Regional Collaboration Resource Development Template

Administrative Relief Regional Collaboration Resource Development Template

Dear Community-Based Organization, This document is designed to provide you and your community partners with a template that can be used when applying for immigration funding, specifically in preparing to implement various forms of Administrative Relief as announced by President Obama on November 20, 2014.

This template has several sections. It outlines the Need and Approach to position your collaboration as the focal point in preparing your community for Administrative Relief. Objectives and outcomes are included. Accompanying this document as a separate Excel worksheet is a Work Plan detailing activities and a timeline associated with the objectives. Section IV of this template contains guidelines for organizational capability statements outlining roles and responsibilities in the collaboration. A budget narrative template is available as a Word document. Resources related to data that you may find useful are at the end of the document.

Footnotes are not used in the proposal template. Instead, references are noted in parentheses. This is intended to make the document easier to use and to help avoid the potential problem of technical difficulties as some portions of the template are used and others are not. You are then able to format the footnotes or endnotes as is customary for proposals submitted by your agency. This template does not contain a budget spreadsheet. It is assumed that program directors will be able to construct a budget based on the proposal using the funder’s format.

The approach used in this document is consistent with the concept of “collective impact,”1 the need to coordinate across multiple sectors of society in order to bring about change rather than relying on the work of individual organizations in isolation. While not exactly the “backbone agency” as identified in the collective impact approach, this proposal does call for the designation of a lead agency that carries out the major three functions of the backbone agency as identified by Kania and Kramer to be “project manager, data manager, and facilitator.”2

Some foundations only require a five to ten page narrative. The contents of this document are longer by design. Not all programs are the same so there is the flexibility to use only those parts that relate to your specific program.

If you and your community partners have not already started to cultivate local community foundations, it is best to start right away. Do not wait for Administrative Relief applications to be accepted to begin the process of seeking funding. Seek funding for planning and implementation. A useful resource on community foundations can be found on the Council on Foundations website. You can search by state, region, or zip code. http://www.cflocate.org/.

This proposal template was written by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC).

1 John Kania & Mark Kramer. (2010). “Collective Impact.” Stanford Social Innovation Review. http://www.ssireview.org/images/articles/2011_WI_Feature_Kania.pdf. For article, video, and webinar, also go to http://www.fsg.org/tabid/191/ArticleId/211/Default.aspx?srpush=true. Follow-up article: Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, Mark Kramer. (2012). “Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work.” http://www.fsg.org/tabid/191/ArticleId/561/Default.aspx?srpush=true. Download article, webinar, and webinar presentation. 2 Kania and Kramer. Op.cit. page 6. Proposal Narrative

I. Introduction/Summary [Write this section last after the scope of the project and all goals, objectives, activities, and deliverables are clear.]

II. Need The 21st century in the United States is witness to a peak in immigration and to a greater diversity represented in immigrant populations. With a record high of more than 34 million foreign-born persons in the United States, it is estimated that almost a third, or more than 11 million people, are undocumented. Many have fled persecution, civil unrest in their home countries, natural disasters, or economic hardships with the goal to make a better life for their families.

Many “unauthorized” migrants live in the shadows while they contribute to the economy of this country. Contrary to many negative stereotypes, men and women with spouses and/or children make up more than half of this group (Passel 2007 b). Increasingly, these families are of “mixed-status” – i.e. some family members are U.S. citizens or have legal documentation to be in the U.S., while other family members lack documentation. In 2008, it was estimated that four million U.S. born children lived in mixed-status families (Passel and Cohn 2009, p ii).

[In a text box, add a case study of a mixed-status family from your community, being careful to protect confidentiality and explain how legalization will improve the family’s situation. You may insert it here or insert it later in the Organizational Capacity section as an example of the work your collaboration proposes to accomplish.]

The Migration Policy Institute, a leading think tank on migration, provides important information about the demographic characteristics of [insert name of your state] as they relate to immigration. [For your state, refer to Migration Policy Institute in Resource Section.] A recent study released by the Center for Migration Studies shows the number of undocumented to be 11.7 million with data by states including [insert your state] and number [ # ] in the report. [See link: http://cmsny.org/2013/02/15/center-for-migration-studies-cms-releases- important-new-study-on-unauthorized-immigrants-in-the-united-states/]

Immigration advocates have sought from Congress a comprehensive immigration reform bill to repair the nation’s broken immigration system. Included in that advocacy is legal status for the undocumented population and an earned path towards citizenship. Absent efforts by Congress now and in the foreseeable future, President Obama announced on November 21, 2014 various forms of administrative relief to benefit the undocumented population while also seeking their responsibility for making their status legal temporarily.

