With many expected refugees from crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine, T’ruah rabbis support enhancing California Extended Case Management Program
NEW YORK — More than 50 California rabbis are calling for the state government to enhance its refugee support services, citing both the moral imperative to care for immigrants and a documented increase in refugees fleeing human rights crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine. If the state budget includes funding for the California Extended Case Management Program, as the clergy are calling for, up to 30,750 individuals eligible to be resettled in California will also be eligible for a complete year of case management services. Case managers help clients integrate into the fabric of the state and build a foundation for future success.
The rabbis are affiliated with T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization that represents over 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities in North America. Their letter was sent to the California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee as it considers the program’s future.
The full letter is printed below and available here.
RE: Jewish Clergy Support for CA Extended Case Management (CECM) with an investment of $79,500,000
April 1, 2022
California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
1020 N Street, Room 502
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Chair Skinner and the Senate Budget Committee,
We, the undersigned Jewish clergy of T’ruah in California, ask for the legislature to support an investment in a new California Extended Case Management (CECM) program, which will transform the lives of over 30,000 newly arrived Californians by introducing a PILOT program to expand case management services for up to one year with an investment of $39,750,000 per year over a two-year duration, a total investment of $79,500,000.
Our communities are filled with people whose families’ lives were saved by coming to this country. Our stories compel us to speak out for refugees today, and to ensure the systems in our state have the resources they need to support these human beings. Our religious texts underscore this deep commitment – as we read in Leviticus 19:34, “the ger (immigrant) who sojourns with you shall be like a citizen unto you, and you shall love this person as yourself, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt. I am Adonai, your God.”
The CECM program builds off of the existing infrastructure for case management in our state and can be expanded to meet the needs of this current moment with the humanitarian crises unfolding. The program will serve eligible refugees, humanitarian parolees, asylum seekers, asylees and trafficking victims (hereinafter “clients”), ensuring each client will have one full year of assistance. Case managers will help clients integrate into the fabric of the state and build a foundation for future success. The services they provide will include housing assistance, health care access, job readiness and training, financial literacy education, cultural orientation, English language training and school enrollment.
The Refugee Program and other similar programs serving humanitarian parolees, asylum seekers, asylees and trafficking victims provide case management help for these new California residents for just 90 days. For many, that simply is not enough time to lay the groundwork for a new life in a new country. We know that case management for refugees is life changing. Studies show that with proper support, refugees successfully resettled bring remarkable contributions to the economy and social fabric of the state. We also know that the longer support is provided, the better the outcomes.
The unanticipated evacuation of thousands from Afghanistan seeking refuge and their resettlement in California and the new announcement that the US will welcome 100,000 Ukrainians has left us struggling with how to rebuild the underfunded resettlement system. The Bay Area, Sacramento, LA, and San Diego are home to some of the largest Afghan and Ukrainian communities in the country.
Given the moment, now is the time for California to invest resources in the California Extended Case Management Program. It will ensure case management services are provided not just for 90 days, but for a full year, to 30,750 eligible individuals who resettle in California. With it, we can immeasurably improve the lives of these new residents in our state. And with it, we can reaffirm what we all know to be true: California Welcomes.
We thank the committee’s consideration for this important investment to meet the needs of new Californians.
Sincerely (Organizations listed for identification purposes only),
Rabbi Ruth Adar
Rabbi Mona Alfi – Cong. B’nai Israel
Rabbi Adina Allen – Jewish Studio Project
Rabbi Dr. Bradley Artson
Rabbi Allan Berkowitz – Faith In Action East Bay
Rabbi Amy Bernstein – Kehillat Israel
Rabbi Kerry Chaplin
Rabbi Kenneth Chasen – Leo Baeck Temple
Rabbi Mar Chernow – Temple Israel of Hollywood
Rabbi Daniel Chorny – Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock
Rabbi Aryeh Cohen – American Jewish University
Rabbi Mike Comins – TorahTrek
Rabbi David J. Cooper – Kehilla Community Synagogue
Rabbi Jill Cozen Harel
Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz – Congregation Emeth, Morgan Hill, CA
Rabbi Amy Eilberg – Congregation Etz Chayim
Rabbi Dennis Eisner – Kehillah Jewish High School
Rabbi Diane Elliot – Wholly Present
Cantor Devorah Felder-Levy – Congregation Shir Hadash
Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
Rabbi Stacy Friedman – Rodef Sholom
Rabbi Aimee Gerace – Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center
Rabbi Dr. Miriyam Glazer – AJU
Rabbi Susan Goldberg – Nefesh
Rabbi Ilana Goldhaber-Gordon – Congregation Beth Jacob
Cantor Joseph Gole – Har El Congregation
Rabbi Jessica Graf – Sherith Israel
Rabbi Adam Greenwald – American Jewish University
Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper – Conservative Judaism
Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Hoffman – Yechiel Hoffman consulting services
Rabbi Daniel Isaacson – Jewish Family & Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
Cantor Elaya Jenkins-Adelberg – Congregation Beth El, Berkeley
Rabbi Alex Kress – Beth Shir Shalom
Rabbi Noa Kushner – The Kitchen
Rabbi Gail Labovitz – American Jewish University
Rabbi Susan Laemmle – CCAR
Rabbi David Lazar – Or Hamidbar
Senior Rabbi Susan Leider – Congregation Kol Shofar
Rabbi Chai Levy – Congregation Netivot Shalom
Rabbi Michael Lezak – GLIDE
Rabbi Mordecai Miller – Congregation Beth Ami
Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh – Temple Israel of Hollywood
Rabbi Katie Mizrahi – Or Shalom Jewish Community
Rabbi Dev Noily – Kehilla Community Synagogue
Rabbi Laura Owens – B’nai Horin
Rabbi Jill Perlman – Temple Isaiah
Rabbi Robin Podolsky – Bend the Arc
Rabbi Ira Rosenberg – Congregation Beth El
Rabbi Suzanne Singer – Temple Beth El
Rabbi Beth Singer – Congregation Emanu-El
Rabbi Sarah Weissman – Congregation Beth Am
Rabbi Jill Zimmerman – Path With Heart
Rabbi Maya Zinkow – Berkeley Hillel
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
