St. Louis-based nonprofit Monarch Immigrant Services has been awarded a $2 million dollar competitive federal grant (HHS-2023-ACF-ORR-90ZQ0021) to provide holistic health and psychosocial support services for trauma-affected refugees in the St. Louis area. The Support for Trauma-Affected Refugees (STAR) program will run for four years at 28 sites nationwide. According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), who will be overseeing program implementation, the program has two primary goals: 1) providing direct services to refugee families that support physical, social, and emotional well-being, and 2) expanding regional networks of culturally responsive providers to address refugee mental health needs.
The STAR program is designed to support the successful resettlement of refugees and other eligible populations whose experience of trauma limits their ability to function effectively at home, school, work, or in social settings. While most resettled refugees who experience trauma before, during, and after migration rebuild their lives without visible adverse mental health effects, ORR estimates that up to 15% may require intensive support services. Also, children who have experienced trauma are at increased risk for long-term developmental, physical, and mental health issues from their own exposures and their family members’ trauma-related experiences. To address these needs flexibly, STAR services will be available for children, adolescents, and adults, individually or as a family.
Monarch (formerly Bilingual International Assistant Services) is building out a team of multilingual community case managers to coordinate care and connect families to resources. Licensed agency therapists will provide individual, family, and group therapy interventions – including telehealth options – as well as oversee family strengthening interventions and parenting classes. Monarch will rely on evidence-based psychosocial trauma healing interventions and draw from its years of experience operating two other federal refugee mental health programs: Services to Survivors of Torture and Services to Afghan Survivors Impacted by Combat.
Monarch will also work to expand the capacity of local providers to effectively refer and treat refugee clients needing mental health interventions. To convene and train providers, Monarch will partner with several area nonprofits including the International Institute of St. Louis, Casa de Salud, the Immigrant Service Providers Network (ISPN), as well as working with local refugee mental health thought leaders Dr. Mitra Naseh (Washington University) and Rosemary Lang, LCSW, for process improvement and training design.
With St. Louis remaining a preferred destination for refugee resettlement, Monarch Executive Director Jason Baker sees this new program as an expansion of existing supports to help refugees heal and thrive. “The STAR award will help sustain refugee mental health services in the region and expand on what we and our partners are already able to provide. It’s an exciting opportunity to implement this new family-focused model, and we’re uniquely positioned to do so.” The STAR program is expected to begin enrollments by the end of calendar year 2024.