Lived Experience Advisory Council Program

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The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces the availability of funds for the Lived Experience Advisory Council Program. The recipient will create and implement up to three simultaneous, population-specific (for example: youth, women-only, seniors, LGBTQI+) Advisory Councils to solicit direct feedback from ORR-eligible clients on several topics related to their resettlement experience in the United States and their experience with ORR-funded programs and services, if applicable. The recipient will have experience implementing advisory boards or councils for refugees that aim to collect their lived experience to better inform the development or enhancement of integration services. The recipient will have experience developing formal written reports about ORR-eligible populations’ lived experience with the intent to make recommendations to the federal government or other resettlement stakeholders.The overall goal of this new program is to assist ORR in incorporating the lived experience of clients into its decision-making process about programs and services. In 2020 and 2021, several Presidential Executive Orders encouraged the federal government to solicit direct feedback from clients so that their voices could be represented at the highest levels of government. The creation of feedback loops will better inform ORR on how to support, enhance, and/or create integration programming that meets the needs of its clients.The recipient will provide the necessary resources, such as personnel, needed to support the implementation of the Advisory Councils. Task Areas will include: 1) Development of an Advisory Councils Implementation Plan to include the coordination of regular virtual Council meetings; 2) Development of a web-based application and the solicitation of ORR-eligible clients to join Advisory Councils; 3) Selection of ORR-eligible clients to Advisory Councils (in collaboration with ORR); 4) Overall Project Management; 5) Interpretation and translation services for, and during, Advisory Council meetings and “Washington Week”; 6) Secure technology for Advisory Council members to participate in meetings virtually; 7) Provide compensation to Advisory Council members for their time in the form of stipends or other monetary incentives; 8) Coordinate and implement “Washington Week” for Advisory Council members to meet with and inform ORR, other federal government staff and non-federal organizations about their refugee resettlement experiences and integration service needs; 9) Coordinate travel for Advisory Council members to Washington, DC for “Washington Week”; and, 10) Qualitative and quantitative reporting to ORR on feedback obtained through Advisory Councils through written reports and other forms of communication.

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