Beneficiaries of administrative relief include several, large undocumented population up to 5 million in scope. One form of relief is Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) now available with no age limit and a more generous entry date of January 1, 2010 or Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 2 of 11 before, provided all other eligibilities are met. This becomes available in 90 days after the President’s November 20 announcement. This is called Expanded DACA based on President Obama’s executive decision in June 2012 to offer relief from deportation for youth under age 31 who came to the U.S. care of their parents who entered without a visa. No age limit is the principal form of expansion for this benefit. An estimated 300,000 persons may benefit from Expanded DACA (Migration Policy Institute at http://migrationpolicy.org/news/mpi-many-37- million-unauthorized-immigrants-could-get-relief-deportation-under-anticipated-new.)

Second, Deferred Action for Parents (DAP) benefitting parents of U.S. citizen children and lawful permanent residents with a host of other eligibility requirements including physical presence for 5 years prior to January 1, 2010, background check, $465 fee, pay taxes and more. This becomes available 180 days after the President’s announcement. Furthermore, undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, and now through administrative relief, legal permanent residents (green card holders) may apply for a waiver of unauthorized presence when a visa becomes current and available. For details, see http://www.adminrelief.org/. Demographic estimates suggest up to 4 million persons may benefit. (Migration Policy Institute at http://migrationpolicy.org/news/mpi-many-37-million-unauthorized-immigrants-could-get-relief- deportation-under-anticipated-new.)

More forms of administrative relief were announced by President Obama that add benefits for hundreds of thousands more undocumented persons. Currently, undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens may qualify for a waiver of their unauthorized presence without penalty when seeking a visa to re-enter the U.S. and acquire legal permanent resident status (green card holder.) President Obama has now expanded this waiver to undocumented spouses of legal permanent residents, not just U.S. citizens. This is a much-sought after benefit by advocates who wish to facilitate the legal status of spouses in marriage, an important form of family preservation and support.

The need is great as stated in the way undocumented immigrants toil in the country with little benefit. The need is great in the numbers of persons now eligible for a benefit for the first time. The need is great also because of the challenges administrative relief confronts low- income immigrants needing to pay in money and deed for legal status and the nonprofit sector that seeks to serve them well with public education, legal screening, application assistance, referrals for auxiliary services and follow-up.

III. Approach

This project draws upon the concept of “collective impact” as identified by Kania and Kramer. [See introductory pages for reference information.] The multiple sectors included in this collaboration include [list all that apply, e.g., non-profit service organizations, faith-based organizations, local businesses, school system, etc.]. [Name of agency] is the fiscal agent and lead agency, responsible for financial accountability, reporting to the funder, monitoring for compliance, and problem solving. All members of the collaboration will maintain active roles as identified in this proposal and agreed upon in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) once funding has been secured. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 3 of 11 The goal of this collaboration is to effectively respond to the legal immigration and integration needs of undocumented immigrants in [insert name of community]

Objectives 1. Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to address legal immigration and integration needs in [insert area] 2. Provide timely, effective, and accurate information to immigrant communities in [insert area] regarding administrative relief 3. Increase and strengthen agency capacity to implement administrative relief and the legalization needs of undocumented immigrants in the region 4. Identify and train current staff, new staff, pro bono attorneys, and other volunteers to assist in the implementation of agency and community plans

Objective 1: Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to address legal immigration and integration needs in [insert area]

[Name of collaboration or lead agency] will convene a meeting, and bring together as partners, key community stakeholders to address legal immigration and integration needs in [insert name of area or region]. The collaboration will be comprised of community stakeholders. [For the list below, add other groups as apply to your particular city. List local names and organizations if you are already partnering with them and how you plan to expand your partnership. Make sure as many ethnic groups are represented as possible, and not just a major one or two.]

 Faith-based organizations and congregations,  Social service providers,  Legal service community,  Community organizers,  Foundations and philanthropic donors,  K-12 school personnel,  Adult education school personnel and ESL teachers,  Pro bono attorneys,  Representatives of ethnic communities or ethnic-based organizations,  English and non-English media outlets,  Authorized tax preparers (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance – VITA)  Health care providers,  Select employers,  Foreign government representatives (consulate staff), and  Elected and appointed officials.

