Degree Name

MA in Sustainable Development

First Advisor

Kanthie Athukorola

Second Advisor

Amy Jersild

Abstract

Ascentria Care Alliance is one of many community agencies across the United States working with refugees to provide direct care and support for integration into local communities. Founded as Lutheran Social Services of New England, Ascentria Care Alliance integrates its faith-based roots with a client-centered strategy to empower those they serve and their neighbors to “rise together” and build a thriving society. Services for New Americans is their branch focused on providing assistance to refugees arriving in the United States.

The organization receives most of its funding from three VOLAG agencies, Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), Church World Services (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS). The main requirement for continued funding is to ensure that refugees become self-sufficient by gaining employment within six-months of their arrival. As a result, the employment team works closely with businesses in the community to help refugees find jobs.

However, the organization lacks a monitoring and evaluation plan for most of the services it provides. Therefore, this evaluation framework seeks to enhance the employment program through a regular data gathering and reporting system. Most importantly, the framework will provide data on the employment status of male and female refugees separately in order to address the different challenges men and women face in gaining employment. With the availability of this information, stakeholders, the program director, and program manager can make the necessary decisions to help improve the employment services provided to the refugee population.

Disciplines

Family, Life Course, and Society | Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Welfare | Sociology of Culture

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