Boise Refugee Asset and Needs Assessment

1. Boise Refugee Asset and Needs Assessment Royce A. Hutson, PhD Assistant Professor School of Social Work Boise State University

2. Background BSU School of Social Work conducts a series of focus groups in Spring, 2013 • 5 focus groups (Congolese; Karen; Somali; Men; Women) • Final Report issued in June, 2013 • Report used to develop survey Planned survey of 300 randomly selected households from list provided by Idaho Office for Refugees (approx. 150 to date) • Funded by BSU School of Social Work & College of Social Science and Public Affairs and the Idaho Office for Refugees • Survey starts in September, 2013 • To date, over 100 households have been surveyed.

3. Findings from the 2013 Focus Groups High levels of frustration expressed in all focus groups • Employment • Securing employment • Low levels of responsibility relative to training • Pay • Opportunities for Advancement • Material well-being and living conditions not consistent with expectations prior to arrival • Too much initial emphasis on job placement relative to language acquisition and educational opportunities • Information was not provided in a timely fashion • Cash assistance was meager and too short of duration • Issues with men and women’s role expectations and performance

4. The Survey • Recruiting and administration of the survey is conducted by speakers of the respondent’s native language • Survey has nine sections • Demographics • Socio-Economic Background • Child Education • Adult Education • Employment • Experience with Law Enforcement • Civic Engagement and Acculturation • Subjective Quality of Life Scale • Harvard Trauma Questionnaire – PTSD scale Takes about an 1 – 1 ½ hours to complete

5. Demographics of the Sample Population Pyramid Total number of household interviewed, entered and analyzed as of Feb 3rd = 140 These households represent 599 individuals Males = 55.7% Females 44.3% Average age = 25.91 Median = 22 SD = 17.85 Average household size = 4.30 Median = 4.00 SD = 2.30

6. Nationality to Date Missing several nationalities – Georgia, Liberia, Pakistan, Togo, etc.

7. Sampling Statistics

8. Marital Status and Educational Attainment Marital Status (18 Years old and older) Educational Attainment – All (25 years old and older)

9. Employment – 18 to 65

10. Household Material Well-Being Automobile Ownership Computer Ownership Internet Access

11. Self-Reported Earned Income

12. Income Graphs Total HH Income Per Person Income

13. Housing

14. Child Education: Parental Satisfaction

15. Child Education – Continued Agreement With The Statement, “My Child Has Too Much Homework.” How Often Did You Speak Directly to Teachers/Administrators at the School?

16. Respondent Education in US

17. Respondent Employment 83 People (59.3%) were currently employed Men are 4 times more likely to be working than women Controlling for age, HS graduation and length of stay in the US Of those who are unemployed, approximately 37% are looking for work (Effective Unemployment Rate = 15%)

18. Satisfaction with Employment

19. Civic Engagement and Acculturation • 92.5% of respondents stated that the primary language spoken at home was their native language • 23.3% of respondents state that their children cannot speak or only speak little of their native language • 37.2% of respondents state that they are concerned or very concerned about their children adopting American “habits”

20. Global Satisfaction with Community Services

21. Subjective Quality of Life Scale:ComQoL-A5 Generally, 75.0* SM (+/- 2.5 SM) for the ComQoL-A5 is considered ‘average’ for the ‘overall score’: Overall Mean = 70.9 (SD = 17.4; Median = 74.1) *On a scale of 0 – 100; SM = Scale Maximum

22. Harvard Trauma Questionnaire - PTSD Conservative Cutoff rate for diagnosable PTSD = 2.5 8.6%of the ‘valid’ population fits this criteria (Current past year PTSD prevalence in the US is estimated at 3.5%)

24. Early Statistical Models on PTSD • High School Graduation, Unemployment (looking) and Gender not Associated with PTSD • Per Person Income (negative) and Age (positive) are Associated with PTSD

25. Top Suggestions for Improving Resettlement Process • Length of aid of a predominant issue for respondents • Amount of aid • Many suggested more support for refugee servicing agencies • Several noted Medicaid • More/better interpreters • English Language Instruction • Relevant to refugees, better access • Jobs • Not ‘forcing’ refugees into first available position • Additional training • Better job referral – relevant to prior experience and training • Case management • Longer Duration, Follow-up, greater involvement (more caseworkers) • Housing • Affordability

26. Caveats • We are still working on getting hard to reach groups because of language difficulties and interviewer attrition • Views are of those who: • Agree to participate • We have current contact information • Speak languages for which we have speakers With that, findings may differ as we contact additional respondents

27. Research Team Principal Investigator: Royce Hutson, PhD Project Coordinator: Zulfira Pulatova, MPA Research Assistants: Dawn Juker Refik Sadikovic BelmaSadikovic We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Idaho Office for Refugees, BSU School of Social Work, and the BSU College of Social Science and Public Affairs for their support for this project. Cover photo: BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19042686