The purpose of this collaboration will be to: [add in descriptive sentences as the items relate to your collaboration and if space permits.]  Plan an organized response to administrative relief outlining collaboration to Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 4 of 11 include partners’ contributions, roles, and responsibilities for outcomes;  Identify preferred models of public information and legal service delivery;  Share information, training, and resources;  Conduct, in a coordinated manner, public education and disseminate information to a wide and diverse audience;  Develop a unified media approach and contacts;  Identify advocacy priorities and appropriate advocates on legislative and administrative policies; and  Advocate for the fair and transparent implementation of the law.

Outcomes for Objective 1 1. Collaboration of local agencies will be defined and established 2. Community plan will be developed with clear goals, approaches, roles, activities, timeline, and benchmarks

Objective 2: Provide timely, effective, and accurate information to immigrant communities in [insert area] regarding administrative relief

Now that administrative relief has been announced, there is a great deal of information that will be of benefit to immigrants to know and prepare. Before and after applications can be submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, timely updates will be necessary through mass communication messaging via TV, radio, newspapers, public service announcements, community meetings, fliers, websites, and social media in multiple languages on such topics as: [Identify the topics to be used in a Communication Plan and include here with descriptions as much as space allows.]  Importance of avoiding and reporting fraudulent legal services (This may be part of a larger local anti-fraud campaign that could also include such activities as linking public education to reporting mechanisms; dedicating a phone number for local inquiries on reporting abuses; linking local - state bar, state attorney general office- and federal authorities to local immigrant population to hear directly how anti-fraud is being combated; and tracking and monitoring efforts and outcomes);  Importance of the authorized practice of law by attorney-based and Board of Immigration Appeals recognized agencies;  Compilation and distribution of a list of authorized legal practitioners;  Being pre-screened for eligibility against all available benefits and readiness to apply;  Signing up for electronic updates from a nonprofit, legal immigration expert;  Document collection – government issued ID or passport from home country, evidence of physical presence; evidence of children with U.S. citizenship and legal permanent residence, birth certificates, tax records, and more;  Saving money for USCIS and legal fees;  Preserving good moral character;  and the importance of paying taxes  [Add in other topics your agency would like to address.] Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 5 of 11 The outreach planning to diverse immigrant populations includes a myriad of questions to consider such as: [Add in descriptive sentences as the items relate to your collaboration and if space permits. The more detailed and thoughtful the answers, the more effective outreach will be. For example - Immigrants generally listen to news from home on cable television or receive text messages or Tweets from trusted information sources. In our community, news is provided in (list languages on cable news channels in your area). Public Service Announcements will be broadcast through this medium.]

 What immigrant groups are present in our community;  Where they live and work- identify local communities or geographical areas;  Who are the best messengers to respective populations – community leaders, elders, religious leaders, etc.;  What are the best ways to reach them –cable television, local ethnic newspapers, text messages, other;  Where are the best places to reach them - places of worship and employment, schools, markets, community events, other; and  Who from the partner organizations are the best people to relay the message(s) to various communities?

Outcomes for Objective 2 1. Outreach and Communication Plan will be developed and implemented 2. Messages and materials that can be translated into multiple languages will be developed and used as specified in the Outreach and Communication Plan 3. Immigrant community will be well-informed about critical issues related to administrative relief 4. Local community has an effective anti-fraud response in place

Objective 3: Increase and strengthen capacity of community partners to respond to administrative relief and the legal needs of undocumented immigrants in the region

Each partner agency will develop its own internal plan with activities that reflect a collaborative approach to respond to administrative relief and to organize an inclusive process to address the multiple components of a community-wide response. Administrative relief will allow for millions of people without legal immigration status, many of whom have been living and working here for years, to gain status with work authorization for a minimum of three years and be free of fear of exploitation and deportation. All the while they will be able to engage fully in their communities. Key elements of an internal agency plan will include: [review the list, add any other components that your plan will include, and provide a brief description if space allows.]

 Identification of a Coordinator, Steering Committee Members, and a Volunteer Coordinator at a minimum;  Estimated demand for immigration services;  Model of service delivery that paves a path for the undocumented to file bone-fide Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 6 of 11 and well-prepared applications;  Staffing and volunteers needed per role and time commitments;  Budget for preparation and implementation;  Resource development plan;  BIA recognition and accreditation applications for new offices and staff.

