English language instruction, 2008-2009

English Language Instruction Services (ELI)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION
2008-2009 PROGRAM ANALYSIS

Program Overview
The purpose of the Georgia Refugee ELI program is to serve Refugees 18 years and older who have been in the United States for 5 years or less; teach English to a level that will permit effective communication through listening, speaking, reading and writing; with an emphasis on how it relates to obtaining and retaining a job and to provide evaluation and testing for client placement and advancement. Atlanta Technical College (ATC) and DeKalb Technical College (DTC) were the two contracted providers for this service.
The unduplicated number of clients served for the contract year 2008-2009 was 1,800 of the 6,735 eligible. Refugees from 101 countries were served by this program. The majority of clients served were from Bhutan (455), Ethiopia (452), Burma (248), Somalia (187), and Iraq (186). All of the clients served reside in DeKalb County.
Cost Analysis

Funded by the Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR)

ATC expended all funds in the first 5 months of the contract year and DTC expended all funds in 11 months. Additionally, DTC provided two other services for civics and client transportation. There was only one budget amendment (line item transfer) for DTC; moving funding for civics to ELI. ELI costs were 21.1% ($630,482.09) of the total funding amount available ($2,982,324). (Chart I and Graph I)

Georgia Department of Human Services
Division of Family & Children Services
Refugee Programs Unit

Funding for this service is through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Social Services Grant (SSG) and Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG). There is a defined cost per unit of service for ELI which is an hourly rate.
Graph 2 provides a general breakdown of cost per person.
The variable in the cost per client is affected by the number of hours or partial hours of class participation.

ATC Original Rate

Table I

ATC End Rate

DTC Original Rate

DTC End Rate

Class $75,000.00 $75,000.00

$536,682.09 $555,482.09

Civics

$60,000.00

$41,200.00

Trans

$30,000.00

$30,000.00

R a te D o lla r s

Graph I
English Language Instruction

$600,000.00

$500,000.00

$400,000.00

$300,000.00

$200,000.00

$100,000.00

$0.00

Class

Civics

Trans

Services

ATC Orig Rate ATC End Rate DTC Orig Rate DTC End Rate

Graph 2
Service cost per client

$380 $360 $340 $320 $300 $280 $260

$301 ATC

$358

$329.50

DTC Average

Two areas are looked at regarding attendance in class and goals met. Contractors are expected to provide classes at times and days that make them accessible to the majority of clients. Additionally, monthly goals for each client are set at achievable levels. As indicated by the graph, the programs exceeded state requirements. (Table 2 and Graph 3)
Overall Analysis and Goals:
Funding expenditures were appropriate for services and achieved goals. Client records, goals and accomplishments were well documented. Educational guides, testing tools and placement levels met all client educational needs. More clients were able to attend ELI classes and attend classes for longer periods due to the difficulty in obtaining jobs. This added to the high rate of attendance experienced this year.
Concerns were received from service providers outside of those providing ELI but serving the same client population. These were in regard to clients not being placed in classes immediately; difficulty in transportation to service sites or attending classes at the times they were offered; legal down time of sites for holidays and requirements for identifying information at the time of registration. ELI providers worked with the Refugee Programs Unit and other providers to accommodate clients by providing transportation in some areas; adding additional classes and class times; providing schedules for transportation, class times and sites, registration times and sites, as well as allowing clients to register at times that classes were closed.
Providers, other than those providing ELI through this funding and serving the same client population, have received grants or have other funding sources to provide ELI outside of SSG and TAG funding. There are also numerous other organizations who provide ELI services outside of SSG and TAG funding, which clients may attend.
It is recommended that no change in placement of funding for ELI be made. At present, the technical colleges are able to serve twice the number of clients at $6 per hour that other providers were servicing at $12 per hour. Clients are also placed in a more advantageous setting for advancement in education through the technical colleges.

Table 2

ATC %

Attendance Rate

74.53

Goals Met 76.43

DTC %

State Required %

62.18

55.00

67.29

60.00

Chart 3

90.00 80.00 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00
0.00

Performance/Expectations

ATC % DTC % State Required %

Attendance Rate

Goals Met

Service providers for ELI expended funds before the end of the contract year. 1,800 Refugee clients received ELI services of the possible 13,000 eligible. Funding received was never intended to accommodate all client needs but rather to supplement existing resources.
It is recommended, should additional funding become available, that consideration be given to adding more units of ELI to existing contractors. This would supply additional sites and times for clients to attend the program. Client numbers indicate that additional service slots are needed. Should ELI providers reach the point of over capacity, they must resort to existing policy regarding priority registration and placement of Refugee clients.

Sources
Monthly Reports Trimester Reports Rate Schedules Performance Expectation Reports Administrative/Case Reviews Annual Goal Plan and other ORR Reports State Database and Internet Dialog between Service Providers and State Refugee
Program Monthly and Quarterly meetings with Service Providers

2008 2009 English Language Instruction Program Analysis

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