How Much Does It Cost to Resettle Soviet Jews?

...State Department's refugee program then reimburses HIAS for these costs, which average S340 per person, according to the Council of Jewish Federations...

...Local federations supplement this grant...

...for transportation to Rome...

...JDC pays all care costs (now averaging S450 per person) after the 30 days' worth reimbursed by the State Department...

...The State Department also provides a "Reception and Placement Grant" of S560 toward the cost of each refugee's first 30 days in the United States...

...Catholic Conference, help support refugees of other ethnic groups...

...Originally, the federal government contributed SI,000 to this program for each refugee, which was more than matched by federations, for an average total of §2,750 per person, not counting many other expenses covered and services provided by federations...

...Although federal assistance to refugees ends after four months, federations continue to provide services and in some cases support for refugees well beyond that point, with the aim of smoothing their adjustment and keeping them out of the federal welfare system...

...For the next three months, refugees are supported by a matching grant program run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the U.S...

...How did they arrive at this cost figure, amounting to S2,400 per person?* When a Soviet Jew arrives in Vienna wishing to resettle in the United States, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) pays for processing the refugee's visa application and * This figure does not include federation contributions, minimally S2.000 per person but probably a good deal higher...

...Soviet Jewry advocates are lobbying for Congress to appropriate an additional S60 million to help resettle 25,000 more Soviet Jewish refugees in the United States this year than were planned for...

...However, because there have been more refugees than were budgeted for, the federal contribution to this program dropped last year to between S500 and S800 per person and is dropping even further this year...

...The S2.400 per person figure is the U S government outlay, winch provides the services to which every individual with refugee status is entitled Just as federations help support Jewish refugees, other private agencies, such as the U.S...

...To contain costs, Jewish organizations are urging the U.S...

...government to send more immigration officers to Rome to process applications, and to make diplomatic arrangements that would eliminate the refugees' stop in Vienna...

...If HIAS estimates are correct and 25,000 more Soviet Jews seek to settle in the United States than the government budgeted for, the cost of just the federal portion of the programs described above—visa processing, transportation from Vienna to Rome, 30 days' care in Europe and four months of partial support in the United Slates—would be an additional $60 million: S35 million from the State Department and, assuming a SI,000 per person federal contribution to the matching grant program, S25 million from the Department of Health and Human Services...

...8...

...Likewise, the State Department reimburses the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) an average of S500 per person to lodge, feed and care for refugees for 30 days in Europe...

...Department of Health and Human Services...

...The United Jewish Appeal and the Council of Jewish Federations already are trying to raise an additional S75 million from private sources in their "Special Campaign for Soviet Jews," to help resettle the flood of immigrants both in the United States and Israel...

...Over the long term, the government would like to shift more of the financial responsibility for the refugees to the private sector," says David Harris, Washington representative of the American Jewish Committee...

...The U.S...

...However, with the present backlog in processing refugees' visas in Rome, Soviet emigrants now remain in the Rome area for an average of 75 days...