[Place as textbox or footnote: The BIA is the federal administrative appellate court for immigration law in the United States. It authorizes six categories of people to provide legal representation in immigration cases. Two common categories are attorneys and accredited representatives. Accredited representatives are non-attorneys that have the expertise and training to do this work. A non-profit, religious, charitable, social service, or similar organization that charges only nominal fees and that has adequate knowledge, information, and experience in immigration law can apply to the BIA to receive recognition to provide immigration legal services. In addition, it can apply to the BIA to obtain accreditation for its staff to provide immigration legal services. Partially and fully accredited representatives may represent clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and fully accredited representatives may also represent clients before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR).

This recognition and accreditation are enormously important in the non-profit immigration field because the majority of charitable immigration legal service providers cannot afford to hire full-time attorneys. BIA recognition and accreditation provides assurance to clients of the agency’s experience and knowledge in the area of immigration law.]; and

 Service Delivery Models – one-on-one representation; in-office clinics; group application workshops; assisted pro se, combination of all [specify]. [Explain how your collaboration plans to provide services to large numbers of people. Include uses of technology and appropriateness for the message and target audience. As a reference, please see CLINIC’s publication on-line, Preparing for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: An Earned Pathway to Citizenship and Beyond - A Manual for Immigration Legal Service Providers.]

Each agency practicing immigration law has Case Management Policies and Procedures specific to delivering legal immigration services which will be updated to reflect new models and scope of services in order assure consistency, train new staff, and provide quality control.

Funds are requested for additional training and to increase competency on current immigration law and sweeping changes made by administrative relief. Lessons learned from past, large scale efforts like DACA is the importance of competent professionals screening applicants the start for all forms of relief available. A recent analysis by the Center for Migration Studies reveals that 13% or more people first seeking DACA between 2012 to the present were Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 7 of 11 eligible for another, more advantageous, benefit. Screening for administrative relief will require diligence to ensure the best benefit is gained and no one is unnecessarily deported. It is anticipated that …………… trainings on …………… topics will be required for staff. [Depending upon the funder and the amount of funds available, you may want to consider a separate, smaller proposal just to cover training costs.]

[Explain if you will be located in one office or plan to open a sub-office in the same city or further way for easier access by clients. Will it be staffed on a part-time basis of full-time?] In addition to increased staffing and volunteer support, an increase in infrastructure and use of new technologies is essential for a successful plan. An assessment of current equipment indicates that hardware (lap tops, tablets, cell phones, portable scanners, printers, etc.) must be obtained. With the anticipated massive caseloads and the confidentiality of information that must be maintained, an electronic case management system, preferably web-based, for larger caseloads must be purchased. This system will also serve as a good mechanism for data collection and program evaluation to report outcomes to stakeholders, including funders. Communication costs [phones with multiple lines, prompts for many messages in different languages plus web-site upgrades with translations] and legal resources [explain what you need in term of texts, research, etc.] will also be needed for each site.

Providing charitable legal immigration services to unprecedented numbers of immigrants for administrative relief will require new tools and expanded approaches. One proven method is providing a combination of one-on-one legal representation; application assistance in regularly scheduled, in-office clinics during the evenings; and group application workshops on weekends for the largest number of applicants. A group application workshop is a one-day community event that brings professionals and trained volunteers together to assist immigrants in completing an application for an immigration benefit. The workshop model has been used extensively and successfully to help hundreds of thousands of immigrants with green cards apply for naturalization and thousands more for DACA. [collaboration name] plans to use this workshop format to help process large numbers of undocumented immigrants applying for administrative relief. The hardware and software identified earlier would be used for these workshops and staff and volunteers would become proficient in their use as a precursor to other group workshops when applications can be filed. [Possibly pull this out for separate funding once the expenses have been estimated.]

Outcomes for Objective 3 1. Increased capacity of collaborative partner agencies to serve greater number of clients for legal immigration services 2. Reduced need for low-income immigrants to seek legal assistance from unqualified persons and predatory practitioners 3. Maximize the use of technology for communication, public education, and direct legal services to create larger scales of service and efficiency

Objective 4: Identify and train current staff, new staff, community organizers, pro bono attorneys, and especially volunteers to assist in the implementation of agency and community plans Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 8 of 11 An important lesson learned from the implementation of earlier efforts at immigration reform was that volunteers provided an invaluable service. Given the even larger number of immigrants eligible for administrative relief, it is important to start early to identify and train volunteers. Sources of volunteer recruitment include the stakeholder groups and community leaders mentioned above as well as credible sources for bilingual recruitment such as law schools, colleges, universities, ESL teachers, religious communities, and retired professionals. Initially, the role of the volunteers will be to give undocumented individuals primary information and to help spread the messages developed by the partnership throughout multiple immigrant communities. They will function much like outreach workers and raise awareness of the issues in local communities. With available administrative relief, volunteers can continue to assist with interpretation, translation, pre-screening of cases, scheduling for application assistance, and working at group application workshops among many other duties.

