Description
This collection of records of the Orange County Social Services Agency (OCSSA) includes documents related to the administration
of government refugee assistance programs. The materials consist of administrative papers, correspondence, data and statistics,
reports, legislative documents, memoranda, notes, proclamations and resolutions, and program plans, and document refugee assistance
activities at the county and state level. Among the programs and agencies included as topics in this collection are: OCSSA
Central Intake Unit, Greater Avenues for Independence (welfare program), Mutual Assistance Association, Refugee Employment
Assistance Program, Refugee Demonstration Project, Refugee Employment Social Services, Refugee Resettlement Project, and Targeted
Assistance Program.
Background
The Orange County Social Services Agency (OCSSA) has been providing refugee services since 1975. However, the bulk of the
materials in this collection relate to those programs impacted by the United States Refugee Act of 1980. The Act increased
the country's refugee quota from 17,400 to 50,000, established Congressional control over the entire process of admitting
refugees, and appointed an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
ORR administered a full range of federally funded programs that assisted in the resettlement process at the state and county
levels.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Southeast Asian Archive Librarian.