This month’s forum shared a variety of great resources for community members regarding employment and health programs available to immigrant and refugee populations. We heard speakers from DEED as well as representatives from the Department of Health and The YMCA of the North. 

Vocational Rehabilitation Services

Rehabilitation Area Manager Dawn Larue-Wittwer gave an overview on Vocational Rehabilitation Services at DEED. The Vocational Rehabilitation Services Division provides services to Minnesotans with disabilities to assist them in achieving their career goals. The individual they assist is in the driver’s seat and VRS acts as the navigator on that person’s pathway to employment. VRS will work with the client to create an employment plan which is an agreement between VRS and the client on which services will help them achieve their career goals. Services may include counseling and guidance, job development, job coaching and more. Services may be provided directly from VRS or an outside vendor. Once they are employed, they follow-up after 90 days to make sure it’s a good job match and that they have everything they need to succeed in the future. Currently VRS doesn’t have a waiting list for their services. She also mentioned Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) which is available to all students with disabilities and the New Americans Project which is a subset of VRS services with a more culturally sensitive focus. 

State Services for the Blind

Next, State Services for the Blind’s Director Natasha Jerde gave an overview of the services available from the department. DEED’s State Services for the Blind exists to facilitate the achievement of vocational and personal independence by Minnesotans who are blind, visually impaired, or DeafBlind. They share similar goals to VRS, but they differ in that they serve individuals who have vision loss plus any other disability. They provide tools, training, technology and job search and placement assistance so individuals can successfully live and work. Some of the work units she highlighted include:

Business Enterprise Program – Provides profitable vending machine business opportunities to qualified licensed legally blind Minnesotans.

Senior Services Unit – Provides independent living services for blind, visually impaired, and DeafBlind individuals 18 and older who are not seeking employment.

Communication Center – Provides reading materials in braille, e-text, or human narrated audio formats for people who are blind, losing vision, DeafBlind, or who have other disabilities that make it difficult to read print at no cost to them.

Radio Talking Book – A free news and information services that broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week to listeners across Minnesota and the nation.

Minnesota Refugee Health Program

Refugee Health Coordinator Blain Mamo from the Department of Health shared some background information on the Minnesota Refugee Health Program. Their program’s mission is to promote and enhance the health and well-being of refugees. A lot of the work they do includes coordinating health screenings for refugees and analyzing that data to share with and train health professionals. Refugee arrivals to Minnesota have ebbed and flowed throughout the last 40 years. Currently, COVID-related travel restrictions have significantly reduced the number of refugee arrivals to the state in the last 18 months. So far in 2021, Minnesota has seen roughly over 700 refugees arrive to the state with a major increase in Afghan refugees.

Community Updates

Refugee Outreach Specialist Ward Westray from The YMCA of the North gave an overview on The Family Assisters Program. The program consists of a group of navigators that provide free support services to immigrant and refugee populations throughout Minnesota. Services related to basic and emergency needs is their focus and those can include housing, food access, translations, employment, ESL courses, youth activities and more. They can provide services to immigrants and refugees for up to 5 years after arrival to Minnesota.

If you missed this month’s forum, you can watch our discussion on DEED’s YouTube channel.