Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.

Rancho San Antonio

• Located on beautiful, park-like grounds in Chatsworth, Rancho San Antonio has been cited by the Los Angeles Times as a model residential treatment center for juvenile offenders. About 100 adolescent boys, ages 13-17, stay at Rancho, living in twelve group homes. Treatment includes daily group therapy, family therapy, and drug and violence counseling, as needed. The goal is to help the residents reintegrate into society as self-sufficient adults.

• The residents attend high school and take a variety of courses, such as weekly urban survival classes, job training, computer classes, and government sponsored employment training programs. The residents also learn basic skills for independent living: how to get a job and keep it; how to manage money; and how to relate to friends and family. They work on campus, in print shops, food services and landscaping.

Residents of Rancho San Antonio learn basic life skills and ethical standards. They also complete high school, job training, counseling and internships before returning to society.

At Rancho San Antonio, the majority of 134 staff members work as youth supervisors, mentoring juvenile offenders and preparing them for responsible adult life. The daily schedule leaves time for meditation and prayer.

Catholic Immigration Services


• During the 2003-2004 fiscal year, Catholic Immigration Services assisted with 1,196 citizenship applications and provided immigration services to 3,950 individuals. The goal is to reunite families by legalizing persons who live here without lawful immigration status, and by assisting in the immigration of family members to the United States.
• Catholic Immigration Services modified and expanded its programs to better meet the particular needs of its clients. These services include orientation, guidance, and social adjustment assistance.	Director of Catholic Immigration Services, Loc Nam Nguyen, welcomes an immigrant who sought assistance from the program.

Refugee Resettlement

• The Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP) helps newly arrived refugees and immigrants resettle in the Los Angeles area and start independent living. The program uses ethnic case managers, speaking the same language as the refugees and having the necessary cultural sensitivity to provide appropriate services. Catholic Charities uses its strong media connections, along with relationships with State and County Refugee Coordinators and local government, to promote a welcoming atmosphere for refugees.

• In 2003-2004, 357 Chinese asylees were enrolled in the federally-funded Match Grant Program which rewards refugees, sponsors, and sponsoring agencies when refugees achieve early economic self-sufficiency, without using public cash assistance.

Catholic Charities provides a range of services, focusing on family reunification and assisting with: family petitions, fiancé(e) visas, adjustment of status, travel documents, and employment documents.

Central Intake Unit

CIU offers employment services to refugees, enabling them to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Last year, CIU served over 10,000 refugees and immigrants who spoke 43 different languages. Most staff work part-time, providing expertise in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Vietnamese, and other languages.

• CIU’s Refugee Employment Training Program (REP) and Refugee/ Immigrant Training and Employment Program (RITE) serve non-English speaking individuals.

Catholic Charities’ advocacy helped to secure the resettlement of 2,000 Vietnamese refugees who spent the past 15 years in camps in the Philippines. The agency resettled 148 refugees last year, mostly from Vietnam, Iran and China.

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