PERRI SLOANE
EXPERIENCES
AND EXPECTATIONS
OF GOVERNMENT
SERVICES: THE OLDER SOVIET IMMIGRANT
ABSTRACT. Socialization in the Soviet Union influences the way in which older immigrants access social services. Their need for, expectations of, and ability to access services differs from their non-Soviet counterparts. West Hollywood, California, home to a large number of Soviet immigrants, has developed some unique approaches to providing services for Soviet seniors. More remains to be learned about how Soviet and non-Soviet seniors can better co-exist in this small community. Key Words: immigrant services, senior services, service utilization, social services,
Soviet seniors
INTRODUCTION In the world o f social service delivery, an agency is only as good as its ability to reach clients. In communities where the target population is diverse, it is essential to account not only for the potentially diverse needs of clients, but also for the diverse manner in which clients o f varying cultural groups m a y seek out and accept services. W e s t Hollywood, located in Los Angeles County, is a small urban community of 1.9 square miles with a population o f about 38,000. It is estimated that approximately 12% o f this population are Soviet immigrants, most o f w h o m are Jewish and old. These older immigrants reside predominately in the East end o f the City, which is considered to be o f lower income than the W e s t side which borders Beverly Hills. Many of these individuals speak little or no English. Some reside with extended family; however, in many families that arrived in the United States during the last big wave o f immigration in the early 1980s, younger family members have moved to more affluent areas, such as the San F e m a n d o Valley, and have left older parents in W e s t Hollywood. W e s t H o l l y w o o d ' s population, in general, is much older than the typical Southern California community. About a quarter o f the C i t y ' s population is over the age of 65, compared to 12% for Los Angeles County as a whole. The City has a strong commitment to the provision o f social services; in fact, W e s t H o l l y w o o d is reputed to have the highest per capita expenditures for social services in the nation. M o s t o f the C i t y ' s services are provided by contract with community-based organizations. Many o f these agencies target the older population in general, while others target immigrants. Services to older adults include a senior center, which provides social and recreational activities, case management, counseling, and "concrete services" such as assistance with paperwork (the Center recently received special funding to target outreach to Soviet seniors); congregate and
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 6: 193-197, 1991. © 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
194
PERRI SLOANE
home delivered meals; housing; transportation; and an outreach/activity p r o ~ to residents of Board and Care facilities and senior housing projects. Services to immigrants include vocational services, such as job counseling, training and placement; English as a Second Language classes; and a newly formed Russian Community Center which provides an array of services such as orientation, social activities and assistance with re-settlement. The local Jewish Federation also provides many services to newly-arrived immigrants. THE SOVIET IMMIGRANT POPULATION The City o f Vv~estHollywood, at present, does not have a great deal of empirical information about its Russian immigrant population. Much of the following discussion is based on anecdote and extensive personal observation~ The author coordinates the City's Senior Services, and as such also supervises man), of the services provided to the City's immigrant population. The City's Human Services Department recently completed a community needs assessment (Henderson and Poverny 1990) which revealed that the majority of the City's Russian immigrants are older than the general population (average age was fifty-seven) and low-income. Individuals who were unable to complete an interview in English were interviewed in Russian. Individuals who were interviewed in Russian exhibited several differences from the group who were inter,'iewed in English. The monolingual Russian speakers, with an average age o f seventy-one years, were considerably older than their Englishspeaking counterparts. They were also far more likely to have accessed social services than those who were interviewed in English. Over ninety percent of the monolinguat Russian speakers were multi-service users, in contrast to about twenty-five percent of Russian immigrants who were interviewed in English. The types of services used included transportation, housing, cultural activities, information and referral, and "concrete services" (assistance with advocacy, paperwork, etc.). One caveat must be noted with respect to the notion that Soviet immigrants are heavy service users. As one social worker at the West Hollywood Senior Center put it, "There is a strong distrust of counseling ... and a nonbelief in the utility of 'just talking.' ... So, while the concrete issues get resolved, many of the more psychodynamic problems of adjustment do not" (Sauer 1990). While the sample used in the Community Needs Assessment was relatively small (one hundred Russian-speaking respondents out of a total of 808 persons surveyed), the data provide some interesting insights into this aging corlmmnity. What are the relationships between factors such as advanced age, lack of English language skills and a high rate of service utilization? One might sumaise that those individuals who could not be interviewed in English came to the United States at an older age than their bilingual counterparts. Perhaps because of their inability to speak English, compounded by the fact that they are older, they have had more difficulty in settling into a secure way of life, and remain more vaalnerable~ This, then, would account for their high rate of service
