10/28/2009 - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES
OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT
Services for Survivors of Torture Program


The City of Portland Health & Human Service Department, Social Services Division
has been awarded a three year grant of $1,080,000.
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The City of Portland Maine, Health & Human Service Department, through its Social Services Division, Refugee Resources Program, and partners Catholic Charities Maine (Maine’s official refugee resettlement agency) and Community Counseling Center, has been awarded $1,080,000 from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement Services for Survivors of Torture Program.

The principal objective of this three-year grant is to provide refugees, UA and asylees living in the Portland area who are torture survivors with culturally competent, trauma-informed treatment and services that supports their recovery from trauma and their ability to live independently. The secondary objective is to provide training to the refugee community, as well as care providers, regarding the prevalence of torture, its short and long term effects on victims, culturally competent treatment strategies, and sources of assistance.

The grant will focus on the needs of refugees living in the Portland area. Services will be limited to refugees, UA, or asylees who meet the definition of torture given in 18 U.S.C. 2340(1). This definition includes rape, other forms of sexual violence, and other acts “committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering … upon another person within his custody or physical control.” We seek to build on the strengths of the individuals and their culture and use those to support recovery. We assess individuals’ needs holistically, using a broad range of assistance and strategies to heal the four realms of human existence: the spiritual, emotional, social, and physical.

The Community Counseling Center Mental Health Coordinator will asses individuals’ mental health status, and work with them to develop a treatment plan. Depending on the individuals needs, the plan may include such things as individual or group therapies, or medication for depression or other mental health disorders. Every effort will be made to offer treatment that is culturally competent and evidence-based, and which employs customs and traditions that build community connections to support torture survivors.

Case managers will be based at the Portland Social Services Division, Refugee Services Program and at Catholic Charities Maine. They will assist torture survivors with getting their basic needs met for shelter, housing, general assistance, health care, and food. Through a person-centered planning process they will also help torture survivors identify goals for stability and connect them to the resources they need to achieve it, including but not limited to English language instruction, employment training, placement and coaching, and mental health and wellness care. Case managers will work collaboratively with other agencies to ensure survivors’ needs are met. They will be able to provide the more intensive services and support survivors of torture in order to become self-sufficient.

This grant will help strengthen and expand the continuum of care for survivors of torture living in the Portland area. Key results will include:
•10 clinicians, case managers, and other key staff will complete online and face-to-face training to learn how to screen, assess, and assist torture survivors.
•350 refugees will receive screening and assessment for torture experience.
•250 torture survivors experience improved housing stability, employment/income, resolve legal issues, or make progress towards other goals that lead to self-sufficiency.
•30 interpreters will receive training on how to interpret for survivors of torture in mental health settings.
•200 non-English speaking torture survivors will receive linguistically and culturally appropriate mental health service and case management.
•150 member of Portland’s refugee community will participate in meetings in which they learn to identify the after effects of torture in themselves, in family members or friends.

For further information please contact Bob Duranleau, Social Services Division Administrator, at 775-6315 ext. 224 or by fax at 775-7918; or Regina Phillips, Social Services Division, Refugee Services Program Coordinator, at 775-7915 ext. 255, or by fax at 871-1320.