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Office for Civil RightsJanuary 19, 2001 Dear Providers of Services for Battered Women and their Children: Over this past year, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been contacted by several advocacy and legal services organizations concerning potential instances of immigrants being wrongfully denied access to domestic violence shelters and other federally funded benefits because of confusion about eligibility rules. We have produced the enclosed Fact Sheet on "Access to HHS funded Services for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence" in an effort to educate domestic violence service providers, immigrant advocates, health and social services providers, benefits agency eligibility workers, and others regarding the complex web of eligibility rules issued by several different Federal agencies, including HHS and the U.S. Department of Justice. While battered immigrants have been specifically addressed in the 1996 immigration and welfare laws, and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and its recent reauthorization, there is no one source to which to refer, regarding the intersection of domestic violence, immigration law, Federal civil rights laws and eligibility for Federal public benefits. We hope you find this Fact Sheet to be a useful resource. OCR is available to provide additional technical assistance and to answer any questions or concerns you may have related to the Fact Sheet. We tried to provide references to the appropriate policy documents, regulations and/or statutes throughout the Fact Sheet. If you have any questions or comments concerning the Fact Sheet, please feel free to contact Deeana Jang at OCR, 202-619-0403, or e-mail: mailto:djang@os.dhhs.gov Sincerely, /s/ Thomas E. Perez Enclosure |
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