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Consider Outreach Efforts to Provide Immigrant and Refugee Support Services and Programs with Nominal or Minimal Expenditures. (Mayor Spencer and Vice Mayor Vella)
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COUNCILMEMBER
REFERRAL FORM
Name of Councilmember requesting referral: Mayor Trish Spencer & Vice Mayor Malia Vella
Date of submission to City Clerk (must be submitted 10 working days prior to meeting): Jan. 25, 2017
Meeting date: Feb. 7, 2017
Brief description of the subject to be printed on the agenda, sufficient to inform the Council and public of the nature of the referral:
1. While the Mayor was at the recent U.S. Mayors Conference, Seattle’s Mayor shared that they are implementing programs to support and assist immigrant and refugee families. Vice Mayor Malia Vella was also recently in Seattle and had the opportunity to learn of their work.
Four elements of Seattle’s plan include:
A. The Family Unity Project: This effort will consist of community education forums conducted in Seattle Public Schools and other venues, where community partners with legal expertise and experience working with immigrant students will offer information on the importance of power of attorney and resources for those in danger of or already in detention. As part of this program, trainings and technical assistance will be provided to Seattle Public Schools teachers, counselors and administrators, and attorneys from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project will respond to calls from students and parents in danger of being detained.
B. Counseling and Peer Support: Using successful counseling and peer support models, middle and high school youth from immigrant and refugee families, including DACA youth and Muslim students, will have access to a support group facilitated by a counselor from a community-based organization trained on the challenges faced by immigrant communities.
C. January 20 (Inauguration Day) Seattle United for Immigrant and Refugee Families: This event at McCaw Hall will offer an array of free services and community education intended to support and protect families. Community education will include a training for Seattle Public Schools staff on how to best support students as well as a training for community members who want to be allies. Services provided with the support of community partners and volunteer attorneys include citizenship application assistance, Know Your Rights presentations, consultations with immigration attorneys, assistance from civil attorneys to complete power of attorney and other documents. Additionally, attendees will receive information about city, county and school services for immigrants, including voter registration, how to report wage theft, how to apply for utility discounts and discounted transit cards, and more.
D. Clear avenues for the public to report incidents of bias, hate speech and violence: The public can report incidents to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) via phone, email or web. In early 2017, the online reporting form will include a feature allowing residents to upload photos as part of their complaint and can be used to quickly document and report vandalism or other incidents. OCR’s Intake Investigator will review all complaints. If the incident is a crime, it will be referred to SPD. If the incident is related to immigration or other issues, OCR will refer to the appropriate government office or community organization.
We would like our Council to consider what efforts the City of Alameda can take reaching out to our City’s Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB), local schools, including but not limited to Alameda Unified School District and the College of Alameda, non-profits, service providers, faith based providers, counselors, social workers, and attorneys to provide services to assist our immigrant and refugee residents and students, without spending any City monies, or with only nominal or minimal expenditures.