VOLAG

VOLAG (short for "Voluntary Agency"; sometimes spelled Volag or VolAg) is a term referring to any of the nine U.S. private agencies and one state agency that have cooperative agreements with the State Department to provide reception and placement services for refugees newly arrived in the United States. These agencies use funding from the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) along with self-generated resources to provide refugees with a range of services including sponsorship, initial housing, food and clothing, orientation and counseling. VOLAGS may also contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) to provide refugees with job placement, English language training and other social services.

The term VOLAG may refer to the ten voluntary resettlement agencies (usually religious organizations) whose purpose is the resettlement of refugees in the United States. Such agencies performed a great deal of such work resettling Southeast Asian people in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.

List of VOLAGs

*Church World Service
*Ethiopian Community Development Council
*Episcopal Migration Ministries
*Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
*International Rescue Committee
*U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
*Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services
*United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
*World Relief
*State of Iowa, Bureau of Refugee Services

References

* [http://www.state.gov/g/c26475.htm#Resettlementagencies Department of State glossary: Voluntary Agency]
* [http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/partners/voluntary_agencies.htm ORR list of VOLAGs]

External links

* [http://www.churchworldservice.org Church World Service (CWS)]
* [http://www.ecdcinternational.org Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC)]
* [http://www.episcopalchurch.org/emm/ Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM)]
* [http://www.hias.org Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)]
* [http://www.theirc.org International Rescue Committe (IRC)]
* [http://www.refugees.org US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants]
* [http://www.lirs.org Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)]
* [http://www.usccb.org/mrs United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)]
* [http://www.wr.org World Relief]
* [http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/refugee/default.htm State of Iowa, Bureau of Refugee Services]