Refugee Career Pathways Program

Does your organization work directly with refugees? Could your organization benefit from additional funding to help refugees gain meaningful and sustaining employment? The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may be able to help. The HHS’s Refugee Career Pathways (RCP) Program’s goal is to support refugees in attaining the knowledge and resources needed to initiate a successful professional career in their newly settled community. While many refugees may have previous professional experience in their country of origin, they often lack the degrees, professional certifications, and other credentials that are necessities in America’s competitive professional industry. Because of this, refugees are often ill-equipped to contribute effectively to their new community and achieve economic self-sufficiency. 

The RCP Program objectives focus on helping refugees overcome the obstacles associated with obtaining professional and skilled employment after resettlement. The first objective is to help refugees achieve self sufficiency by equipping them with the tools to gain positions in professional environments. The second objective is to increase the refugees’ understanding of career pathways that will enable them to traverse the often difficult path to success in their field. By engaging in career development plans, receiving training and technical assistance, utilizing direct financial assistance, and taking advantage of invaluable organizational partnerships, refugees will be well on their way to achieving their career goals in the United States. 

The HHS is now accepting electronically submitted applications for the Refugee Career Pathways grant program. They are expecting to distribute 12 awards for a total program funding of $3,000,000. The program is divided into three periods of twelve months each, for a total project term of 3 years. Each recipient will be allotted upwards of $250,000 for each period to be used towards helping refugees achieve program objectives. 

The HHS is accepting applications until August 29, 2017. If you think this program would be a good fit for your organization, or want to learn more, please give us a call at (216) 352-2577.

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