PUBLIC WELFARE DEPARTMENT: REFUGEE PROGRAM OFFICE:

An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Minnesota. Department of Public Welfare. Refugee Program Office.
	Title:	Records.
	Dates:	1975-1986.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Records documenting the history and administration of the Refugee Program Office and reflecting its educational, social, employment, welfare, and resettlement services to Indochinese refugees in Minnesota.
	Quantity:	6.9 cubic feet (7 boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

The Governor’s Indochinese Resettlement Office was established in December 1975 by Governor Wendell Anderson to administer the Minnesota Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program. A governing body, the Governor’s Indochinese Refugee Task Force, was also formed at that time.

On October 1, 1977, the assistance program was transferred to the Public Welfare Department, where it was also known as the Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Office. By 1981, it had become the Refugee Program Office. Two governing bodies, the Indochinese Advisory Council and the Minnesota State Refugee Advisory Council oversaw its activities.

The purpose of the office was to coordinate the efforts of the public and private sectors’ delivery of services to refugees. It was further responsible for arranging and/or funding comprehensive educational, employment and social services for Indochinese refugees in Minnesota, and assisting service needs, developing funding for services, and implementing federal regulatory and reporting systems.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Included are history files on the development of general and health programs and on the Governor's Indochinese Resettlement Office, compiled by various staff members; minutes and agenda materials of the Governor's Indochinese Refugee Task Force (1976-1977), the Indochinese Advisory Council (1981-1985), and the Minnesota State Refugee Advisory Council (1981-1985); general administrative and subject files; files on grants from the federal government and private foundations to support education, employment, and vocational training for refugees; correspondence, reports, and miscellany of the Minnesota Agricultural Enterprise for New Americans (MAENA) Project, conducted by the University of Minnesota Agricultural Extension Service to help Hmong refugees establish a cooperative farming and marketing enterprise for specialty crops; and miscellaneous reports, studies, and newsletters.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Department of Public Welfare. Refugee Program Office. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 988-127; 2013-24

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001728895

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

ADMINISTRATIVE FILES

Location

128.E.7.7B

Governor's Indochinese Resettlement Office:

Miscellaneous records, 1976-1977. 2 folders.

Records maintained by staff member Jack Le Van Sach; included are scattered minutes of the Governor's Indochinese Refugee Task Force and one of its committees, the Social Service Committee; membership lists of the Executive, Education, Employment, Social Service, and Housing/Recreation/Transportation committees; correspondence of task force director Stanley B. Breen; reports; and an organization chart.

Extension Effort of the Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program [IRAP], 1977. 3 folders.

Correspondence and related papers compiled by staff member Peggy Riagquist.

Historical financial information, 1976-1977.

Final Report: Governor's Indo-Chinese Resettlement and Department of Employee Services Placement Program, June 1976-September 1977.

By Paul Begich.

Indochinese Advisory Council minutes and circular materials, 1981-1983.

State Refugee Advisory Council, 1981-1986:

Minutes and agenda materials, March 1981-September 1985. 6 folders.

Correspondence and related papers, 1982-1985. 3 folders.

Thailand Trip report , December 1986. 1 volume.

Location

128.E.7.9B

General, 1975-1984:

African Refugees, 1984.

ASPIRE [A State Plan for Indochinese Employment], circa 1978.

Budget, 1977-1978.

Case management, 1982-1984. 2 folders.

Location

128.E.7.10F

Competitive procurement, 1981-1984.

Cuban-Haitian, 1980-1984.

Eighteen Month Regulation, 1981-1982. 2 folders.

English as a Second Language Education, 1976-1984. 2 folders.

Home visits to refugees, 1977.

Indochinese Refugee Assistance Liaison, 1976-1978. 2 folders.

Interagencies agreements, 1977-1980.

Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium, 1978-1981.

Philosophy statement, 1978.

Placement reports, 1976-1977.

Policy guidelines, 1980-1982.

Purchase of service contracts (general), 1978.

Refugees in Search of Employment [R.I.S.E.] Project, 1982-1983.

Regulations, 1976-1978.

Southeast Asian Community Center, 1977.

Staff meetings, 1976-1983. 2 folders.

Statistical Reports, 1981.

U.S. Health and Welfare Department, 1979-1980.

U.S. State Department: Monitoring Review, 1984.

Welfare Liaison, 1977.

