In a recent article (11/6/09) in the SF Chronicle by Matthew Lee, DNA tests are being considered to be administered to refugees.
President Obama's administration is considering using DNA tests for some foreign refugee applicants following a Bush-era pilot program that found massive fraud among those claiming family links to join relatives already in the United States.
The State Department said Thursday that it and the Homeland Security Department are nearing a decision on ways to reinstate a refugee resettlement program that was suspended last year when the fraud was uncovered.
"These new procedures will likely include DNA testing," the State Department said in a statement given to the Associated Press.
The U.S. experiment using genetic testing ended in 2008 and was aimed only at proving family relationships. The program was not used to identify nationality by country, similar to a controversial effort in England, officials said. Genetic experts have cast doubt on the ability to use DNA results to determine a person's country of origin.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision has not yet been made on reviving or expanding the pilot program.
Although no final decisions have been made, the State Department said it "was close to the end" of a review that had been delayed by the change in administrations. "Now that policy-level people responsible for this issue are in place, we expect to reopen the program with revised procedures in the near future," an official said.
The suspended pilot program, known as Priority 3, allows foreign — almost all of them African — family members of legal U.S. residents to join relatives here.
With little fanfare, the program was halted in March 2008 after DNA testing on applicants in Africa found that up to 87 percent of their familial claims were fraudulent.
The experimental program was conducted in late 2007 and early 2008 on about 3,000 people mostly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Liberia who claimed blood relationships with each other and wanted to be reunited with a family member who had been resettled as a refugee in the U.S.
DNA testing was not done on the alleged relatives in the United States. The State Department said it targeted Africans abroad only for genetic testing because they make up 95 percent of applicants to the program. The testing started, officials said, only after suspicions of fraud arose in applications originating among refugees in Kenya.
"We were ... only able to confirm all claimed biological relationships in fewer than 20 percent of cases," the State Department said in a fact sheet. "In the remaining cases, at least one negative result was identified or the individuals refused to be tested."
The fact sheet was originally released last year in the waning weeks of the Bush administration but was reissued shortly after President Barack Obama took office.
The idea of such testing on refugees came into the spotlight again this week when
British authorities said they were using genetic tests on some African asylum-seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality. That move has drawn criticism from scientists and provoked outrage from rights groups.
As the U.S. review winds down, questions were raised about what to do with the estimated 36,000 African refugees who arrived in the United States under the resettlement between 2003 and its suspension.
The Homeland Security Department has jurisdiction to determine if any of those applications were fraudulent but department officials said Thursday they had no plans to check those already in the United States. Such a move would likely draw opposition from civil rights groups.
Officials said Homeland Security does not have a specific DNA testing program in place in the United States. But one official said it has always asked for a DNA submission if an applicant does not have evidence that proves there is a family relationship.
Read more: San Francisco Chronicle
John Lipp is in touch with DNA Solutions and will work with them to keep us in the loop if something develops on this front.
In the meantime, keep this in mind and your antennas up for similar opportunities like this.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Innovation and Initiative
From The London Times:
A Well-Planned Retirement
Outside England 's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were £1 for cars ($1.40), £5 for buses (about $7).
Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent.
The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility.
The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee.
The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City pay role.
Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who'd apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.
Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars!
And no one even knows his name.
Now that is the definition of innovation and initiative.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and Dinner.
A Well-Planned Retirement
Outside England 's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were £1 for cars ($1.40), £5 for buses (about $7).
Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent.
The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility.
The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee.
The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City pay role.
Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who'd apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.
Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars!
And no one even knows his name.
Now that is the definition of innovation and initiative.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and Dinner.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Lemons to Lemonade
The following is an email I received from Doug in Lancaster.
I wanted to share with you something that transpired over the last 24 hours.
I received a call from a woman who identified herself as being from the DOT. She asked for information on one of my clients, a trucking company in our DOT Consortium. I got very uncomfortable, and I told her that Gloria, who had all of this information, was out to lunch and asked her to call back after 1:00pm.
Meanwhile, I called John Lipp and Tony Waters and shared with them what happened. Tony suggested I send the information to the company, rather than the woman, not knowing if she really was from the DOT.