SERVICERESPONSESTO OLDERSOVIETIMMIGRANTS
195
utilization. It is important to note that in this case language limitations did not prevent this group from accessing services. Many other interpretations are also possible, and this is an area which requires further exploration. There are numerous social and cultural factors which distinguish older Soviet immigrants from other older residents of West Hollywood. These differences are expressed in the Soviet senior's needs for, expectations of and ability to access services. Because these immigrants have come from a society where the government provided all needed services, Soviet seniors tend to have different expectations about the government's rote than do their American counterparts. There tends to be a greater assumption that needs will be provided for, as opposed to the pride in refusing help observed in many other low-income older people. Similarly, Soviet elders do not seem to experience the "social stigma" associated with accepting government assistance that is felt by some nonimmigrant older adults. While it is not uncommon to observe a reluctance to accept help among non-immigrant seniors, this does not seem to hold true for the older Soviet immigrant. Wheat, Brownstein, and Kvitash (1983:97) in their paper on providing medical services to Soviet Jewish emigres in the San Francisco area note that "the expectation of state-provided basic economic security is universal." Older Soviet immigrants have also been socialized in a society of scarcity. In order to access needed services, it was essential to become highly skilled at "working the system.'" While the usual expectation is that immigrant groups have greater barriers to accessing services than the general population, in this case quite the opposite has proven to be true. Cultural training has made the Soviet immigrant highly astute at finding out what is available and how to get it. Beyond the usual outreach done by service providers, there seems to be an inner networking mechanism which spreads information like "wildfire" within this immigrant community. This can make outreach considerably easier, but can also cause mass confusion if rumors spread or services are limited. These differences have led to significant conflict between Soviet and nonSoviet seniors in the West Hollywood community. Lack of understanding on the part of non-immigrants has led to a resentment of the behavior of the Soviet immigrants. For example, when a program which distributed surplus food commodities to low-income persons was first implemented, the rush for goods almost led to a riot at a local park. The Soviet immigrants, startled by the availability of free food and having very negative associations with waiting in lines, rushed to get as many of the goods as possible. Non-immigrants were shocked at this behavior. In more recent distributions, immigrants have confomaed to the appropriate American behavior, but early experiences left a lasting impression on non-immigrants who still have the perception of the "pushy Russians." A second example of this conflict is illustrated by the demand for low-income senior housing in West Hollywood, which has five Federally-funded senior housing projects. There are many applicants on the lists for these projects, and the wait can be as long as two years. There are a large number of Soviet seniors
196
PERRI S L O A N E
li~ing in some of these buildings. Occasionally, some individuals (immigrant or not) are able to secure a space without a long wait. A perception has developed among non-Russian residents that the Soviet residents have used special favors or pressure to get into the buildings and have learned how to "work the system" to the exclusion and resentment of the non-in~nigrant seniors. STRATEGIES: THE CITY'S RESPONSE TO IMMIGRANTS As explained above, the City offers a number of programs and services which specifically target the Soviet immigrant population. In addition, existing services, pm-~icularly those which target the senior population, have been modified to better address the needs of their immigrant clients. For example, the West Hollywood Senior Center has a full time translator and a bilingual receptionist on staff and offers services of particular interest to the Russian community. These include health and nutrition programs, programs on safety, ESL classes, and assistance with translating documents and letters. Many programs and activities are publicized in Russian. The City itself has hired a number of Russian-speaking staff members and has also organized a Russian language class which staff members attend on their lunch hours. A second class has recently been organized for members of the Sheriff's Department. The City also has recently convened an Immigrant Issues Task Force, which has studied the issues and submitted recommendations to the City C o ~ c i l . A continued need in the community is for education of both Russians and non-Russians on how to better understand each others" cultures. One of the most exciting projects undertaken to date has been a bi-cultural drama workshop for seniors. This drama workshop, which meets for two and one half hours per week, uses dramatic techniques to promote cross-cultural communication and understanding. In addition, the Russian Community Center offers orientation classes to help newly-arrived immigrants get acquainted with aspects of American life. The West Hollywood Senior Center also offers a Russian Language class to non-Russian seniors. There continue to be barriers which impede the ability of the Russian immigrants to participate hilly in community activities. The City has attempted to involve immigrants in the planning process for the provision of services, yet there seems to be some reluctance on the part of the immigrant community to get too involved in City activities. Only two participants on the Immigrant Issues Task Force were actually Soviet immigrants; the City had difficulty in finding individuals who were willing to participate. The task force was made up, primarily, of professionals who work with this population. This reluctance to participate is probably due to a fear and mistrust of municipal and other government agencies. Brodsky (1988) reports that the expectation of Soviet immigrants is to deal with governmental agencies with "suspicion, mistrust, and manipulation." Social workers in contact with this population have also noted that reluctance to participate could he attributed to a feeling that "it has nothing