Welfare Statistical Data for Indochinese Refugees, 1975-1976.

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PROGRAM HISTORY FILES:

Location

128.E.7.7B

General, 1975-1985.

Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, 1984-1985.

Budget, 1981-1982.

Correspondence:

Congressional Delegation, 1976-1982.

DuVander, Sandra, 1981-1983.

General, 1975-1982.

Location

128.E.7.8F

Office of Refugee Resettlement (U.S. Health and Human Services Department), 1979-1983. 5 folders.

Thornsjo, Orland, 1983-1984.

Voluntary agencies, 1981-1984.

Westbrook, Cindy, 1981-1982.

Employment, 1976-1977, 1980-1983. 4 folders.

Employment Contract Evaluations, 1982-1983.

Hennepin County Welfare, 1979-1980.

Iowa Beef Packing, 1984.

Lao Family Community, Inc., 1981-1982. 2 folders.

Lobbying, 1981-1982.

Oak Terrace Resettlement Plan, 1979-1980.

Public Hearing: Housing and Refugees in the Twin Cities, 1981.

Ramsey County Community Human Services Department, 1981-1983.

Ramsey County Welfare, 1981-1982.

Refugee Outplacement Project correspondence, 1982-1984. 3 folders.

Location

128.E.7.9B

Refugee Resource Center, 1981-1982.

Reports/memos to Director, 1981-1982.

Staff planning, 1981.

Staff reports, 1977-1981.

State Advisory Council Retreat/Goals, 1981.

State Plan for Refugees, 1979, Fiscal Year 1981-1983. 4 folders.

Testimonies to U. S. House Subcommittee, 1982.

Transition, 1977-1978.

U.S. Health and Human Services Department Team Visit, 1981.

Health care, 1979-1982.

East Metro, 1980.

Health contracts, 1980.

Hennepin County, 1979-1982. 2 folders.

Hot Line, 1979-1980.

Interpreters, outstate, 1980-1981.

Medical cards, 1980.

Medical care, 1979-1980.

Minnesota Medical Association, 1979.

Minnesota Medical Association: Ad Hoc Committee on Indochinese Refugees minutes and related Papers, 1979-1980.

Became the State Health Advisory Committee on Indochinese Refugees in 1980.

Northeastern Minnesota, 1979-1980.

Nutrition, 1980. 2 folders.

Ramsey County, 1979-1980.

Refugee Education Resource Center, 1980-1982.

St. Cloud, 1980.

St. Paul Division of Health, 1980.

Southeastern Minnesota, 1979.

West Metro, 1980.

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SUBJECT FILES

Location

128.E.7.10F

Asian Business Community [ABC] News, 1983-1984.

Catholic Charities, 1981-1982.

Catholic Charities of Winona, 1979.

Community issues, 1982-1984.

Cultural Guidebooks, circa 1978. 2 items in 1 folder.

Education, 1979-1981.

Education/training, 1979-1981.

Employment job services and development, 1978.

Employment services, 1980.

Health, 1979.

Hennepin County: Policy questions, 1980-1981.

Hennepin County: Task Force Team, 1979-1980.

Implications of Indochinese Refugees Survey, 1977.

Indochinese Community Group Leaders Meeting minutes, 1978.

Indochinese education, 1978-1979.

Location

128.E.8.1B

Iranian refugees, 1982-1984.

Laotian refugee affairs, 1977-1978.

Mental health/social adjustment, 1981.

Minnesota Refugee Resettlement Consortium, 1979-1984. 2 folders.

Includes minutes.

National Coalition for Refugee Resettlement, 1979.

Press (newspaper clippings), 1979-1985. 6 folders.

Refugee Acts, 1979-1980.

Refugee groups, 1976-1984.

Resources, 1981.

St. Cloud State University, 1979-1980.

St. Cloud Vo-Tech and other St. Cloud Services, 1976-1977.

St. Paul Public Housing Agency, 1981.

Social adjustment, 1982-1983.

Social services, 1979-1985.

Statistical data, 1980-1981.

Targeted assistance, 1983-1984.

U.S. Health and Welfare Department: Data and funding, 1981-1982.

Vietnamese Refugee Assistance, 1975-1977. 2 folders.

Vocational education, 1979.

Voluntary agencies, 1985.

Women's Association of Hmong and Lao, 1984.

