Ascentria Care Alliances Cuts Back Services, Staff as a Result of Trump Executive Orders

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Ascentria Care Alliance has scaled back services for New Americans program following President Trump’s recent Executive Orders on Immigration and refugee resettlement.

“Our Services for New Americans program is greatly impacted by these orders, and future program funding at this point is unknown. What we do know is that refugee resettlement in our country will be significantly reduced by the new administration,” states Angela Bovill, Ascentria’s president and CEO.

Currently, there are no new refugees scheduled in Ascentria’s SNA program, and no expectation of new arrivals over the next several months.

“Realizing the consequence of these changes, we took the time to carefully review their impact to our SNA program and to our entire organization.We wanted to be sure we fully understood all of our potential options before making any decisions impacting our staff and services,” added Tim Johnstone, executive vice president of Ascentria’s Community Services division.

Johnstone continued, “what became clear is that the level of uncertainty about the future of refugee resettlement in the U.S. requires that we scale down our program until we have more definitive information. Unfortunately, these changes include staff reductions and the elimination of SNA positions in all three program locations (Worcester and Westfield, MA and Concord, NH). In total, 20 employees are impacted by full layoffs or reduced hours, and four open positions are eliminated.”

Impacted employees are encouraged to consider Ascentria’s open positions for opportunities they may be qualified for and interested in. An expedited process has been created to make it easier for those individuals to apply. Additionally, resume and job search guidance is being offered to assist impacted staff.

“We wish we had other options available, but without SNA program revenue and clients to serve, we cannot continue to fund these areas at their present levels,” states Johnstone.