Latest news with #LutheranServicesinIowa
Axios
28-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Refugee casework returns to Iowa after federal funding delay
Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) has reestablished a small team of case managers to assist Afghan and Ukrainian refugees residing in the state after months of halted federal funds. Why it matters: Case management is a vital support system for refugees after their arrival, assisting them in navigating housing, employment, school enrollment, health care and legal paperwork. Resuming support offers people a better chance at long-term success and self-sufficiency, Nicholas Wuertz, LSI's director of refugee services, tells Axios. Catch up quick: LSI, one of Iowa's oldest and largest nonprofit human service agencies, has provided resettlement assistance through federal contracts for decades, including aiding the state in resettling hundreds of Afghan refugee families in recent years. Most of those services ended in April when the agency laid off 25 staffers after the Trump administration's freeze on foreign aid, reflecting actions taken by resettlement agencies nationwide. Driving the news: Federal reimbursements for extended case management, including services for Afghan humanitarian parolees and Ukrainian refugees, resumed this month with LSI receiving $1.5 million it was owed for previous work. This allowed LSI to rehire five staff members over the past two weeks and resume part of its case management programs. Yes, but: LSI isn't welcoming new families. Donor support, which has aided the agency in recent months, is still necessary to assist families who arrived before Jan. 24, when the federal resettlement program was halted, CEO Renee Hardman tells Axios. The big picture: ABC News reports that other agencies nationwide are resuming some services, including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Ohio.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LSI cuts 28 employees, resettlement program after government funding pause
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lutheran Services in Iowa is cutting their resettlement program and 28 employees due to an unpaid $1.5 million in government funding. Following Trump's executive order ending refugee travel and cutting funding to resettlement programs, LSI continued the work. LSI welcomed more than 100 refugees in late December and was determined to complete their 90 days of resettlement assistance. Lutheran Services in Iowa is a non-profit organization which receives government reimbursement for the work they do. LSI says they haven't been reimbursed for the past several months of work. 'We have not been reimbursed for services that were rendered late October, November, December and early January, which is about $1.5 million,' said Renee Hardman, LSI CEO and President. 'Each month that we have employees still doing this work, it amounts, and it keeps accumulating and so at some point we have to make a decision.' Following the completion of the last 90-day resettlement period at the end of April, 28 employees and the resettlement program are being cut. Hardman says this was done to make sure the organization could continue with other projects. Iowa effort to stop pipeline encouraged by new South Dakota law 'The refugee work that we do is not ending. It's the resettlement peace that's ending,' said Hardman. 'So, we are going to go with reckless abandon to continue to serve the refugee community and ways that we're able to do so.' LSI will continue other refugee programs such educational services, childcare, Global Greens, and career pathway assistance. Hardman says that helping refugees get through their first 90 days isn't all it takes, she says if refugee programs continue to struggle and close, refugees will have a tough time acclimating. 'You're going to find more people not able to sustain affordable housing. You're going to have more people not able to navigate certain systems that were used to with the help of us. so, I really feel that there's going to be an impact on how these refugees live here in Iowa and navigate Iowa,' said Hardman. In response to this and other changes, LSI is hosting a virtual townhall to update the community. On Thursday, March 13 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., people can tune in for a discussion on organization changes, challenges LSI is facing, and a questions and answer session. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lutheran Services in Iowa's Sioux City office facing layoffs
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — The Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) will be laying off more than two dozen employees in three cities, including seven from the Sioux City office. The Iowa Workforce Development WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) page lists layoffs for the LSI offices in Des Moines, Waterloo, and Sioux City. They will be effective on March 28, 2025. 17 employees will be laid off in Des Moines, four in Waterloo, and seven in Sioux City. KCAU 9 confirmed the layoffs with Nick Wuertz, the Director of Immigrant & Refugee Community Services for LSI. Wuertz told KCAU 9 that the federal government has not reimbursed LSI for its refugee resettlement programs. School bus hit in minor collision at Irving Elementary In January, the Trump Administration suspended the Refugee Admissions Program, which helped refugees legally come to the United States. It also provided funding to community programs like LSI that help refugees resettle. A federal judge halted the suspension last week after aid groups sued the Trump Administration. The judge has yet to release a written ruling, but the administration has indicated it will appeal. It leaves funding for refugee resettlement programs like LSI, but it's unclear if LSI will ever receive funds for its services. Nick Wuertz said that Lutheran Services in Iowa's Foster and Childcare divisions are not being affected by the current layoffs. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
11-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Polk County approves $500,000 in emergency aid for refugees abandoned after Trump order
Polk County approves $500,000 in emergency aid for refugees abandoned after Trump order Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump cancels travel for refugees approved to enter US President Donald Trump canceled travel plans for refugees approved to travel in the United States with an executive order on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Fox - Seattle Polk County supervisors on Tuesday approved $500,000 in emergency funding to help 478 refugees resettle in the Des Moines metro, plugging a gap created by President Donald Trump's January halt of federal funding to resettlement agencies as he issued an executive order suspending the program. The money will provide case management funds for four resettlement agencies to continue services to the new refugees, who were vetted and legally approved to resettle in the U.S. More: Trump halts services for refugees already in US, including 176 children in Des Moines On Monday, some of the nation's largest refugee resettlement organizations sued the Trump administration over its indefinite pause of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, asking a federal court to move swiftly to restart it. The legal challenge, filed in federal district court in Seattle by the International Refugee Assistance Project and other groups, argues the president exceeded his executive authority by shutting down the congressionally sanctioned program and freezing funding to aid refugees already in the United States. More: After years of fighting the Taliban, Afghan refugee helps others create new life in Iowa The administration also canceled all refugee travel to the U.S., including the planned resettlement of nearly 1,660 Afghans. The refugee organizations argued in their lawsuit that serious harm could come to refugees without the federal aid and called on the court to 'restore the important and historic American tradition of protecting and aiding people fleeing persecution." More: Afghans languish in Iowa hotels with hungry kids, few housing options: 'I'm suffocating in this room' At Tuesday's supervisors meeting, representatives of local resettlement agencies gave emotional accounts of the fallout from the order. Leslie Olson, a licensed social worker and refugee wellness case manager at USCRI Des Moines, said a number of the agency's staff, including former refugees who became citizens, were laid off. Despite that, she said, many continued to volunteer to help new refugees so they wouldn't go hungry, could obtain medical care and send their children to school. 'I'm telling you that is something that gives me hope right now,' Olson said, choking back tears. Renee Hardman, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in Iowa, described in an upset voice her agency's long history of partnering with Polk County to resettle thousands of refugees in Iowa — a legacy of compassion that dates back to the aftermath of World War II. More: Lutheran Services in Iowa 'absolutely' does not launder money, Gov. Kim Reynolds clarifies The county this year is helping finance the creation of a new refugee and immigrant welcome center at 1900 Carpenter Ave. The Global Neighbors facility, which will be a hub for services and resources, is supposed to open by the end of 2025. Refugees approved to come to the U.S. typically qualify for 90 days' worth of assistance, which may include money for food and rent. But the long-term availability of federal funding for agencies like USCRI and LSI, which provide case workers for families and help them navigate finding jobs, housing, schools, language classes and transportation, remains in question. At the time of the order, LSI had 191 clients in Iowa, 108 of them children, according to Nick Wuertz, director of the faith-based nonprofit's refugee services. Most are from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan, and many arrived within the last month, he said. The money from the county is intended to tide the groups over until a court can rule on Trump's order. Supervisors chair Matt McCoy said the county will only reimburse the agencies for what they actually spend while the suspension remains in place. Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@ at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at
