IRIS- Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services

Finding work is a major factor in refugees' successful resettlement in the US. Adult refugees are legally authorized to work immediately upon arrival. IRIS’s Employment Services are designed to foster economic self-sufficiency soon after refugees arrive. The employment team works one-on-one with every employable refugee to help them find and keep jobs. Many refugees, including highly qualified professionals, accept entry-level positions as a first step toward building a new life for themselves and their families. The Employment Services team also helps refugees formulate long-term goals, such as training or re-certification in their chosen fields. During FY16, 64% of IRIS's clients who were seeking employment found their first job within 4 months of arrival, and 93% were working by 6 months of arrival. Employment Services is staffed by two full-time and two part-time employees, plus several volunteers and interns.

Refugees come to the US with a variety of physical and mental health care needs. The IRIS Health and Wellness Program supports refugees of all ages in obtaining high-quality medical care. The program's chief partner is Yale-New Haven Hospital, which provides health assessments and follow-up care at the Adult and Pediatric Refugee Health Clinics. These clinics are staffed by Yale Medical School residents under the supervision of an attending physician. IRIS's Health and Wellness Program Coordinator provides extensive care coordination including: serving as a liaison with medical providers, arranging interpreters, scheduling and accompanying clients to medical appointments, obtaining test results, teaching refugees how to utilize a pharmacy, and ensuring they understand the follow-up plans. IRIS engages many volunteers in this effort, including as interpreters, advocates, and instructors who offer health literacy workshops at IRIS.

IRIS’s Education and Youth Services encompasses three programs: 1) Extensive academic support and enrichment activities for K-12 children, including a Summer Learning Program and in-school tutoring; 2) English language classes for adult refugees; and 3) Early Learning opportunities for refugees ages 1-4, including programming while their parents attend English class, and help applying for admission to preschools. Most adult refugees speak limited or no English and must improve before they will find jobs. Some children have never attended a school; others come from families in which education is highly valued. Upon arrival, few refugee children speak English and must adjust quickly to the social and intellectual demands of school in the US. Luckily, children learn languages quickly and make friends easily. To see children succeed in school and develop friendships with peers from all over the world is one of the most rewarding aspects of work at IRIS. IRIS also prepares parents to be active participants in their children's education.

Refugees who arrive in Connecticut are relieved to escape persecution and hopeful as they rebuild their lives. But for some, resettlement also brings sadness, because they have left their loved ones behind. For them, nothing is more important than being reunited.

Refugees also need legal help to become permanent residents and—five years after their arrival—to become US citizens.

Family reunification, and applying for permanent residency and citizenship, requires professional legal assistance, which can be prohibitively expensive, poor quality, or worse—fraudulent. In order to address the severe shortage of affordable and high-quality immigration attorneys, IRIS provides Immigration Legal Services.

An attorney directs the program and supervises a legal assistant, volunteer attorneys, and student interns. The program represents over 400 cases each year, and conducts workshops to teach refugees about US laws and their overall rights and responsibilities as a resident in the US.