CHA Asylum Program

CHA Asylum Program (CHAAP) is a volunteer-run organization housed at Cambridge Health Alliance. Our volunteers are health professionals from a variety of disciplines, career stages, and clinical sites (academic medical centers, private practices, NGOs). Our primary aims are service through the provision of forensic medical and mental health evaluations (FMEs); education through our multidisciplinary residency elective and a monthly seminar series; and research.

In October 2021, after nearly three decades of pro-bono asylum applicants (FMEs), CHA Asylum Program (CHAAP) was formally established at CHA.

To address the FME provider shortage and the asylum application adjudication bottleneck in Greater Boston, CHAAP mobilized to increase FME capacity by:

1. Changing our delivery model and service referral pathway.
2. Expanding training and mentorship availability.
3. Developing community partnerships with individual health professionals, hospitals, and organizations.
4. Co-sponsoring the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative (AMTI), a national, multidisciplinary collaboration that has developed a virtual, peer-reviewed introductory curriculum in asylum medicine based on international standards (launched in September 2022).
5. Partnering with CHA's Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy, developing the nation’s first interdisciplinary Asylum Medicine Residency Elective for CHA residents utilizing the AMTI Curriculum, paired with live expert-led small groups (Semester One, “flipped classroom” model) and mentored FMEs (Semester Two, skills application with graduated responsibility).

• Before submitting a case request, gain consent from your client
• After client consent, complete our intake form (please allow 15 minutes)
• Send your client's statement/affidavit to our encrypted email address, asylum@challiance.org
• Await communication from our program coordinator. If you have not heard from anyone within 48-hours, please contact asylum@challiance.org

• Turnaround time: Eight weeks, excluding holidays
  • Before assigning an evaluator to your case, we require a completed intake form and your client's statement/affidavit
  • If you have an urgent case ( < 4 weeks), please complete our intake form and immediately contact asylum@challiance.org
• Medical interpretation requirement
  • For non-fluent English speakers, we require certified medical interpretation services.
  • The firm will be billed for CHA Translation Services ($240). In agreeing to our pro-bono services, you guarantee that interpretation fees will not be passed onto your client.

• Attorney submits intake form and client affidavit
• Program manager reviews intake and affidavit for completeness and interpretation needs
  • Missing information → program manager contacts attorney and application is considered incomplete until information is provide
  • Interpretation services needed → program manager contacts attorney to confirm price and connect with CHA Translation Service
  • No missing information or interpretation services needed → program sends case to CHAAP leadership and faculty for assignment
• Case assignment determined by availability and qualifications
  • CHAAP faculty and leadership respond in the affirmative if they have space for the case
• Program manager copies attorney and CHAAP evaluator on an email
  • Email introduces attorney and evaluator
  • Evaluation scheduling coordination begins
• Evaluation date, time, and medium (in-person, GoogleMeets, Zoom, JurisLink, etc.) is determined based on primary evaluator availability
  • Evaluation type (physical or mental health) is sent to CHEEA/CHAAP fellows for assignment
• Trainee assigned to case
  • Priority is given to CHEEA/CHAAP residents
  • If no residents are available, the opportunity to be a co-clinician on the case is offered to our broader group of CHA/HMS trainees
  • If no CHA/HMS trainees are available, the opportunity to be a co-clinician on the case is offered to broader Greater Boston FME volunteers
  • Please note: All co-clinicians must have AMTI Certification; complete core modules here.

Submit a Case

• Asylum Applicants are individuals fleeing their home country due to fear of persecution based on protected categories recognized by international law (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership to a social group) who request permission to reside permanently in the United States.
• For more information on the asylum process, please visit the US Citizenship and Immigration Services or UNHCR websites.
• For more information on the types of human migration, please visit Amnesty International.
• A Forensic Medical and/or Mental Health Evaluation (FME) is a clinical evaluation conducted by a health professional to document consequences of harms (psychological and/or physical) experienced by a person seeking asylum.
• An Evaluator is a health professional (typically a physician, psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker) who conducts an FME. In our clinic, evaluators are accompanied by co-clinicians (or trainees).
• A Medico-Legal Affidavit is the written report an evaluator and co-clinician produce following an FME.

• Learn how to provide FMEs. Your first step is to complete the five mandatory modules of the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative's Introductory Curriculum and obtain your post-course certificate.
• Learn more about asylum medicine. We recommend reading Asylum Medicine: A Clinician’s Guide.
• Understand more about current issues in the field. We recommend joining our free Global Health and Human Rights (GHHR) webinar or reviewing past seminars.
• Find a community of FME evaluators and additional resources. Join the Society of Asylum Medicine (SAM) network.