• The recording of the training and PowerPoint presentation can be found on the Resource SharePoint site. 
• If your program enrollment is low and you do not have 2 files to review for a given month, experience issues editing the tracking sheets or have any additional questions, reach out to Kristin ([email protected]), Shelbye ([email protected]), or Jenni ([email protected]). 

• Semi-annual reporting is just around the corner. MO-ORA’s goal this fiscal year is to submit a more meaningful ORR 6 Schedule A narrative report for ORR and congressional funders. We have created a grading system to help agencies improve reporting quality over time.

• The scoring matrix will be broken into several sections (including but not limited to: timely submission, depth of analysis, organization, and attention to all funded programming). Each section will be scored on a scale of ‘1 to 4’ or ‘1 to 3’ (1 = Below Expectations, 2 = Needs Improvement, 3 = Satisfactory, and 4 = Above Average). The scores for each section will be averaged into one overall score.  
• Office Hours will be available on April 5 at 1:30 p.m. We encourage any staff involved in this reporting to attend the Zoom meeting where we will be reviewing the reporting template and discussing the new grading system. 

• Additional ORR-6 information: 
• ORR-6 Schedule B will be completed by MO-ORA. No agencies need to submit this report, and it has been removed from the Resources SharePoint site. 
• ORR-6 Schedules C and D: Staff involved in this reporting are encouraged to register to attend the Zoom meeting on April 4 at 11:00 a.m. where the reporting requirements and forms will be discussed. 
• Due Date: ORR-6 Schedules A, C, and D are due April 30.

• Southwest Key Programs is seeking input from refugee service providers for their brand new National Refugee and Migrant Technical Assistance Center. As part of their commitment to understanding and meeting the needs of providers working with refugee and migrant populations, they are conducting a comprehensive provider needs assessment (10 minutes long). Feel free to share this information with other service providers that also work with refugees and migrants.

Afghanistan News & Resources

• Orienting Afghan Newcomers to Prenatal Care and Delivery in the United States: For resettled expecting mothers, navigating an unfamiliar health care system presents specific challenges. They may encounter linguistic and cultural barriers to information and services, which may affect the quality of care they receive and increase the risk of complications during pregnancy. This resource from the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) discusses ways to combat those challenges to help Afghan women receive proper medical care. 

• Health Needs Assessment (HNA) Toolkit: A health needs assessment is a systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and using information to identify the health needs and priorities of a specific population or community. NRC-RIM created this tool kit to help service providers, resettlement agencies, public health professionals and community-based organizations conduct a HNA to better serve Afghan clients. 

• Supporting the Emotional Well-Being of Afghan Newcomers: Join NRC-RIM and their partners at IRC for a webinar exploring strategies to empower and uplift Afghan newcomers as they navigate life in a new country. Learn more about how your organization can support the emotional well-being of Afghan newcomers and ensure they receive the care and resources they deserve. Thursday, April 4 at 12:00 p.m. CT  

KC Office News and Updates

• Mark your calendars for Jewish Vocational Service's 75th Anniversary Global Table! Join JVS as they celebrate their rich history, and the gifts refugees and immigrants bring to Kansas City. Thursday, May 2 from 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. CT  



• Join the University of Missouri’s Cambio Center for their Cambio de Colores – Change of Colors Conference. This professional development opportunity is a great time to share and learn about research and promising practices on the integration of Latines/Hispanics and immigrants in new destinations. Scholarships are available for those with limited funding. June 5 – June 7

Refugee Medical Replacement Designee: Updates from USCRI

• The Intersection of Culture and Trauma in the Care of Diverse Populations: This training is provided to organizations throughout Missouri by USCRI’s Refugee Health Promotion Program. Participants will learn how trauma and stress experienced throughout the migration process affects the mental health of refugees and immigrants, culturally and trauma-informed care, best practices, and more. Register here. Wednesday, April 24 at 10 a.m. CT  

• If you want to register for the latest updates from Missouri Refugee Health Services, sign up for their newsletter! 

MO-RTAC Reminders

ORR reporting begins this week! If you have any questions regarding your Schedule A report, email Markus (j[email protected]) or refer to the ORR reporting training videos on SharePoint.  

