2015-2016 Bill 4396: Refugee Absorptive Capacity Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 H. 4396 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Clemmons, Hicks, Taylor, Yow, Chumley, Burns and V.S. Moss 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11168sa16.docx 11 12 Introduced in the House on January 12, 2016 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Refugee Absorptive Capacity Act 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 12/3/2015 House Prefiled 22 12/3/2015 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary 23 1/12/2016 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 53) 24 1/12/2016 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( House Journalpage 53) 25 26 View the latest legislative information at the website 27 28 29 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 30 31 12/3/2015 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 49 TO TITLE 43 SO AS TO 13 CREATE THE “REFUGEE ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY ACT”, 14 TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS, TO PROVIDE THE STATE 15 OFFICE FOR REFUGEES UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF 16 SOCIAL SERVICES WITH CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS, AND 17 TO ALLOW FOR A MORATORIUM ON NEW REFUGEE 18 SETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES IN CERTAIN INSTANCES. 19 20 Whereas, it is the policy of the United States, as enacted in the 21 Immigration and Nationality Act, Title IV, Chapter 2, Section 412, 22 8 U.S.C. Section 1522, 45 C.F.R. 400.5(h): 23 (1) recommendations of the State regarding placement of 24 refugees should be taken into account; 25 (2) refugees should not be placed or resettled in an area highly 26 impacted by the presence of refugees or comparable populations; 27 (3) that close cooperation and advance consultation should 28 exist between the refugee resettlement agency of the State, local 29 governments, and local voluntary refugee resettlement agencies, to 30 plan and coordinate in advance the placement of refugees; and 31 32 Whereas, this State commits publicly funded resources to support 33 refugee resettlement in this State; and 34 35 Whereas, the General Assembly deems it expedient to codify in 36 state law certain federal requirements which relate to agencies 37 involved in resettling refugees in this State requiring quarterly 38 meetings with the State Refugee Coordinator and representatives 39 of the respective local governments to plan and coordinate the 40 appropriate placement of refugees in advance of the refugees’ 41 arrival and to report the information to the local governments and 42 the General Assembly. Now, therefore,

[4396] 2 1 2 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 3 Carolina: 4 5 SECTION 1. Title 43 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 6 7 “CHAPTER 49 8 9 Refugee Absorptive Capacity Act 10 11 Section 4349100. This chapter may be cited as the ‘Refugee 12 Absorptive Capacity Act’. 13 14 Section 4349110. As used in this article: 15 (1) ‘Absorptive capacity’ means a determination made by a 16 local government evaluating: 17 (a) the capacity of the social service agencies, child welfare 18 agencies, child care facilities, educational facilities, health care 19 facilities, translation and interpreter services, and law enforcement 20 agencies in the jurisdiction of the local government to meet the 21 existing needs of the community’s current residents considering 22 budgetary and other restraints; 23 (b) the capacity to provide medical care to refugees who at 24 the time of resettlement in the jurisdiction of the local government 25 are determined to have medical conditions requiring, or medical 26 histories indicating a need for, treatment or observation, or 27 affecting the public health, both with or without expenditures 28 under this State’s approved Medicaid State plan in accordance 29 with section 1902(a)(10)(C) of the Social Security Act, State 30 Children’s Health Insurance Program, or other public assistance 31 programs; 32 (c) the capacity to provide affordable housing, low cost 33 housing, or both, considering existing waiting lists for such 34 housing in the jurisdiction of the local government; 35 (d) the capacity of the local school district in the jurisdiction 36 of the local government to meet the needs of the existing or 37 anticipated refugee population, including education of 38 unaccompanied refugee children and provision of English 39 language training; 40 (e) the capacity of the economy in the jurisdiction of the 41 local government to absorb new workers, including the likelihood 42 of refugees placed in the jurisdiction of the local government 43 becoming employed, selfsufficient, and free from long term

