Q&A
Qualitative description of case management services and job placement efforts
2:17:17
·
5 min
Dr. Ted Long provides a detailed explanation of the case management services offered to asylum seekers, emphasizing the individualized approach to addressing barriers and helping people find employment. He discusses various aspects of the services, including legal assistance, job matching, and housing support.
- Case management starts with identifying individual barriers and needs
- Services include help with work authorization, job matching based on prior experience, and housing assistance
- Officials are working on collecting and tracking outcome data, but struggle to provide specific numbers during the hearing
Ted Long
2:17:17
Thank you.
2:17:18
So you, if I may, just to make sure I'm being precise, qualitatively more about what case management is and then what do we have in our data, what do we have we learned through these meetings, as also a way to inform qualitatively, how it works.
2:17:31
Sound good?
2:17:32
Okay.
2:17:34
So, I I would say we take the same initial question that I ask all of my patients, that I've ever seen in my Bronx primary care practice, for the last 7 years, it starts with how can I help you today?
2:17:46
So whatever people's individual barriers are, and I'll give several examples here, the case manager's goal is to identify what those barriers are and figure out what help you need.
2:17:56
You know, the number one thing that people want, which is something we've talked a lot about during this hearing, is to get a job.
2:18:02
Everybody wants to get a job as a way to have them and their families be able to pursue the American dream.
2:18:06
But everybody needs something different to get that job that they want.
2:18:10
So if they if, sticking on legal services, if you tell us that you need work authorization but you applied for asylum, we don't know how the process works, we can educate you and make the right referrals.
2:18:20
If you're eligible for applying for work authorization, we can make you an appointment at the AHC.
2:18:25
And again, now we're actually even helping you to apply for work authorization from the arrival center the minute you arrive with our case management team.
2:18:31
So our case management team does a lot of different things.
2:18:33
If you've applied for work authorization and you haven't, and we have, again, data on that because we ask you for updates related to that, Then we look at what kind of job you might want to have and what your experience has been.
2:18:43
So I could tell you, for example, sort of interesting, how many, former doctors we have in our asylum seeking system and how many we've ever had enter into our, our, city asylum seeker response.
2:18:54
I can tell you how many nurses, how many pharmacists, how many lawyers.
2:18:57
That's important though because those are the types of jobs people would want to continue to pursue.
2:19:01
So another example is, we had, an event where, we helped people at one of our sites to apply to work with a community based organization that I mentioned earlier that teaches, how to work in a kitchen, cooking skills, things like that.
2:19:12
So we we, reached out to people based on their prior experience, based on their work authorization, and then they dressed up for the interviews, came in.
2:19:19
It was a really nice day of people applying for their really applying for their 1st job in the US.
2:19:24
We actually got to see it because we did it on-site.
2:19:26
Oh.
2:19:27
So case management lets us sort of have that individualized approach, but legal services is one important thing.
2:19:32
Last thing I'll say about the legal side of things is with our community advisory board, which has been, again, instrumental in terms of how to get case management rights.
2:19:41
We have a specific work group on legal services.
2:19:43
So how we're asking the questions, the types of things we're covering, the types of services we're offering to people, it's not only informed by the experience we have on the ground working with people, but it's been formed by our community leaders that also have their ear to the ground, and to your earlier point, maybe hearing something slightly different than we hear.
2:19:59
So we want to hear it from every source, and we want to be able to collaboratively come up with solutions together.
2:20:04
Jobs is another thing.
2:20:05
Housing is another thing.
2:20:06
You mentioned saving money.
2:20:07
That's actually something that's come up that we're now helping people with.
2:20:10
Was that something on day 1 that we knew we needed to help people with?
2:20:12
No.
2:20:13
But it's something we've heard from people, especially our guests, for example, Upstate, that are looking for apartments.
2:20:18
They may have been working for a while, in the communities that they're in.
2:20:21
They're tell a lot of them are telling us their barrier to being able to get that apartment they want and to be able to exit the system is they want they need to know how they can save money in the U.
2:20:29
S.
2:20:29
To be able to afford that apartment.
2:20:31
So we work with them on how that works and we make a plan with them.
2:20:34
Other types of things that case management can cover, is we can help you with, how to navigate the getting the apartment, both either in New York City, in New York State, or in other places.
2:20:45
So we do have connections to, jobs and, housing resources in other places too.
2:20:51
And we really base that we base that on the job.
2:20:52
So if somebody has experience working in a job in a certain sector, as Council Member Brewer said, we'd love to keep you in New York City, but if you'd prefer to go to a different place based on the job that's available, we can educate you about that, and we can make a plan with you.
2:21:05
So it's really all about you and whatever your barriers are.
2:21:08
Our job is to move heaven and earth to get you where you want to go.
Alexa Avilés
2:21:10
So are you are you keeping track of, like, outcomes around that?
2:21:16
How many people have actually gotten a job?
2:21:18
Or how many people have actually gotten permanent housing?
2:21:22
How many people you know, all those dimensions.
Ted Long
2:21:25
Yeah.
2:21:25
So, one way to look at the dimension, related specifically to jobs, again, is, we do know if you've not applied for work authorization, you are eligible and have or have not applied, or we ask you, which is again what you tell us, if you've received, approval for work authorization.
2:21:42
We then work with you to get a job, and we document in the records that we have, you know, this is your prior job experience.
2:21:48
Here's the types of things we talked to you about.
2:21:50
Maybe if you were a cook, we're going to put you into that program I mentioned, or have you applied to that program I mentioned.
2:21:54
Maybe if you're a nurse, we can arrange, which we're working on now, how to have you go through the appropriate process to become a nurse here in the US or to do something else in the medical field.
2:22:03
We desperately need more clinicians, and people in the medical field to care for New Yorkers and, frankly, everywhere across the US.
2:22:09
So we're trying to, again, meet people where they are, based on their former experience, which we note in the records we have.
Alexa Avilés
2:22:15
So are you keeping any data
UNKNOWN
2:22:18
Yes.
Alexa Avilés
2:22:18
On the outcomes?
Ted Long
2:22:20
So Can
Alexa Avilés
2:22:21
you report to the council what some of these outcomes are because it it's still very descriptive and no lacking in in in outcome data.
Ted Long
2:22:32
Yes.
2:22:33
I think it would be great if we could circle back with the exact data that we have.
2:22:37
And And if we don't have the data that you think would be important for us to collect, we're totally open to adding a question onto the the surveys we use for people every other week.
