Background of the project

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933, the IRC is at work today in more than 40 countries and in 26 U.S. cities. The IRC's Resettlement, Asylum and Integration (RAI) department creates opportunities for refugees and other vulnerable migrants to survive and thrive in the U.S. RAI serves over 50,000 individuals each year in the US through a diverse portfolio of programs aimed at achieving outcomes in five impact areas: Health, Safety, Economic Wellbeing, Education, and Power.

Created by the IRC and seated in RAI, the New Jersey Office for Refugees (NJOR) was established in October of 2016 and administers and coordinate Refugee Support Services (RSS) funded by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) through sub-awards to six non-profit agencies in the state. NJOR currently provides services for over 13,000 refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and victims of human trafficking eligible for ORR funding. NJOR's goal is to support the positive integration of refugees in New Jersey, which includes supporting the delivery of immigration-related legal assistance for eligible Afghans and Ukrainians.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has authorized eligible Afghans who are recipients of Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 and the Additional Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (ASA) RSS funding; and eligible Ukrainians who are recipients of Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (AUSAA) funding, to receive immigration-related legal assistance. ORR-authorized legal assistance services are defined in ORR Policy Letter 23-05, which lists allowable immigration-related legal assistance services and other allowable activities to facilitate client access to immigration-related legal assistance. Since Fiscal Year 2022, NJOR oversees sub-awards to three non-profit agencies--Church World Service, Interfaith-RISE, and the IRC in Elizabeth, to provide immigration-related legal assistance to eligible Afghans. The use of AUSAA RSS funds for immigration-related legal assistance was recently authorized by ORR in June 2023.

Scope of Work:

NJOR seeks a legal analyst to conduct a landscape review of ASA and AUSAA legal assistance activities and provide recommendations on ensuring program quality and compliance with ORR regulations and reporting requirements. Specifically, the legal analyst is expected to:

• Participate in a virtual and/or in-person visits to sub-awardees in New Jersey to conduct a landscape review of client need and the types of immigration-related legal assistance provided in response to client need; and accomplishments, challenges, and proposed or implemented solutions related to the delivery of immigration-related legal assistance
• Based on the finding of the landscape review and analysis of ORR policy letters and guidelines related to ASA- and AUSAA legal assistance, provide recommendations on:
• Ensuring equitable selection of clients being provided immigration-related legal assistance
• Coordinating immigration-related legal assistance in NJ so that all eligible clients are served and to ensure efforts are not being duplicated across legal service providers
• Creating reporting mechanisms for case outcomes, while respecting client confidentiality
• Creating guidelines for future monitoring of sub-awardees, including appropriate interview questions and casefile review

Deliverables:

• Landscape review of ASA and AUSAA agencies
• Report containing written recommendations described under the scope of work
• Regular meetings at the beginning of, during, and end of the project period with NJOR staff