Changing Lives: The Effects of Receiving Approved Legal Permanent Residency for U Visa Victims and VAWA Self-Petitioners |
Changing Lives Survey: Introduction and Consent Form
Dear Colleagues, Advocates, Attorneys and Professionals:
- Participate in NIWAP’s Changing Lives Survey!
- Please complete this survey by November 5, 2019.
- Please circulate widely to other professionals working with immigrant survivors.
We received responses to this survey in 2016 from some of you and are seeking additional survey participants.
- If you did not take this survey in 2016, your participation is very important particularly at this time please participate in this important survey now
- If you took this survey in 2016, thank you for your participation and we ask that you help us forward this survey to others who work with immigrant survivors
NIWAP at the Washington College of Law, American University is conducting a survey that will help document how obtaining work authorization, protection from deportation (deferred action) and legal immigration status changes victims’ lives and the lives of their children.
The information gained from your participation in this survey will be published and made available for use by NIWAP and experts in the field working with immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse and other crimes. Understanding more about how the lives of victims and their children change at various stages of the immigration process, from filing, to attaining work authorization, to receiving lawful permanent residency will provide powerful information to support training for judges, prosecutors, police, DHS adjudicators, attorneys and victim advocates across the country. This information will also provide important insight into immigrant victims’ experiences that will support public policy efforts to improve and protect legal options available to immigrant survivors and their children under immigration, public benefits, and family laws at both the state and federal levels.
Your participation in this process will help us learn how and the extent to which pursuing legal immigration status helps victims and their children heal and improve their lives. We are seeking help from attorneys, victim advocates, social workers, therapists and justice system professionals working with immigrant victims to fill out the survey based on what you have observed in your work with immigrant survivors who have pursued VAWA self-petitions, VAWA cancellation/suspension and U visa cases. Survey questions seek information about the types of abuse victims suffered, immigration related abuse, victims’ justice system, community, and social engagement, enhanced economic security, improvements that affect victims’ children and victims’/children’s emotional and physical health.
The survey seeks numerical data on your clients collectively without any identifying information. When the survey questions call for stories, your perspective, or examples from individual victim’s cases, please do not include any names or identifying information as we will need to discard this information.
Please understand, your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. You may stop at any time if necessary. The results of this survey, we hope, will impact training, public policy advocacy and future research.
We thank you in advance for taking the time to participate in this survey, for your help in forwarding it to other service providers, and for your work with immigrant survivors.If you have questions, please contact us at (202) 274-4457 or hm3410a@student.american.edu.
Leslye E. Orloff
Adjunct Professor and Director
The information gained from your participation in this survey will be published and made available for use by NIWAP and experts in the field working with immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse and other crimes. Understanding more about how the lives of victims and their children change at various stages of the immigration process, from filing, to attaining work authorization, to receiving lawful permanent residency will provide powerful information to support training for judges, prosecutors, police, DHS adjudicators, attorneys and victim advocates across the country. This information will also provide important insight into immigrant victims’ experiences that will support public policy efforts to improve and protect legal options available to immigrant survivors and their children under immigration, public benefits, and family laws at both the state and federal levels.
Your participation in this process will help us learn how and the extent to which pursuing legal immigration status helps victims and their children heal and improve their lives. We are seeking help from attorneys, victim advocates, social workers, therapists and justice system professionals working with immigrant victims to fill out the survey based on what you have observed in your work with immigrant survivors who have pursued VAWA self-petitions, VAWA cancellation/suspension and U visa cases. Survey questions seek information about the types of abuse victims suffered, immigration related abuse, victims’ justice system, community, and social engagement, enhanced economic security, improvements that affect victims’ children and victims’/children’s emotional and physical health.
The survey seeks numerical data on your clients collectively without any identifying information. When the survey questions call for stories, your perspective, or examples from individual victim’s cases, please do not include any names or identifying information as we will need to discard this information.
Please understand, your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. You may stop at any time if necessary. The results of this survey, we hope, will impact training, public policy advocacy and future research.
We thank you in advance for taking the time to participate in this survey, for your help in forwarding it to other service providers, and for your work with immigrant survivors.If you have questions, please contact us at (202) 274-4457 or hm3410a@student.american.edu.
Leslye E. Orloff
Adjunct Professor and Director
Haley Magwood
Legal Intern, JD Candidate 2020
National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project
American University, Washington College of Law
National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project
American University, Washington College of Law