Outcomes for Objective 4 1. Staff a Volunteer Coordinator responsible for the development and implementation of a volunteer program with benchmarks for numbers of volunteers to be recruited, trained, and appreciated. 2. Create a training curriculum and budget to give staff and volunteers the skills they need for the roles they assume. 3. Actively incorporate volunteers into the immigration program's workload and record in-kind hours and value to the agency.

IV. Organizational Capability

[Name of lead agency] was founded in [date]. The immigration program was founded in [date]. There are a total of____ persons authorized to practice federal immigration law and represent clients; _____ attorneys and ______staff who are non-attorneys recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) as accredited representatives. A total of _____ are budgeted in the immigration program. [If lead agency is not an authorized practitioner of immigration law, other organizational capacities need to be listed.]

Proceed to describe:  Staffing: FTE, position titles and numbers;  Number of attorneys and BIA representatives: partial and full;  List languages on staff:  Sub-offices: number and location;  Services offered – most frequent to less frequent with numbers from last fiscal year;  Number of clients served each year: spanning past three years – explain percentage increase, if appropriate;  Nominal fees charged: describe Fee Schedule compared to private bar fees;  Percentage of budget supported by subsidy, fees, grants, contracts, and other; and  Other charitable organizations offering similar services and their authorized FTE level to demonstrate dearth of services in your community Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 9 of 11 Conclusion

[Insert collaboration name] needs your support as our community begins now to respond to the needs of undocumented immigrants seeking administrative relief. This will be the first time for many undocumented persons to come forward for any assistance, let alone legal consultation. We expect the benefits to be for the native and foreign-born alike.

This collaborative initiative is informed by the Immigrant Integration Framework of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) –“the United States, to remain strong and prosperous, must continue to be the land of opportunity where people of all color, cultural background, and walks of life can put down roots, build a better life, and become contributing members of society.” (http://www.gcir.org/integration). GCIR has taken an active role in this transformative experience in history by demonstrating how local funders are critical to the integration of large numbers of immigrants in every community across the country and that funders can serve as a catalyst, bringing together all entities, governmental and non- governmental, to model an integration plan for their respective communities.

Our agency looks forward to meeting with the [insert funder's name] to discuss this potential partnership that will make changes in our community - changes that have not been seen for many decades.

Resources

Annie E. Casey Foundation “One Out of Five U.S. Children is Living in an Immigrant Family.” Kids Count – Data Snapshot. March 2007. (Data from 2005). Has table by state showing: number of foreign-born children, U.S. born children with at least one foreign-born parent, total children in immigrant families, and rank by state. http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Initiatives/KIDS %20COUNT/D/DataSnapshotImmigrantChildren/snapshot_immigrant%20pdf.pdf.

Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) Gray, Mark and Gautier, Mary. (2013). “Estimates of the Size and Demography of the Undocumented Non-Citizen Population in U.S. Catholic Dioceses, 2013.” (Commissioned by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC).

Center for Migration Studies shows the number of undocumented to be 11.7 million with data by states. [See link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imre.12022/full]

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) “Preparing for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: An Earned Pathway to Citizenship and Beyond." (2013). http://cliniclegal.org/resources/legalization-manual

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Regional Collaboration - Resource Development Proposal Template Page 10 of 11 CLINIC has a designated CIR section on its website with articles, useful links, and other resources for easy access to information. http://cliniclegal.org/comprehensive-immigration- reform.

Immigration Policy Center “The Economic and Political Impact of Immigrants, Latinos and Asians State by State.” 2012 http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/economic-and-political-impact-immigrants-latinos- and-asians-state-state. (infograph by state; fact sheet available for each state).

“Strength in Diversity: The Economic and Political Clout of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the United States.” Report that accompanies the above map. http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Strength_in_Diversity_updated_2012_ 1.pdf . (PDF report download)

Migration Policy Institute http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/acscensus.cfm. Provides extensive data from 2011 on the categories of Social and Demographic, Language and Education, Workforce, and Income and Poverty – extremely helpful].

Pew Hispanic Center Passel, Jeffrey and Cohn, D’Vera. (2009). “A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States.” http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/107.pdf.

Passel, Jeffrey. (2007b). “The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey.” http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/61.pdf

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