1). We found that ORR was initially  unprepared to care for the rapid increase in children needing services;  however, ORR solicited new grantees to provide shelter services in both  2013 and 2014 and awarded additional cooperative agreements. To further  manage its capacity to care for the increased number of children, ORR  updated policies and procedures to reduce the number of days children  spend in its custody and expedite their release to sponsors. Agency officials also noted that they can now  more quickly release children to their parents or other relatives. We also found that ORR is taking other actions to ensure it has the  capacity to meet demand caused by increases in the number of  unaccompanied children and to minimize the risks of not being able to  provide care and services to these children. Specifically, ORR developed  a framework for fiscal year 2015 that included plans and steps to manage  its capacity, based in part on the record levels of children needing care in  2014. ORR’s  bed capacity framework for fiscal year 2015 was based on the number of  children served in fiscal year 2014. We concluded that not having a documented and  continually updated process for capacity planning may hinder ORR’s  ability to be prepared for an increase in unaccompanied children while at  the same time minimizing excess capacity to conserve federal resources. Grantees Provided Education, Medical, and Therapeutic Services to Unaccompanied Children in ORR Custody, but ORR’s Monitoring of Grantees Is Inconsistent

ORR relies on grantees to provide care for unaccompanied children, such  as housing and educational, medical, and therapeutic services, and to  document in children’s case files the services they provide. Without all of the documents included in the case files,  it is difficult for ORR to verify that required services were actually provided  in accordance with ORR policy and cooperative agreements. In 2014, ORR revised its on- site monitoring program to ensure better coverage of grantees and  implemented a biennial on-site monitoring schedule. Nevertheless, ORR  did not meet its goal to visit all of its facilities by the end of fiscal year  2015, citing lack of resources. We  recommended in our February 2016 report that the Secretary of HHS  direct ORR to review its monitoring program to ensure that onsite visits  are conducted in a timely manner, case files are systematically reviewed  as part of or separate from onsite visits, and that grantees properly  document the services they provide to children. ORR Grantees Identified and Screened Sponsors before Placing Children with Them

ORR grantees that provide day-to-day care of unaccompanied children  are responsible for identifying and screening sponsors prior to releasing  children to them. Grantees conduct background checks on  potential sponsors. The types of background checks conducted depend  on the sponsor’s relationship to the child (see table 1). In our February 2016 report, we found that between January 7, 2014, and  April 17, 2015, nearly 52,000 children from El Salvador, Guatemala, or  Honduras were released to sponsors by ORR. Of these children, nearly  60 percent were released to a parent. Limited Information Is Available on Services Provided and the Status of Children Once Released from ORR Care

		Limited Information Currently Exists on Post- Release Status of Children

There is limited information available about the services provided to  unaccompanied children after they leave ORR custody. According to  ORR officials, a relatively small percentage of unaccompanied children  received post-release services, and they said ORR’s responsibility for the  other children typically ended once it transferred custody of the children to  their sponsors. In addition, in May 2015, ORR began operating a National  Call Center help-line. And in August 2015, ORR instituted a  new policy requiring grantee facility staff to place follow-up calls, referred  to as Safety and Well Being follow up calls, to all children and their  sponsors 30 days after the children are placed to determine whether they  are still living with their sponsors, enrolled in or attending school, aware of  upcoming removal proceedings, and safe. However, ORR does not have processes to ensure that all of these data  are reliable, systematically collected, and compiled in summary form to  provide useful information about this population for its use and for other  government agencies, such as state child welfare services. As a  result, in our February 2016 report, we recommended that the Secretary  of HHS direct ORR to develop a process to ensure all information  collected through its existing post-release efforts are reliable and  systematically collected so that the information can be compiled in  summary form and provide useful information to other entities internally  and externally. For example, representatives we spoke with in four  of the six school districts, as well as representatives from a county office  of education, discussed the mental and behavioral health needs of these  children. USCIS received 534 such  applications in fiscal year 2011 and 6,990 in fiscal year 2014. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the  United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

ORR is responsible for coordinating and implementing the care and placement of unaccompanied children. The number of children placed in ORR's care rose from nearly 6,600 in fiscal year 2011 to nearly 57,500 in fiscal year 2014. GAO was asked to review how ORR managed their care.
This testimony is based on GAO’s February 2016 report and addresses (1) ORR's response to the increase in unaccompanied children, (2) how ORR cares for children in its custody and monitors their care, (3) how ORR identifies and screens sponsors for children, and (4) what is known about services, challenges, and the status of removal proceedings for children after they leave ORR custody.
For its February 2016 report, GAO reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations, ORR policies, and ORR and Executive Office for Immigration Review data. GAO also visited nine ORR grantee facilities in three states selected to vary in the type of care provided, shelter size, and location, and conducted a random, non-generalizable case file review of 27 case files of children released from these facilities. GAO interviewed agency officials and community stakeholders in six counties that received unaccompanied children, representing diversity in geographic location, size, and demographics.

What GAO Found

In fiscal year 2014, nearly 57,500 children traveling without their parents or guardians (referred to as unaccompanied children) were apprehended and transferred to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Most of these children were from Central America. GAO found that ORR was initially unprepared to care for that many children; however, the agency increased its bed capacity. Given the unprecedented demand for capacity in 2014, ORR developed a plan to help prepare it to meet fiscal year 2015 needs. The number of children needing ORR's care declined significantly through most of fiscal year 2015, but began increasing again toward the end of the summer. Given the inherent uncertainties associated with planning for capacity needs, ORR's lack of a process for annually updating and documenting its plan inhibits its ability to balance preparations for anticipated needs while minimizing excess capacity.
ORR relies on grantees to provide care for unaccompanied children, including housing and educational, medical, and therapeutic services. GAO's review of a sample of children's case files found that they often did not contain required documents, making it difficult to verify that all required services were provided. ORR revised its on-site monitoring program in 2014 to ensure better coverage of grantees. However, ORR was not able to complete all the visits it planned for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, citing lack of resources. By not monitoring its grantees consistently, ORR may not be able to identify areas where children's care is not provided in accordance with ORR policies and the agreements with grantees.
ORR grantees conduct various background checks on potential sponsors prior to releasing children to them. These potential sponsors are identified and screened by the grantees as part of their responsibilities for the unaccompanied children in their care. The extent of the checks conducted depends on the relationship of the sponsor to the child. Between January 2014 and April 2015, ORR released nearly 52,000 children from El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras to sponsors. In nearly 90 percent of these cases, the sponsors were a parent or other close relative already residing in the United States. Sponsors do not need to have legal U.S. residency status.
There is limited information available on post-release services provided to children after they leave ORR care. In part, this is because ORR is only required to provide services to a small percentage of children, such as those who were victims of trafficking. In May 2015, ORR established a National Call Center to assist children who may be facing placement disruptions, making post-release services available to some of them. Also, in August 2015, ORR began requiring well-being follow-up calls to all children 30 days after their release. ORR is collecting information through these new initiatives, but does not currently have a process to ensure that the data are reliable, systematically collected, or compiled in summary form. Service providers GAO spoke with also noted that some of these children may have difficultly accessing services due to the lack of bilingual services in the community, lack of health insurance, or other barriers.

What GAO Recommends

In its February 2016 report, GAO recommended that HHS (1) develop a process to regularly update its capacity plan, (2) improve its monitoring of grantees, and (3) develop processes to ensure its post-release activities provide reliable and useful summary data. HHS agreed with GAO's recommendations.