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Social Services Department Among its most significant accomplishments, the Council received accreditation to provide immigration assistance services from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in 1982. Later, it established the country’s first bilingual volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) program in collaboration with the Internal Revenue Services. Soon after, it became a bilingual certifying site assisting immigrants with the documentation necessary to apply for the Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), a process helpful to those seeking residency or citizenship. Over the past few years, the citizenship and immigration assistance program has served an average of 400 clients per month with document translations and advocacy related to obtaining residency or citizenship. In collaboration with banking institutions, the Council provides referrals for assistance in financial management and home ownership. Bilingual workshops are provided to the public on these subjects. During 2007, the Comprehensive Bilingual Social Services Program served over 2,400 individuals. Add the impact on their families and this number multiplies by several thousand. Most served were Latinos residing in four counties in southeast Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha). Of these, 80% resided in zip codes 53204 and 53215. Most of these clients returned for additional services. Those visits added up to more than 6,000 encounters or interventions, averaging more than 30 minutes each. Bilingual/bicultural staff assisted clients resolving matters with Social Security, taxes, utilities, consumer problems, transportation, licenses, immigration and naturalization, landlord/tenant concerns, translations, emergency referrals to food/pantry sites, medical bills, health providers, legal problems, and many more. Due to reductions in funding, this program no longer offers services it used to provide, such as domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and support, child abuse prevention, AODA, consumer and homemaking programs, energy efficiency education, a Parent Anonymous Project for at risk parents, a teen parent self sufficiency program, family and parenting early intervention services, family wellness, and health advocacy. Some of these services are now offered by other agencies; others need to be restored. With expected immigration reform, the program expects a dramatic increase in the number of those seeking assistance to attain citizenship. Completing residency and citizenship applications is a very involved process requiring much time and diligence.
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Spanish Center/ Centro Hispano Milwaukee, WI 53204 Ph: 414-384-3700 Fax: 414-384-5127 _______________________ By email Beatriz Gonzalez Immigration and Citizenship bgonzalez@spanishcentermilw.org _______________________ Daniel Soto Advocacy and Referral dsoto@spanishcentermilw.org _____________________ |