[4396] 3 1 dependence on public assistance, without causing competition with 2 local residents for job opportunities, displacing existing local 3 workers, or adversely affecting the wages or working conditions of 4 the local workforce; 5 (f) the capacity of state and local law enforcement in the 6 jurisdiction of the local government to assure that law and order 7 can be maintained, and ensure that the refugee population and the 8 general public can be protected from crime including, but not 9 limited to, child abuse, domestic abuse, sex trafficking, and threats 10 to national security; and 11 (g) the capacity of the state and local government to provide 12 services considering whether the jurisdiction of the local 13 government has been highly impacted by the presence of refugees 14 or comparable populations, including the proportion of refugees 15 and comparable entrants in the population in the jurisdiction of the 16 local government, the amount of secondary migration of refugees 17 to the jurisdiction of the local government, and the proportion of 18 refugees in the jurisdiction of the local government receiving cash 19 or medical assistance through public assistance. 20 (2) ‘Local government’ means the governing body of any 21 county or municipality. 22 (3) ‘Local educational agency’ means a public authority legally 23 constituted by the State as an administrative agency to provide 24 control of and direction for kindergarten through twelfth grade 25 public educational institutions. 26 (4) ‘State office for refugees’ means the state office that 27 administers the refugee program for the State administered and 28 supervised by the Department of Social Services. 29 (5) ‘State refugee coordinator’ means the official designated by 30 director of the Department of Social Services. 31 32 Section 43-49120. The State office for refugees shall: 33 (1) meet at least quarterly with representatives of local 34 governments to plan and coordinate the appropriate placement of 35 refugees in advance of the refugees’ arrival; 36 (2) ensure that representatives of local resettlement agencies, 37 local community service agencies, and other publicly funded or 38 taxexempt agencies that serve refugees in this State shall meet at 39 least quarterly with representatives of local governments, including 40 representatives of law enforcement and local educational agencies, 41 to plan and coordinate the appropriate placement of refugees in the 42 host community in advance of the refugees’ arrival;

[4396] 4 1 (3) execute a letter of agreement with each agency providing 2 refugee resettlement services in this State. The letter of agreement 3 must require the parties to mutually consult and prepare a plan for 4 the initial placement of refugees in a host community and set forth 5 the continuing process of consultation between the parties. The 6 provisions of the letter agreement must be consistent with 7 federal law regulating the resettlement of refugees; 8 (4) at least quarterly, transmit copies of the letters of agreement 9 and any initial refugee placement plans prepared to the Chairman 10 of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Chairman of the House 11 Judiciary Committee, the chairman of the local government 12 hosting the refugee community, the head of the Office of 13 Homeland Security, the Chief of the South Carolina Law 14 Enforcement Division, the Attorney General of the State, the head 15 of all local law enforcement agencies in the State, and the head of 16 all local educational agencies in the State; and 17 (5) at least annually, transmit to the Chairman of the Senate 18 Judiciary Committee, the Chairman of the House Judiciary 19 Committee, the chairman of the local government hosting the 20 refugee community, the head of the Office of Homeland Security, 21 the Chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the 22 Attorney General of the State, the head of all local law 23 enforcement agencies in the State, and the head of all local 24 educational agencies in the State: 25 (a) copies of statistical and programmatic information 26 provided to the federal government; 27 (b) copies of the written policies of the Refugee Cash 28 Assistance program, including agency policies regarding eligibility 29 standards, the duration and amount of cash assistance payments, 30 the requirements for participation in services, the penalties for 31 noncooperation, and client rights and responsibilities to ensure that 32 refugees understand what they are eligible for, what is expected of 33 them, and what protections are available to them; 34 (c) copies of any written policies public or private Refugee 35 Cash Assistance program operating at any time in the calendar 36 year; 37 (d) a report documenting the number of refugees sanctioned 38 for failure to comply with the requirements of the Refugee Cash 39 Assistance program, and the number of determinations concerning 40 employability, or failure or refusal to carry out job search or to 41 accept an appropriate offer of employability services or 42 employment, resulting in denial or termination of assistance;

[4396] 5 1 (e) a certification that women have the same opportunities as 2 men to participate in all services provided, including job placement 3 services; and 4 (f) any reports of crime committed by a refugee who has 5 been resettled in the State, or crime committed against a refugee 6 who has been resettled in the State including, but not limited to, 7 incidents of child abuse, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse, 8 sex trafficking, human trafficking, or terrorism whether prosecuted 9 or not. 10 11 Section 43-49130. (A) The State office for refugees shall 12 accept an application from a local government for a moratorium on 13 new refugee resettlement activities in a host community that lacks 14 sufficient absorptive capacity. 15 (B) A host community lacks sufficient absorptive capacity 16 where the local government, after consultation with the state 17 refugee coordinator, holds a public hearing and issues findings 18 based on the factors in Section 43-49110(1) that further 19 resettlement of refugees in the host community would result in an 20 adverse impact to existing residents. 21 (C) Upon notice of a determination made pursuant to 22 subsection (B), the State office for refugees shall suspend 23 additional resettlement of refugees in that community until the 24 state refugee coordinator and the local government have jointly 25 determined that sufficient absorptive capacity for refugee 26 resettlement exists to implement the initial refugee placement plan 27 prepared for the host refugee community. 28 (D) The period of validity of a moratorium described in 29 subsection (C) or any extension thereof, shall not exceed one 30 year.” 31 32 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 33 Governor. 34 XX 35

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