Direct Services for Survivors of Torture

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) invites the submission of applications for funding for the Direct Services for Survivors of Torture (DS SOT) Program, with the aim of helping survivors and their families to overcome the severe, pervasive, and long-lasting effects of torture, and to achieve sustained physical, social, emotional, and economic well-being. ORR uses the term “survivors” to refer to individuals who were tortured in another country and are now living in the United States. Torture is defined by U.S. law as an act which is intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and committed by a person acting under the color of law upon another person who one has under one’s custody or physical control (18 U.S. Code §2340). The DS SOT Program encompasses a comprehensive approach to supporting the integration and well-being of survivors of torture through the following two objectives: to increase survivors' access to and engagement with effective, holistic, strengths-based, trauma-informed services; and to maintain and grow a strong and sustainable national network of culturally responsive service providers. Services and activities under the DS SOT Program include, but are not limited to, the following: culturally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed coordination of care encompassing case management, legal assistance, medical and mental health services, housing, and occupational and educational services; coordination with other service providers, including the State Refugee Coordinator and State Refugee Health Coordinator, to ensure seamless access to services for survivors; and outreach to and engagement with survivors, thereby ensuring their empowerment and integration, especially in the case of marginalized survivor sub-groups such as refugees, survivors of gender-based violence, and LGBTQ individuals.