ORR-Funded Facilities' Efforts to Ensure Health and Safety of Unaccompanied Children

The Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) program, operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), provides temporary shelter, care, and other related services to unaccompanied children in its custody. These children are often cared for in facilities operated by grantees that receive funding from ORR. We will identify vulnerabilities in facilities' efforts to protect children in their care from harm and to provide needed physical and mental health services, including efforts to address trauma. OIG will also explore the challenges facilities face, including challenges presented by external factors such as HHS policies and management decisions. This review will focus on the care and well-being of all children residing in ORR-funded facilities, including the subset of children who were separated and deemed ineligible for reunification. For these children, OIG will also explore efforts made to contact and reunify with their parents and/or identify a suitable sponsor. OIG will gather information for this review by rapidly deploying multidisciplinary teams of evaluators, auditors, investigators, and lawyers to conduct comprehensive facility visits across the country. OIG will also conduct interviews with decision makers, including HHS senior leadership.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed	Administration for Children and Families	ORR-Funded Facilities' Efforts to Ensure Health and Safety of Unaccompanied Children	Office of Evaluation and Inspections	OEI-09-18-00430	2020