SERVICERESPONSESTO OLDERSOVIETIMMIGRANTS
197
to do with me," to feelings that they are in too poor a health condition to get involved, or feeling so overwhelmed with their own private needs of adjustment that such activities are beyond their scope of interest and energy (Sauer 1990). The City needs to question the value of a process which does not include members of the immigrant community, as well as the importance of having these immigrants participate in City planning processes. "Freedom of choice ... can overwhelm immigrants who never had to make such choices in the ordered and structured society they left" (Brodsky 1988:131). This is an area in which both sides need to improve their understanding. There seems to be mistrust on the part of the immigrant community; similarly, there is an assumption on the part of City officials that the Soviet immigrants will join them with open arms. What the City needs to realize is that the milieu in which these individuals have been socialized is one of suspicion and of a paternalistic government. An important step will be to empower members of the Soviet immigrant community to enable them to take more control of the issues that affect them and to begin to see government process and services as something in which they can actively participate rather than passively receive. The City has begun to work, in partnership with the Soviet immigrant community, to develop a better understanding of this small city and the role of its citizens. REFERENCES CITED Brodsky, B. 1988 Mental Health Attitudes and Practices of Soviet Jewish Immigrants. Health and Social Work 13:130-136. Henderson, C. and L. Poverny 1990 Community Needs Assessment Report. Prepared for the City of West Hollywood. Saner, V. 1990 Personal communication. Wheat, M.E., H. Brownstein, and V. Kvitash 1983 Aspects of Medical Care of Soviet Jewish Emigres. The Western Journal of Medicine 139:96-100.
Senior Services Specialist City of West Hollywood 8611 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069, U.S.A.
EXPERIENCES
AND EXPECTATIONS
OF GOVERNMENT
SERVICES: THE OLDER SOVIET IMMIGRANT
ABSTRACT. Socialization in the Soviet Union influences the way in which older immigrants access social services. Their need for, expectations of, and ability to access services differs from their non-Soviet counterparts. West Hollywood, California, home to a large number of Soviet immigrants, has developed some unique approaches to providing services for Soviet seniors. More remains to be learned about how Soviet and non-Soviet seniors can better co-exist in this small community. Key Words: immigrant services, senior services, service utilization, social services,
Soviet seniors
INTRODUCTION In the world o f social service delivery, an agency is only as good as its ability to reach clients. In communities where the target population is diverse, it is essential to account not only for the potentially diverse needs of clients, but also for the diverse manner in which clients o f varying cultural groups m a y seek out and accept services. W e s t Hollywood, located in Los Angeles County, is a small urban community of 1.9 square miles with a population o f about 38,000. It is estimated that approximately 12% o f this population are Soviet immigrants, most o f w h o m are Jewish and old. These older immigrants reside predominately in the East end o f the City, which is considered to be o f lower income than the W e s t side which borders Beverly Hills. Many of these individuals speak little or no English. Some reside with extended family; however, in many families that arrived in the United States during the last big wave o f immigration in the early 1980s, younger family members have moved to more affluent areas, such as the San F e m a n d o Valley, and have left older parents in W e s t Hollywood. W e s t H o l l y w o o d ' s population, in general, is much older than the typical Southern California community. About a quarter o f the C i t y ' s population is over the age of 65, compared to 12% for Los Angeles County as a whole. The City has a strong commitment to the provision o f social services; in fact, W e s t H o l l y w o o d is reputed to have the highest per capita expenditures for social services in the nation. M o s t o f the C i t y ' s services are provided by contract with community-based organizations. Many o f these agencies target the older population in general, while others target immigrants. Services to older adults include a senior center, which provides social and recreational activities, case management, counseling, and "concrete services" such as assistance with paperwork (the Center recently received special funding to target outreach to Soviet seniors); congregate and
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 6: 193-197, 1991. © 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
194
PERRI SLOANE