In any case, the DOT Auditor called back. I told her that I was uncomfortable sharing client information over the phone and suggested that I send it to the company. She acknowledged my concern and told me that she would e-mail me the information she needed about the company’s DOT program.
After receiving the email and verifying that she really was from the DOT, I put the information requested together, (we had everything she requested) and faxed it to the company. I called the trucking company today, and they told us everything we sent them answered all the auditor’s questions, and the issues had to do with their trucking company testing program, not AccuDiagnostics. They were very appreciative for the quick response and that all of the information I sent was complete, professional and in good order.
Because of that, the trucking company now wants us to do Supervisor Training and they are going to recommend us to one of their friends who is starting their own trucking company.
But wait! There’s more…
I made copies of the e-mail I had had received from the DOT auditor and distributed this to several my DOT type of clients and prospects I’ve been working with. I positioned the email copies as a ‘DOT Alert’ – the “DOT Auditors” are in the Antelope Valley and shared what the DOT may look for if they should select their company for an audit.
But Wait!!!! There’s more……
The phone started ringing immediately. In just one afternoon, I got three commitments for Supervisor Training, as well as one company that is switching from their current drug testing company to AccuDiagnostics. I had tried to get them as a client for more than a year with no success. Now they also want us to do a new Drug-Free Workplace Policy, Supervisor Training, as well as their random testing and pre-employment testing.
The call from the DOT Auditor turned out to be a great opportunity to get in front of my prospects again, create a lot of credibility, and trump my competitors.
Doug wins the Innovation Award for the Week.
Moral of the Story: In every problem there is an opportunity.
I wanted to share with you something that transpired over the last 24 hours.
I received a call from a woman who identified herself as being from the DOT. She asked for information on one of my clients, a trucking company in our DOT Consortium. I got very uncomfortable, and I told her that Gloria, who had all of this information, was out to lunch and asked her to call back after 1:00pm.
Meanwhile, I called John Lipp and Tony Waters and shared with them what happened. Tony suggested I send the information to the company, rather than the woman, not knowing if she really was from the DOT.
In any case, the DOT Auditor called back. I told her that I was uncomfortable sharing client information over the phone and suggested that I send it to the company. She acknowledged my concern and told me that she would e-mail me the information she needed about the company’s DOT program.
After receiving the email and verifying that she really was from the DOT, I put the information requested together, (we had everything she requested) and faxed it to the company. I called the trucking company today, and they told us everything we sent them answered all the auditor’s questions, and the issues had to do with their trucking company testing program, not AccuDiagnostics. They were very appreciative for the quick response and that all of the information I sent was complete, professional and in good order.
Because of that, the trucking company now wants us to do Supervisor Training and they are going to recommend us to one of their friends who is starting their own trucking company.
But wait! There’s more…
I made copies of the e-mail I had had received from the DOT auditor and distributed this to several my DOT type of clients and prospects I’ve been working with. I positioned the email copies as a ‘DOT Alert’ – the “DOT Auditors” are in the Antelope Valley and shared what the DOT may look for if they should select their company for an audit.
But Wait!!!! There’s more……
The phone started ringing immediately. In just one afternoon, I got three commitments for Supervisor Training, as well as one company that is switching from their current drug testing company to AccuDiagnostics. I had tried to get them as a client for more than a year with no success. Now they also want us to do a new Drug-Free Workplace Policy, Supervisor Training, as well as their random testing and pre-employment testing.
The call from the DOT Auditor turned out to be a great opportunity to get in front of my prospects again, create a lot of credibility, and trump my competitors.
Doug wins the Innovation Award for the Week.
Moral of the Story: In every problem there is an opportunity.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
No Blog Posting on Friday
Blog posting are made Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, there will be no blog posting on Friday, November 27th.
Have a meaningful and enjoyable Thanksgiving while enjoying time with your family while humbly acknowledging how blessed we all are to live in a land where that afford us so much at a time when much of the world has very little.
