	Introduction

The number of children coming to the United States who are not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian is raising a host of policy questions. While much of the congressional interest initially focused directly on immigration policy, the implications for other areas, including education, are now arising as well. Under federal law, states and LEAs are required to provide all children with equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their immigration status. Upon arrival in the United States, unaccompanied alien children generally are initially served through programs operated by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). While in these programs, children are provided with basic education services and activities and are not enrolled in local school systems. However, once an unaccompanied alien child is released to an appropriate sponsor (e.g., parent, other family member, or other adult), the child has the right to enroll in a local school, just like any other child living in that area, even while awaiting immigration proceedings. Rather, the first part of this report includes a discussion of three federal elementary and secondary education programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED): (1) Title I-A Grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), (2) English Language Acquisition Grants (Title III-A) authorized by the ESEA, and (3) Part B Grants to States authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) with an emphasis on how these programs could currently serve unaccompanied alien children or possibly be modified to increase support for these children. The next section of the report provides an overview of the Refugee School Impact Aid program administered by ORR, which funds activities aimed at the effective integration and education of refugee children. Other Potentially Relevant Federal Education Programs that Are No Longer Funded

In addition to the current federal education programs that may be useful in assisting LEAs in meeting the needs of recent immigrant students, there are other federal education programs administered by ED that are no longer funded that either focused on immigrant students (Emergency Immigrant Education Act) or have been used in the past to assist schools and LEAs experiencing an unexpected influx of students in elementary and secondary school (Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students). Limited Data on Placement of Unaccompanied Alien Children

One of the principal challenges of providing funds to LEAs that are absorbing newly arriving unaccompanied children is the lack of local area data. The best available data from the ORR are county-level totals that do not indicate the age of the child.
The number of children coming to the United States who are not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian is raising a host of policy questions. While much of the congressional interest initially focused directly on immigration policy, the implications for other areas, including education, are now arising as well. Under federal law, states and LEAs are required to provide all children with equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their immigration status. Upon arrival in the United States, unaccompanied alien children generally are served initially through programs operated by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). While in these programs, children are provided with basic education services and activities and are not enrolled in local school systems. However, once an unaccompanied alien child is released to an appropriate sponsor (e.g., parent, other family member, or other adult), the child has the right to enroll in a local school, just like any other child living in that area, even while awaiting immigration proceedings.
While several federal education programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provide funds that may be used by schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), and states to serve unaccompanied alien children, this report focuses on three ED programs that may be particularly helpful in providing support for these children: (1) Title I-A Grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), (2) English Language Acquisition Grants (Title III-A) authorized by the ESEA, and (3) Part B Grants to States authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In addition to current federal education programs that may be useful in assisting local education systems in meeting the needs of recent immigrant students, there are other federal education programs previously administered by ED that are no longer funded that either focused on immigrant students (Emergency Immigrant Education Act) or have been used in the past to assist schools and LEAs experiencing an unexpected influx of students in elementary and secondary school (Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students). In addition to these ED programs, ORR administers the Refugee School Impact Aid program administered by ORR, which funds activities aimed at the effective integration and education of refugee children.
One of the principal challenges of providing federal funds to LEAs and schools that are absorbing newly arriving unaccompanied children is the lack of local area data. The best available data from ORR are county-level totals that do not indicate the age of the child. A discussion of these data and their limitations is included at the end of this report.