The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #51600

Lavinia Limon, Director, Immigration and Refugee Services of America, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036, 202-797-2105, llimon@irsa-uscr.org

The presentation covers the history of efforts to understand and address the health and mental health needs of refugees resettled in America. The Refugee Act of 1980 directs the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) located in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide for screening of newly arrived refugees for communicable diseases in an effort to protect the public health. The law also recognizes that refugees need health care coverage and directs ORR to provide Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA). However, the stated purpose of the federal refugee program is to insure that refugees become economically self sufficient as soon after arrival as possible. Therefore, a conflict has arisen between the drive for "early employment" and the physical and mental health needs of refugees which has remained unresolved for over 25 years.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe the history of efforts to understand and address the health and mental health needs of refugees resettled in America.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.