home delivered meals; housing; transportation; and an outreach/activity p r o ~ to residents of Board and Care facilities and senior housing projects. Services to immigrants include vocational services, such as job counseling, training and placement; English as a Second Language classes; and a newly formed Russian Community Center which provides an array of services such as orientation, social activities and assistance with re-settlement. The local Jewish Federation also provides many services to newly-arrived immigrants. THE SOVIET IMMIGRANT POPULATION The City o f Vv~estHollywood, at present, does not have a great deal of empirical information about its Russian immigrant population. Much of the following discussion is based on anecdote and extensive personal observation~ The author coordinates the City's Senior Services, and as such also supervises man), of the services provided to the City's immigrant population. The City's Human Services Department recently completed a community needs assessment (Henderson and Poverny 1990) which revealed that the majority of the City's Russian immigrants are older than the general population (average age was fifty-seven) and low-income. Individuals who were unable to complete an interview in English were interviewed in Russian. Individuals who were interviewed in Russian exhibited several differences from the group who were inter,'iewed in English. The monolingual Russian speakers, with an average age o f seventy-one years, were considerably older than their Englishspeaking counterparts. They were also far more likely to have accessed social services than those who were interviewed in English. Over ninety percent of the monolinguat Russian speakers were multi-service users, in contrast to about twenty-five percent of Russian immigrants who were interviewed in English. The types of services used included transportation, housing, cultural activities, information and referral, and "concrete services" (assistance with advocacy, paperwork, etc.). One caveat must be noted with respect to the notion that Soviet immigrants are heavy service users. As one social worker at the West Hollywood Senior Center put it, "There is a strong distrust of counseling ... and a nonbelief in the utility of 'just talking.' ... So, while the concrete issues get resolved, many of the more psychodynamic problems of adjustment do not" (Sauer 1990). While the sample used in the Community Needs Assessment was relatively small (one hundred Russian-speaking respondents out of a total of 808 persons surveyed), the data provide some interesting insights into this aging corlmmnity. What are the relationships between factors such as advanced age, lack of English language skills and a high rate of service utilization? One might sumaise that those individuals who could not be interviewed in English came to the United States at an older age than their bilingual counterparts. Perhaps because of their inability to speak English, compounded by the fact that they are older, they have had more difficulty in settling into a secure way of life, and remain more vaalnerable~ This, then, would account for their high rate of service
SERVICERESPONSESTO OLDERSOVIETIMMIGRANTS
195
utilization. It is important to note that in this case language limitations did not prevent this group from accessing services. Many other interpretations are also possible, and this is an area which requires further exploration. There are numerous social and cultural factors which distinguish older Soviet immigrants from other older residents of West Hollywood. These differences are expressed in the Soviet senior's needs for, expectations of and ability to access services. Because these immigrants have come from a society where the government provided all needed services, Soviet seniors tend to have different expectations about the government's rote than do their American counterparts. There tends to be a greater assumption that needs will be provided for, as opposed to the pride in refusing help observed in many other low-income older people. Similarly, Soviet elders do not seem to experience the "social stigma" associated with accepting government assistance that is felt by some nonimmigrant older adults. While it is not uncommon to observe a reluctance to accept help among non-immigrant seniors, this does not seem to hold true for the older Soviet immigrant. Wheat, Brownstein, and Kvitash (1983:97) in their paper on providing medical services to Soviet Jewish emigres in the San Francisco area note that "the expectation of state-provided basic economic security is universal." Older Soviet immigrants have also been socialized in a society of scarcity. In order to access needed services, it was essential to become highly skilled at "working the system.'" While the usual expectation is that immigrant groups have greater barriers to accessing services than the general population, in this case quite the opposite has proven to be true. Cultural training has made the Soviet immigrant highly astute at finding out what is available and how to get it. Beyond the usual outreach done by service providers, there seems to be an inner networking mechanism which spreads information like "wildfire" within this immigrant community. This can make outreach considerably easier, but can also cause mass confusion if rumors spread or services are limited. These differences have led to significant conflict between Soviet and nonSoviet seniors in the West Hollywood community. Lack of understanding on the part of non-immigrants has led to a resentment of the behavior of the Soviet immigrants. For example, when a program which distributed surplus food commodities to low-income persons was first implemented, the rush for goods almost led to a riot at a local park. The Soviet immigrants, startled by the availability of free food and having very negative associations with waiting in lines, rushed to get as many of the goods as possible. Non-immigrants were shocked at this behavior. In more recent distributions, immigrants have confomaed to the appropriate American behavior, but early experiences left a lasting impression on non-immigrants who still have the perception of the "pushy Russians." A second example of this conflict is illustrated by the demand for low-income senior housing in West Hollywood, which has five Federally-funded senior housing projects. There are many applicants on the lists for these projects, and the wait can be as long as two years. There are a large number of Soviet seniors