Have a meaningful and enjoyable Thanksgiving while enjoying time with your family while humbly acknowledging how blessed we all are to live in a land where that afford us so much at a time when much of the world has very little.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Testimonial Letters
In one of my recent blog posting, I shared an experience that Doug Kimball in Lancaster had with one of his clients passing a CHP audit because they had recently participated in Doug's Supervisor Drug Testing Training.
When you have a client that has had a positive experience with you, one of your staff or lab technicians or other interactions, it is a good idea to take this opportunity to ask for testimonial letter so you can post this in your office or use it for recruiting new clients by putting these in your sales presentation binder.
When you have a client that has had a positive experience with you, one of your staff or lab technicians or other interactions, it is a good idea to take this opportunity to ask for testimonial letter so you can post this in your office or use it for recruiting new clients by putting these in your sales presentation binder.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
When Change is Good
This past month the AccuDiagnostics world changed significantly. After the initial shock of having the entire identify of our business change overnight, the realization of what this means and how this change is going to be implemented began to sink in.
Most of us have been through change before. Whether personal, career or business change, we have been through significant upheavals and reorientation in our lives.
People much wiser than me have counseled that it is not so much what happens to us but on how we hand what happens to us that differentiates success and failure.
A few months ago I watched the movie “The Miracle Worker” starring Patty Duke and subsequently listened to Patty Duke address the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA. She discussed what was a potentially devastating handicap eventually turned into a motivator that propelled Helen Keller to become an inspirational icon for all handicapped individuals for current, past and generations yet to be born. It was not her handicap that made the difference for Helen Keller but how she handled this handicap that made the difference.
What each of us do with the new brand is going to make the difference between having this propel us forward or be an anchor retarding our success.
Here are three tactics that you might consider in filling up your half full glass:
Years from now we will look back and see the benefits of how the new brand has positioned the ARCpoint to be the dominate brand in our market segment.
Most of us have been through change before. Whether personal, career or business change, we have been through significant upheavals and reorientation in our lives.
People much wiser than me have counseled that it is not so much what happens to us but on how we hand what happens to us that differentiates success and failure.
A few months ago I watched the movie “The Miracle Worker” starring Patty Duke and subsequently listened to Patty Duke address the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA. She discussed what was a potentially devastating handicap eventually turned into a motivator that propelled Helen Keller to become an inspirational icon for all handicapped individuals for current, past and generations yet to be born. It was not her handicap that made the difference for Helen Keller but how she handled this handicap that made the difference.
What each of us do with the new brand is going to make the difference between having this propel us forward or be an anchor retarding our success.
Here are three tactics that you might consider in filling up your half full glass:
1. A PR announcement circulated to the all local media.
2. Contacting each customer and telling them the exciting news of our name change with unbridled enthusiasm.
3. Working hard to implement the transition plan that Greenville will present in the coming weeks.
Years from now we will look back and see the benefits of how the new brand has positioned the ARCpoint to be the dominate brand in our market segment.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Past With Flying Colors
Doug Kimball reports that he recently got a call from one of his school bus clients.
The HR Director was calling to scheudule their fourth quarter random drug tests for their drivers. During the conversation, the HR Supervisor shared with Doug that their office had just been audited by the CHP with the BIT Program.
The HR Director was very pleased to announce that had passed the audit with flying colors. Everything was in order, including their random testing program and documentation. The CHP had even checked their Supervisor Training certifications, which she had on file (which is one of the areas that is most companies overlook).
Fortunately, Doug held a training class for the company a few months ago and before he left he made sure they had everything in place.
The HR Director was very appreciative of the training and our service, and of course, Doug said he felt great about having a happy client that now understands what could have happened without his training!
The HR Director was calling to scheudule their fourth quarter random drug tests for their drivers. During the conversation, the HR Supervisor shared with Doug that their office had just been audited by the CHP with the BIT Program.
The HR Director was very pleased to announce that had passed the audit with flying colors. Everything was in order, including their random testing program and documentation. The CHP had even checked their Supervisor Training certifications, which she had on file (which is one of the areas that is most companies overlook).
Fortunately, Doug held a training class for the company a few months ago and before he left he made sure they had everything in place.
The HR Director was very appreciative of the training and our service, and of course, Doug said he felt great about having a happy client that now understands what could have happened without his training!
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