A grant award has been signed between the Council of Jewish Federations and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare implementing the $16 million Federal Block Grant for Soviet – Jewish resettlement, administered by C JF in cooperation with MIAS it was announced here today by the C JF.
In approving the document, HEW Secretary Josheph A. Califono, Jr. , paid tribute to the “impressive record compiled by voluntary agencies in providing help for refugees over the years without Federal aid.” But he recognized that “their resources had been strained” by the increasing number of immigrants, particularly from the Soviet Union. Close to 4000 Jews are currently exiting from the Soviet Union each month. The C JF Washington Action Office has worked closely with the White House, HEW and Congress in formulating the resettlement agreement.
Council President Morton Mandel of Cleveland announced the appointment of Bernard Manekin of Baltimore as program committee chairman of the C JF unit formed to work with Federations in applying for funds and implementing local resettlement. Federations will submit their application for funds directly to the C JF, according to the announcement.
James Rice, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago chairs the professional advisory committee, and Karl Zukerman, formerly with the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, has been named director of the CJF program.
PURPOSE OF THE FUNDS
Describing the grant, Mandel stated that applications are open to Federations for matching grants on a 50-50 basis to resettle 16,000 Soviet Jews arriving in the United States from October 1, 1978-September 30, 1979. Funds will be used for English language training; vocational and technical instruction; job placement; health care, and related acculturation services. With Council’s assistance, Federations will coordinate this multi-faceted, inter-agency process on a community-wide basis.”
According to the HEW contract, the purpose of the grant is to enable immigrants in the United States to become “independent and self-supporting members of American society.”
Mandel added that the success of the Federal aid program for Soviet Jews will b e determined largely by the Jewish community’s effectiveness in fulfilling its terms. He urged Federations to work as closely as possible with the C JF resettlement unit to make certain that their programs are effectively and efficiently run, applications are correctly prepared and processed and periodic reporting is timely and accurate.
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