In the Spotlight

April showers bring May flowers... and a new MO-ORA blog post! This time, we're highlighting our friends at Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) and their new Digital Literacy Program!

The program was created with a mission of addressing internet access, connectivity and digital skills. So far, this has been achieved by distributing internet hotspots and over 100 laptops to clients.

Arish Rustami, Digital Literacy Coordinator at JVS, has already done a great job getting the program off the ground and plans to start digital literacy classes soon.

Trainings, Webinars, Events

• *Supporting English Learners after the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) is hosting a webinar on the need for increased support of English learners (ELs) after the COVID 19 pandemic. The webinar will summarize the existing documented impacts of COVID-19 on ELs and focus on ways in which local educational agencies (LEAs) and state educational agencies (SEAs) can provide enhanced support for ELs post-pandemic. Thursday, April 4 at 2:00 p.m. CT

• Connecting Immigrant Communities to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services: Young children in immigrant and refugee families can encounter mental-health risks related to their migration and integration experiences, ranging from discrimination and economic stress to persecution and violence in the case of young refugees. In this webinar, speakers will discuss the importance of mental health services and highlight approaches that have successfully connected immigrant and refugee families with beneficial and culturally relevant services. Friday, April 5 at 12:00 p.m. CT 

• Cover Missouri April Webinar: Tune in for timely updates from Coalition partners and a presentation from MO HealthNet on recent provider manual and website updates. Tuesday, April 9 at 10:30 a.m. CT 

• Welcoming Interactive 2024 Conference: Presented by Welcoming America in partnership with the City of Dallas, the conference highlights successful practices in immigrant inclusion, covering development, civic engagement, and more. Diverse experts lead sessions, sharing insights and strategies for creating inclusive communities. Attendees include government officials, nonprofits, and community leaders, all fostering collaboration and innovation. Wednesday, April 10 – Friday, April 12 

• *ORR Q3 Refugee Program Eligibility Training course on Special Topics: This training, hosted by ORR's Refugee Policy Unit, is intended to build upon the foundations established in Eligibility 101 and will focus on eligibility for the most asked about populations – Afghan Humanitarian Parolees, Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees, and Cuban/Haitian Entrants. This training is only for ORR Grant Recipients and Subrecipients (if you receive MO-ORA or other ORR funds you are good!). Wednesday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. CT

• *Global Conference on Internally Displaced People: Join Refugees International and Georgetown University for a conference on the protection of internally displaced and solutions to their displacement. The event will engage IDP leaders and experts to consider emerging themes, including IDP leadership and participation; urbanization; long-term financing to address protracted crises; climate-related internal displacement; and regional approaches. The event will be in person at Georgetown University with an option to join virtually via Zoom. Thursday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. CT  

• 2024 Race for Refugees: For more than 100 years, the International Institute has welcomed immigrants and refugees from around the world to St. Louis. The Race for Refugees brings people together to celebrate multiculturalism in our region and raise funds that help support first-touch services for refugees and immigrants. Online registration closes at 11:59 p.m. CT on April 20 and in-person registration is available the morning of the race. Sunday, April 21 at 9:00 a.m. CT  

• Basic Safety Planning for Immigrant Survivors of Gender-based Violence: This training will introduce basic safety planning for domestic violence situations. We will focus on learning what safety planning is, why it’s important, and the basics of developing a safety plan in collaboration with a survivor. Wednesday, April 24 at 1:00 p.m. CT 

• Advocacy During an Election Year: After this session from Missouri Foundation for Health and Alliance for Justice, you will have a better understanding of how to safely engage in nonpartisan advocacy during an election, including how you can educate the public through candidate forums and questionnaires, how you can respond to candidate statements objectively, and how staff and volunteers’ partisan activities in their personal time can be kept separate from their activities on behalf of the organization. April 25 at 9:30 a.m. CT 

• Foundations of Mandatory Reporting for Refugee Service Providers: This webinar will cover the basics of mandatory reporting, including what is considered a reportable situation, to whom service providers should report, and what crucial information to include in a report. Case scenarios will allow participants to explore the difficulties balancing and managing client trust, confidentiality, and relationships while upholding mandatory reporting responsibilities. Thursday, April 18 at 1:30 p.m. CT

• Preparing for Welcoming Week 2024: Whether you’ve participated in past events or this is your first year, join Welcoming America for exciting updates and resources to make your Welcoming Week events a success. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.  
• April 30 at 12:00 p.m. CT  
• April 30 at 6:00 p.m. CT 

*New event/training/webinar added 

Resources

• Mental Health Workbook: This workbook, jointly developed by Opora and IRC, supports Ukrainians in nurturing and safeguarding their mental well-being. Available in English and Ukrainian, it delves into essential mental health and well-being elements, blending theoretical insights with practical knowledge.  

