Integrated Social Services Program

Integrated Social Services Program – first implemented in 2001 - offers supportive social services for detained individuals to better navigate the immigration removal process. The Program addresses and alleviates individuals’ psychosocial needs, supports legal requests for release and relief from deportation, encourages family involvement, and helps create a reintegration road map for adults released from immigration detention.

•  A large number of people in ICE detention suffer from mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression, bi polar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety disorders.

•  We see many people who are developmentally disabled or delayed, have suffered brain injuries, and who have learning disabilities which make it nearly impossible to fight their cases and articulate their claims.

•  The experience of being detained, especially without a release date to look forward to, exacerbates already-existing mental health problems.

•  Many people are first diagnosed and treated for their mental health problems in prison or detention.

•  Even individuals who had never had serious mental health problems before can develop them while in detention.

•  The conditions of detention (prison setting, uniformed guards, lack of freedom, uncertainty, etc…) often mirror the conditions in which people were tortured in the countries they have fled.

•  People with mental health problems have an especially difficult time remaining in detention to fight their cases and need extra support and assistance.

•  The FIRRP social worker provides emotional support to these individuals and helps them maintain relative stability while they fight their immigration cases. She encourages them to continue their cases when they have viable claims.

•  The social worker helps survivors of torture tell their stories, complete asylum applications, and prepare testimony. She provides support so that they are able to tell their stories and minimize retraumatization.

•  She consults with the staff attorneys to help them understand the clients' cases in regards to their past trauma experiences and mental health issues.

•  The social worker coordinates substance abuse treatment, housing, mental health treatment, and other social services in clients' home communities. This helps increase the likelihood that they will succeed outside detention and can strengthen their requests for humanitarian waivers in front of the immigration judges.