128-2 REPATRIATION PROGRAM
The U.S. Repatriation Program was established in 1935 to provide temporary assistance to U.S. citizens and their dependents who became destitute in a foreign country. This includes situations in which the citizen has been abandoned, runs out of funds, commits minor offenses, or just becomes an embarrassing nuisance in a foreign country. To assist the citizen in returning to the U.S., the Department of State will arrange to have this person returned at federal expense to their home or to another location where the person can resume their life as quickly as possible.
When someone who is likely to need assistance upon arrival in the U.S. is returned, the Department of State notifies the statewide coordinator of the Repatriation Program. In Alaska, the coordinator is the Social Services Program Coordinator in the Policy and Program Development Team. The coordinator arranges appropriate assistance.
DPA will provide a repatriate with necessary cash and medical assistance, using General Relief or Alaska Temporary Assistance, SNAP, and Medicaid payment codes and issuance mechanisms. The Social Services Program Coordinator will notify DOST of the repatriation case and the destination of the repatriate. The Social Services Program Coordinator will also furnish exact instructions on how eligibility and benefit amounts are determined if the repatriate needs to file an application. DOST handles all the necessary actions to assist the repatriate including coordinating with DPA field offices and other agencies such as Tribal TANF agencies, Office of Children's Services, homeless shelters, etc.
Benefits are totally federally-funded and provided with no other limits or qualifying criteria than that the aid requested is reasonable, and that the repatriate signs a written agreement to repay all expenditures.
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