Through this award, U.S. Committee for refugees and immigrants (uscri) will implement the surviving trauma and reaching success (STARS) program, which will serve foreign-national victims of human…

The U.S. Department of Justice, through the Domestic Trafficking Victim Program (CFDA 16.834), has awarded a $800,000 Project Grant to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) to implement the Surviving Trauma and Reaching Success (STARS) program. This program will provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed case management and legal immigration services to foreign-national victims of human trafficking in the Austin, TX area and nearby regions. Key activities include outreach to trafficking victims, legal services such as T visas, U visas, and VAWA petitions, as well as assistance accessing community resources for safe shelter, housing, food, transportation, and childcare. The grant period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

Through this award, U.S. Committee for refugees and immigrants (uscri) will implement the surviving trauma and reaching success (STARS) program, which will serve foreign-national victims of human trafficking in the austin, TX area and nearby regions. The purpose of the program is to offer provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed case management and legal immigration services to victims of trafficking. Project activities will include outreach to trafficking victims through liaising with community-based organizations, sexual assault crisis centers, migrant health centers, refugee organizations, and trafficking task forces that include law enforcement, mental health experts and trafficking service providers. Uscris legal services program will offer attorney services including t visas, u visas, temporary protected status self-petitions for battered spouses and children (vawa), protection orders, naturalization, asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, and work authorization, as well as legal services for ancillary issues arriving from trafficking such as expungement and child custody. Additionally, STARS case managers will help victims access safe shelter, housing, food, clothing, transportation, personal care items and childcare as needed from community resources and facilitate victim-directed safety plans and individualized service plans.