coordinator pursuant to the federal Refugee Act of 1980. . . . The director shall also have primary responsibility for the administration of programs and services pursuant to the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Sections 207 and 208 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws outline ORI’s powers and duties and establish an advisory council to advise the Governor on policy, planning, and priorities for refugees and immigrants in the Commonwealth. Section 205 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws states,

The purpose of the office is to promote the full participation of refugees and immigrants as self-sufficient individuals and families in the economic, social, and civic life of the commonwealth.

To achieve its mission, ORI offers programs for refugees and immigrants that facilitate services such as health assessments, assistance with obtaining medical coverage, assistance to legal permanent residents with obtaining citizenship, financial literacy training, case management, employment services, cash assistance, and various social adjustment services.² According to correspondence from ORI officials, populations that are eligible for services include “refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, some Amerasians, certified victims of human trafficking, and special immigrant visa holders from Iraq and Afghanistan.”³ ORI refers to all these groups as “refugees” in its publications and documents.

ORI executes interagency service agreements (ISAs) with the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Public Health (DPH), EOHHS/MassHealth, and the Department of Transitional Assistance to provide services to refugees. A list of the programs administered by ORI and various contracted service providers is shown in Appendix A.

During our audit period, ORI incurred the following expenses to administer its programs.

Commonwealth Department	Fiscal Year 2017	Fiscal Year 2018
ORI	$9,315,205	$6,961,697
DCF, ISA	8,266,695	8,881,274
DPH, ISA	2,072,910	979,077
Total	$19,654,810	$16,822,048

*    See Appendix B for spending by account.

 

The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement funded 93% of ORI’s 2017 and 2018 expenditures. The Commonwealth and private donors funded the rest.

According to its annual reports, ORI provided services to 1,993 new arrivals from more than 40 countries in federal fiscal year 2017 and 783 new arrivals from more than 49 countries in federal fiscal year 2018. According to ORI’s 2018 annual report, the number of new arrivals dropped because the national refugee admission ceiling⁴ was lowered to 45,000.

1.    Before ORI was created, the Massachusetts Office of Refugee Resettlement was designated in 1985 by executive order as the office responsible for refugee affairs in the Commonwealth.

2.    The federal Department of State facilitates the placement of immigrants and refugees into the United States by contracting directly with resettlement organizations in various states that provide benefits for 90 days, including food for the first week; clothing; housing assistance; transportation services for appointments; and assistance with using public transportation, applying for Social Security cards, registering children for school, and community and cultural orientation. Newly enrolled individuals become eligible for ORI services upon application (which can occur in the first week of arrival) and approval by the Massachusetts Refugee Resettlement Program.

3.    The federal Department of Homeland Security determines whether a person can legally enter the United States and whether the person is considered a refugee. Refugee status for eligibility for benefits in the Commonwealth is determined by Section 2 of Title 121 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations in conjunction with Section 400 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

4.    The refugee admission ceiling is the maximum number of refugees who can be admitted into the United States annually. The US President sets this number, organized into regional subcategories, before each fiscal year begins.

Date published:	December 12, 2019