Health and Human Services requests use of federal funds to assist Ukrainian refugees

By: Annmarie Timmins - November 17, 2022 5:35 pm

The Department of Health and Human Services in Concord. (Dave Cummings | New Hampshire Bulletin)

The state Department of Health and Human Services is hoping to use nearly $697,000 in federal money to provide the estimated 175 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in New Hampshire this year help finding jobs and housing, learning English, and accessing vaccines.

The department is expected to ask the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee Friday to use nearly $287,000 to provide social services to help Ukranians settle in the state. In its request to the committee, the department said the money will help lead to self-sufficiency for refugees.

It has asked to use part of a second $410,000 grant to ensure Ukrainian refugees have access to vaccines, an effort it said would include culturally and linguistically appropriate health information.

According to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, 175 Ukranians have come to New Hampshire this year, while 35 went to Vermont and 79 to Maine. Among the other New England states, Rhode Island counted 120 refugees, Connecticut 888, and Massachusetts 2,034.

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Annmarie Timmins

Senior reporter Annmarie Timmins is a New Hampshire native who covered state government, courts, and social justice issues for the Concord Monitor for 25 years. During her time with the Monitor, she won a Nieman Fellowship to study journalism and mental health courts at Harvard for a year. She has taught journalism at the University of New Hampshire and writing at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. Email: [email protected]