REFUGEE SERVICES OF TEXAS, INC

RST aims to provide displaced individuals and families in Texas with support to meet their basic needs and any additional support we are able to provide that leads to our clients' long term self-sufficiency. We focus on our clients immediate needs upon their arrival to Texas, or as they are identified as a victim of human trafficking, and continue to provide them with the skills and training to gain employment.

RST offers a variety of programs for our clients and assigns them case managers to find the right programs and resources. Some programs we offer include a Reception and Placement Program to provide immediate help to recently arrived clients and our Matching Grant Program that is designed to provide a continuum of service after the Reception and Placement period with an additional emphasis on early employment and self-sufficiency. RST also provides Social Adjustment Services, Employment Services, and Immigration Legal Services. Our Survivors of Trafficking Empowerment Program (STEP) in Austin, Texas, identifies and serves recent survivors of human trafficking. RST also provides intensive care to highly vulnerable youth and refugee clients in our Refugee Youth Intensive Case Management program and our Intensive Case Management Program. Individuals with advanced medical needs and physical disabilities can get the support they need in our Medical Case Management Program.

RST has five service site locations across the major Texas cities of Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston with a staff of over 100 full time employees working to provide our clients the support they need. RST receives support from federal grants and donations from philanthropic companies, faith groups, and generous individuals. RST has a strong volunteer base with over 1,200 volunteers helping RST just this year. RST is an affiliate of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Church World Service (CWS), and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).

RST began serving refugees and other displaced populations in 1978 and continues the same work today. Additionally, RST is a founding member and standing Steering Committee member of Central Texas Coalition against Human Trafficking and has recently created a family reunification program starting in 2018 in response to the separation of families along the southern border. RST will continue to provide services to newly arrived refugees and other displaced people and expand its efforts to support all survivors of labor and sex trafficking.