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GRANT FILES

Records regarding adult education, English as a second language instruction, mental health training, employment, targeted assistance, and training projects that were administered by the Refugee Programs Office, other state agencies, and mutual assistance agencies (such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Service, and Lao Family Community, Inc.). Most of the grants were funded by the federal government.

Location

128.E.8.2F

Grant proposal information, 1982-1984.

Proposals/applications, 1977-1984. 12 folders.

Reports:

Monthly, quarterly, annual, and periodic reports concerning grant project performance and activity.

Periodic Reports, 1977. 6 folders.

Quarterly Reports, 1979, 1982-1985. 3 folders.

Annual/Final Reports, Fiscal Year 1980-1981, 1985. 2 folders.

Grant extension records, 1977-1979.

Mutual Assistance Agencies [MAA] Incentive Grants correspondence, 1979-1986. 2 folders.

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FOUNDATION FILES

Primarily regarding grants funded by foundations for the education, employment, and training of refugees. They include grant proposals, reports, and correspondence.

Location

128.E.8.2F

F. R. Bigelow Foundation, 1982.

Ford Foundation, 1983-1985.

Mardag Foundation, 1985.

McKnight Foundation, 1981.

Northwest Area Foundation, 1984.

Ordean Foundation, 1982.

St. Paul Foundation:

Indochinese Survey Report, 1980. 1 volume in folder.

Refugee Study Advisory Committee correspondence, minutes, and related papers, 1981-1984.

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MINNESOTA AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE FOR NEW AMERICANS [MAENA] PROJECT FILES

The MAENA Project, also known as the Hmong Project, was begun in 1983 and funded in part by the Refugee Programs Office. The project was conducted by the Agricultural Extension Service of the University of Minnesota, and was intended to remove Hmong refugees from public assistance dependence by helping them establish a cooperative farming/marketing enterprise for specialty crops in the Twin Cities metro areas.

Location

128.E.8.3B

Contracts/budget, 1983-1984.

Correspondence, 1983-1985.

Information, 1983.

Press, 1983-1984.

Proposals, 1982-1984. 4 folders.

Reports, 1983-1985. 2 folders.

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PUBLISHED RECORDS, REPORTS, AND STUDIES

Generated by or for the Refugee Programs Office.

Location

128.E.8.3B

Administration of the Refugee Resettlement Program in Minnesota, 1982.

Background Paper: Alternative Approaches to Meeting Refugee Employment Needs in St. Paul, 1981.

Case File Review Reports, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, 1983. 2 folders.

Comparative Analysis of Indochinese Cash Assistance Caseload, 1976-1977.

East Metro Refugee Health Project: Final Report, 1983.

Summary: English as a Second Language/Employment Survey--Job Related Problems Identified by Employers of Indochinese, 1983.

General Assistance and Refugee Program Study, 1982.

The Hmong in St. Paul: A Culture in Transition, 1980.

Indochinese at AVTIs: Status Report, February 1977.

People in Flight: A Report on Refugees in the East Metro Area, 1981.

Newsletters, 1976-1980.

Minnesota New Life, Doi Moi, 1976-1980.

Volume I, Nos. 1-11, January 1976-May 1977.

Volume II, Nos. 1-13, November 1977-Summer 1980. 2 folders.

Refugee Program Bulletin, Volume I, Nos. 1-3, 1980.

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CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Agriculture, Cooperative -- Minnesota.; Charities -- Minnesota.; Hmong Americans -- Minnesota.; Indochinese Americans -- Education -- Minnesota.; Indochinese Americans -- Employment -- Minnesota.; Indochinese Americans -- Health and hygiene -- Minnesota.; Indochinese Americans -- Relocation -- Minnesota.; Indochinese Americans -- Services for -- Minnesota.; Public welfare -- Minnesota.; Refugees -- Education -- Minnesota.; Refugees -- Employment -- Minnesota.; Refugees -- Government policy -- Minnesota.; Refugees -- Health and hygiene -- Minnesota.; Refugees -- Services for -- Minnesota.

Organizations:: Indochinese Advisory Council.; Minnesota Agricultural Enterprise for New Americans.; Minnesota. Department of Public Welfare. Minnesota Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program.; Minnesota. Department of Public Welfare. Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Office.; Minnesota. Governor's Indochinese Resettlement Office.; Minnesota. Governor's Indochinese Refugee Task Force.; Minnesota State Refugee Advisory Council.; University of Minnesota. Agricultural Extension Service.

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