HOW DOES AN ORGANIZATION APPLY



United Way of the Lower Mainland

Ruth Beardsley Family Re-unification Fund

Call for Letters of Intent: Criteria and Process 2018

Goal:

The Ruth Beardsley Family Re-unification Fund will provide financial support to an organization working on behalf of a refugee family towards the re-unification of a young child (under 6 years old) and their family. This one-time funding will help provide the resources required to re-unify a refugee family which may include: staffing costs, lawyer fees, paperwork, DNA testing, and travel associated with re-unification.

The successful applicant will be determined based on their Letter of Intent (LOI) submitted via United Way of Lower Mainland’s e-access portal. To have the LOI application added to your e-access or to be set up with e-access please contact lesliel@uwlm.ca 604-294-8929, ext. 2255

Funding Summary:

With the introduction of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by the Canadian government in June 2002, British Columbia welcomed more refugees in urgent need of resettlement from some of the most economically and socially challenged countries in the world.

Approximately 900 Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) now settle in BC each year and close to half of these GARs arriving in the period of 2002 – 2006 were children and youth (Multiculturalism and Integration Branch, 2007). With the ongoing Syrian Refugee crisis, and numerous other sites of political unrest across the world, this number is expected to increase significantly.

Unfortunately, some refugee families are forced to come to Canada without all their children. This is due to Section 117(9) (d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which imposes a lifelong sponsorship ban on family members who were not identified, examined and declared at the time of the sponsor’s immigration to Canada. Although R.117 (9) (d) affects all categories of immigrants, it has a disproportionately negative impact on refugees and vulnerable migrants who fail to disclose a family member. Their reasons for doing so include fear of endangering the family member, gender-based oppression, lack of information, and unexpected life events. Regulation 117(9) (d) was introduced in 2002 to combat fraud and misrepresentation based on the presumption that non-disclosure is motivated by the deliberate intention to deceive. (Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), Excluded Family Member Brief)

Of particular concern is the fact that the ban also applies to children. In most cases, children affected had no input as to whether or not they were disclosed on the application. They are in no way at fault, and yet they suffer the consequences of being rendered inadmissible. In fact, children suffer the worst harms as a result of the Regulation: they are separated from family members at an age when being with family is crucial, and in many cases they are left behind in situations where they are exposed to abuse and neglect. (CCR, Excluded Family Members Brief)

Many refugee families affected by the Excluded Family Member Policy have limited options for re-unification as they can’t go back to their country of origin. Often the process of re-unification is long, arduous and expensive and one that requires an exemption of the policy based on humanitarian and compassionate considerations.

Children left behind due to these circumstances are extremely vulnerable to the same violence and persecution that sent their family fleeing to another county for protection. “The family in the home country often cannot support another child. Some of these children are passed from one caregiver to another. In other cases, children of refugees are in a third country where they have no status or only insecure status. The lack of stable parental and familial support has a permanent effect on a child’s emotional and mental development.”. (CCR, Excluded Family Member Brief).

The impact of this devastating reality for parents who have had to leave a child behind results in both serious physical and mental health issues, anxiety, depression and even suicide.

The purpose of this fund is to provide resources to organizations, in the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley, that are working on behalf of the re-unification of young refugee children left behind from their families during the resettlement to Canada. To that end the organizations should demonstrate:

• The work done to date to re-unify a child with their family, including but not limited to paperwork, connections, legal advice etc.

• The circumstances that surround the need for re-unification and the process that the re-unification is at

• How the funds will be used to support the various staffing, legal, travel, etc. resources required to complete the re-unification.

Funding Parameters:

The Ruth Beardsley Family Re-unification Fund is available for 1 year the fund up to a maximum of $10,000.

Funding Criteria:

Each element of these funding criteria will be addressed in the Letter of Intent (LOI) form on e-access. Successful applicants must be willing to work with UWLM to meet all criteria listed.

Ruth Beardsley Family Re-Unification Fund Applicants must:

1. Be a registered charity or a qualified donee in good standing (no outstanding reports or funding issues) with ULWM.

2. Have experience working in this field or expertise to draw on through the process and mandated to provide service in the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley.

3. Have an established professional relationship with the family in question, that will facilitate support (early years, settlement, parenting, child development, and/or trauma-informed services) prior to and after the re-unification process.

4. Be re-unifying a family that arrived in Canada via the Government Assisted Refugee program (i.e. not Privately Sponsored, or Refugee Claimants).

5. Be re-unifying a child (under the age of 6) with their family.

6. Be able to clearly articulate the need for this fund and where the organization is at in the re-unification process on behalf of a refugee family.

7. Clearly set out how the applicant intends to use the fund to re-unify the family.

8. Work with UWLM staff to develop stories of impact over the course of the 1-year investment.

Grant Application Deadline and Procedures

• Completed LOI submitted via e-access by Friday November 30th, 2018

• Following a review of the LOIs, the successful applicant(s) will be informed of the funding decisions within 15 days of the deadline.

• United Way of the Lower Mainland (UWLM) will disburse funds upon receipt of signed Funding Agreement.

For questions related to the grant and/or application, please contact your regional planner.

Conditions of Funding

All funding recipients must sign a Funding Agreement that includes the following conditions:

• Funds will be used for activities as approved by UWLM;

• All funds received from UWLM must be expended during the time-frame specified by the grant, and/or negotiated at the time of annual report based on the case specific situation.

• Written approval will be required from designated UWLM staff prior to any funding, operational, and/or timeline changes to the original approved proposal;

• Organization will support an in-person visit from their UWLM Community Impact Planner at the six-month mark.

• Organization will work with UWLM rep to build an impact story to support ongoing donor, to ensure the sustainability of this grant stream.

• An annual Report including a summary financial statement will be submitted to UWLM (a template will be provided by UWLM);

• UWLM’s support will be acknowledged in all communication and promotional materials pertaining to this initiative.

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