02/10/09

Introduction

Since the Fall of Saigon in May 1975, the Hmong, like other Southeast Asian groups, became refugees due to their involvement in the CIA’s Secret War in Laos during the Vietnam War. The first wave of Hmong refugees was resettled in the United States in 1976. Today, over 250,000 are scattered in America with three concentrations in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Although the Hmong have made vast strides economically, socially, politically, and educationally, the traumas of war and relocation remain consistent issues.

Traditionally, mental health needs and other social service programs were not apart of the federal government’s refugee program. Therefore, a majority of the federal government’s funds went toward self-sufficiency programs. During the Clinton Administration, the federal government went beyond their traditional programs of finding jobs for refugees and allocated funding to include promoting mental wellness among refugees. In 1999, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Immigrant Integration Section (formerly known as Office of Refugee Services) competed nationally and was awarded a small fund to provide mental health services for the refugees in Wisconsin. Initially, five regional programs were established by subcontracting with county, non-profit agencies, and faith base agencies to deliver culturally competent mental health services to refugees in Wisconsin. Local agencies were able to hire professional and trained bilingual, bicultural Hmong therapists.

In order to better serve their clients, it is critical that a more uniform clinical and mental health terminology glossary be developed for the Hmong therapists and other interested service providers. Therefore, this glossary is an initiative of the WHMHPG with the technical assistance from the Wisconsin Refugee Mental Health program staff.