196
PERRI S L O A N E
li~ing in some of these buildings. Occasionally, some individuals (immigrant or not) are able to secure a space without a long wait. A perception has developed among non-Russian residents that the Soviet residents have used special favors or pressure to get into the buildings and have learned how to "work the system" to the exclusion and resentment of the non-in~nigrant seniors. STRATEGIES: THE CITY'S RESPONSE TO IMMIGRANTS As explained above, the City offers a number of programs and services which specifically target the Soviet immigrant population. In addition, existing services, pm-~icularly those which target the senior population, have been modified to better address the needs of their immigrant clients. For example, the West Hollywood Senior Center has a full time translator and a bilingual receptionist on staff and offers services of particular interest to the Russian community. These include health and nutrition programs, programs on safety, ESL classes, and assistance with translating documents and letters. Many programs and activities are publicized in Russian. The City itself has hired a number of Russian-speaking staff members and has also organized a Russian language class which staff members attend on their lunch hours. A second class has recently been organized for members of the Sheriff's Department. The City also has recently convened an Immigrant Issues Task Force, which has studied the issues and submitted recommendations to the City C o ~ c i l . A continued need in the community is for education of both Russians and non-Russians on how to better understand each others" cultures. One of the most exciting projects undertaken to date has been a bi-cultural drama workshop for seniors. This drama workshop, which meets for two and one half hours per week, uses dramatic techniques to promote cross-cultural communication and understanding. In addition, the Russian Community Center offers orientation classes to help newly-arrived immigrants get acquainted with aspects of American life. The West Hollywood Senior Center also offers a Russian Language class to non-Russian seniors. There continue to be barriers which impede the ability of the Russian immigrants to participate hilly in community activities. The City has attempted to involve immigrants in the planning process for the provision of services, yet there seems to be some reluctance on the part of the immigrant community to get too involved in City activities. Only two participants on the Immigrant Issues Task Force were actually Soviet immigrants; the City had difficulty in finding individuals who were willing to participate. The task force was made up, primarily, of professionals who work with this population. This reluctance to participate is probably due to a fear and mistrust of municipal and other government agencies. Brodsky (1988) reports that the expectation of Soviet immigrants is to deal with governmental agencies with "suspicion, mistrust, and manipulation." Social workers in contact with this population have also noted that reluctance to participate could he attributed to a feeling that "it has nothing
SERVICERESPONSESTO OLDERSOVIETIMMIGRANTS
197
to do with me," to feelings that they are in too poor a health condition to get involved, or feeling so overwhelmed with their own private needs of adjustment that such activities are beyond their scope of interest and energy (Sauer 1990). The City needs to question the value of a process which does not include members of the immigrant community, as well as the importance of having these immigrants participate in City planning processes. "Freedom of choice ... can overwhelm immigrants who never had to make such choices in the ordered and structured society they left" (Brodsky 1988:131). This is an area in which both sides need to improve their understanding. There seems to be mistrust on the part of the immigrant community; similarly, there is an assumption on the part of City officials that the Soviet immigrants will join them with open arms. What the City needs to realize is that the milieu in which these individuals have been socialized is one of suspicion and of a paternalistic government. An important step will be to empower members of the Soviet immigrant community to enable them to take more control of the issues that affect them and to begin to see government process and services as something in which they can actively participate rather than passively receive. The City has begun to work, in partnership with the Soviet immigrant community, to develop a better understanding of this small city and the role of its citizens. REFERENCES CITED Brodsky, B. 1988 Mental Health Attitudes and Practices of Soviet Jewish Immigrants. Health and Social Work 13:130-136. Henderson, C. and L. Poverny 1990 Community Needs Assessment Report. Prepared for the City of West Hollywood. Saner, V. 1990 Personal communication. Wheat, M.E., H. Brownstein, and V. Kvitash 1983 Aspects of Medical Care of Soviet Jewish Emigres. The Western Journal of Medicine 139:96-100.
Senior Services Specialist City of West Hollywood 8611 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069, U.S.A.
![[Expectations and user experiences of older Roma women with health services in primary care].](/assets/img/hold.png)