• The Eight Stages Of Co-Creation: Tips For Refugee Service Providers On Using Inclusive Approaches In Their Work: This Switchboard blog post describes how service providers can use design thinking and the co-creative process through technology to address ongoing and emerging barriers to newcomers’ self-sufficiency and integration.  

• Engaging Diverse Audiences: This roadmap provides tools, strategies, recommendations, and fundamentals for working with diverse communities. Health departments, community-based organizations (CBOs), providers, and community health workers can use these resources for internal capacity building and developing outreach materials. 

• Answering FAQs on Creating Effective Newcomer Resumes and Using Switchboard’s Resume Template: This Switchboard blog post and the accompanying resume template and sample resume are designed to streamline the resume creation process, ensuring that clients’ resumes effectively communicate their unique skills and experiences to potential employers. 

• The Road Ahead: A Domestic Cultural Orientation Curriculum: The Road Ahead contains easy-to-use, adaptable materials for cultural orientation providers, including a curriculum guide, four session planning guides, and four session slide decks. The materials can be used with minimal modifications, or adapted to reflect your organization’s specific services, needs, and goals. 

• The Right Time, an initiative of Missouri Foundation for Health and is led by Missouri Family Health Council, is improving information about, and access to, quality contraceptive services by reducing costs and improving access. The initiative provides residents of Missouri with access to free and low-cost birth control, trustworthy information on birth control, and is committed to addressing persistent health disparities. 
• Missouri Family Health Council, Inc. champions access for every individual to culturally sensitive, quality sexual and reproductive health education and services. Correcting misinformation about the legality of birth control, including emergency contraception (EC), is one of MFHC’s primary goals with its newly launched Free EC contraceptive access project which offers free emergency contraception to Missourians. Free EC kits can be picked up at over 40 locations throughout the state or requested by mail on the MFHC website.

• Empowering Immigrant Communities to Fight Against Fraud in Multiple Languages: In this webinar recording, Welcoming America shares how to spot and avoid common scams, and how to use the Federal Trade Commission’s new educational materials in multiple languages to help people in your community protect themselves against scammers. 

• Creating High Quality Newcomer Resumes: Template and Sample: These resources, developed by Switchboard, are specifically intended to assist case managers in preparing clients for employment and should be used as a guide alongside the accompanying blog post. 

• Group Mentoring for Immigrant and Refugee Professionals: Recognizing the value of network-building and mentoring relationships, WES has published a step-by-step guide designed to help organizations to start their own group mentoring program for immigrant and refugee professionals seeking to re-enter the workforce.

• Career Pathways for Internationally Trained Immigrants and Refugees: WES' new career pathways tool provides customized resources and information for those looking to re-enter fields like nursing and teaching, including easy-to-follow licensure requirements and job search tips. 

English Language Learner Toolkits 

• The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition
• OELA Toolkit Crosswalk
• EL Family Toolkit and App: FAQs Blog (English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish)
• English Learner Toolkit (Introduction in multiple languages; chapters in English) 
• Newcomer Toolkit

Funding Opportunities

The Missouri Foundation for Health is looking for ideas that will create impactful changes on significant health issues for their Opportunity Fund. Projects should address structural issues that impact health, either via social determinants of health or health care. To share your idea, submit a brief concept paper. Staff will review concept papers and then send invitations to organizations to submit full proposals if the idea aligns with their mission, values, and Opportunity Fund. Concept papers are due April 30 at noon (CT). Please keep in mind this opportunity is not applicable for West and Northwest Missouri. 

Happy April!

Thanks for reading!