|
The goal of the Refugee
Health Program (RHP) is to be a leader in providing culturally
sensitive health services to persons who have fled their home
country due to persecution (political, religious, or economic)
in search for a better life and self-sufficiency in the U.S. The
RHP reviews overseas medical examination records and provides
health assessments and immunizations to refugees to enhance
personal health status and protect Florida's public health. The RHP provides these services through funding from the federal
Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Florida Department of
Children and Families, Refugee Services.
Florida is a national leader in refugee resettlement, receiving
the largest number of participants in the United States Refugee
Resettlement Program. The state received a two-year total (based
on the FY 2010 Social Service Formula Allocations) of 42,715
participants, while California received 26,450, Texas received
15,227, and New York received 10,583.
The RHP serves the following groups of individuals: refugees,
asylees, Cuban/Haitian asylum applicants, Cuban/Haitian
entrants, Amerasians, Iraqi/Afghan special immigrants, and
certain victims of severe forms of human trafficking.
The majority of participants who resettle in Florida originate
from Cuba (90.3%), Haiti (2.9%), Burma (2.4%), or Venezuela
(1.3%). Most of Florida's new arrivals are Cuban entrants,
although the state is experiencing a greater influx of refugees
and special immigrants, particularly from Iraq (0.8%) and Bhutan
(0.4%). Of the 67 counties in Florida, approximately 40 receive
refugees on a regular basis. Geographically, new arrivals tend
to resettle more frequently in one of nine following Florida
counties: Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Duval, Palm Beach, Broward,
Orange, Collier, Lee, or Pinellas.
To
contact the RHP in your area, view our
RHP contact listing
(pdf 31 kb). |
