Bay Area Asylum Mental Health Project at RIWW (riww.org)

Research Institute Without Walls (RIWW) was originally founded to provide training and research on the mental health needs of persons who face persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In response to the increased need for mental health clinicians who are trained to evaluate asylum seekers, it has expanded its mission to provide training and mentoring on the mental health challenges of all asylum seekers. RIWW also provides training to attorneys on working in a trauma informed way with clients who seek asylum, and managing their own secondary trauma.

Our Bay Area Asylum Mental Health Project links San Francisco Bay Area immigration attorneys with mental health clinicians who can provide psychological evaluations for asylum seekers. The Project has over 60 clinicians in the Bay Area who provide pro bono or low fee evaluations for asylum seekers.

If you are an attorney or accredited representative and would like to request an evaluation for your client, please visit our website riww.org

Training and mentoring mental health clinicians. The Project provides training, mentorship, and support to mental health professionals so they can provide high quality forensic mental health evaluation for asylum seekers.

RIWW training is conducted in collaboration with Centro Legal de la Raza, Oakland, Well Clinic, San Francisco, and the Justice & Diversity Center

Bar Association of San Francisco. The training helps clinicians understand the asylum application process, the role of mental health evaluations, and how to provide a high quality evaluation and report.

We offer mentoring by connecting mental health professionals who are experienced in providing evaluations with those who have been recently trained. We facilitate the referral process between attorneys seeking evaluations and available mental health professionals.

If you are a mental health professional and would like to attend a training in the Bay Area and join our network please visit riww.org The next training session is scheduled for September 17, 2018 (session is at full capacity, but you can register for the waiting list or future date).

Training immigration attorneys and law students in trauma informed practice. Immigration attorneys and law students who work with asylum seekers are often challenged when working with traumatized individuals. Our training helps immigration attorneys and law students use best practices in interviewing asylum seekers with a history of traumatic events. It also helps attorneys and law students manage secondary trauma that may impact them directly.

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Research Institute Without Walls, Inc. (RIWW) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in New York. RIWW 420 w 24 St., New York, NY 10011, info@riww.org