In addition, some refugees participate in the Matching Grant program,  which is only partially funded by ORR. Of the refugees who received  cash assistance from ORR in fiscal year 2009, just over 30 percent of them  participated in the privately administered Matching Grant program, while  most of the remaining percent participated in ORR’s other assistance  programs. 2.) ORR is authorized to fully reimburse program providers for the  cash and medical assistance they provide to refugees enrolled in the  Publicly Administered, Wilson/Fish, and Public Private Partnership  programs,even if the costs of serving all eligible refugees exceed ORR’s  annual appropriation in a given fiscal year. Design Elements Differentiate ORR’s Programs, and Program Placement Depends on Refugees’ Readiness to Work and Other Factors

		Several Design Elements Differentiate ORR’s Four Assistance Programs

The Matching Grant program features several design elements that  distinguish it from assistance offered through the Publicly Administered,  Wilson/Fish, and Public Private Partnership programs. However, refugees enrolled in ORR’s other  programs have their cash assistance reduced or terminated as a result of  their employment earnings. These  approaches varied within and among programs and examples we observed  included providers integrating their refugee services, providing intensive  case management, and offering employment incentives:  Service integration: Some providers we visited used a single government  or voluntary agency to provide cash assistance, employment counseling  and case management to refugees, often in one location, while other  providers referred refugees to multiple agencies for different services. In addition, as funding for Matching Grant programs is based on  the performance of voluntary agencies in helping refugees achieve  employment-related outcomes, voluntary agency staff have an incentive to  select refugees to participate in the program who they think are most  likely to be successful in finding a job. Refugees’ Employment Outcomes Have Declined Recently, and Little Is Known about the Effectiveness of Programs’ Approaches

		Refugees’ Employment Declined in Recent Years

Overall, fewer refugees found jobs within their first months in the United  States in fiscal year 2009 than they did in fiscal year 2007. Before the  economic recession, in fiscal year 2007, ORR’s performance data show  that between 59 percent and 65 percent of all refugees receiving cash  assistance from ORR’s four assistance programs entered employment  within 4 to 8 months of coming to the United States. By  fiscal year 2009, these rates decreased somewhat to between 67 percent  and 80 percent. The Matching Grant 4-to-6-month assistance program, with its own set of  employment measures, performed well on some but not all of its measures  in fiscal year 2009. One study published in 1999 (based on  data from 1992 through 1994) compared a Wilson/Fish and a Publicly  Administered program in San Diego and concluded that the Wilson/Fish  program with integrated services, personal and flexible system of service  delivery, and intensive support services helped refugees find employment  more quickly than the Publicly Administered program that provided  services through multiple agencies and case workers, but we found no  other studies that were published recently and have reliably assessed the  effectiveness of the various approaches used by refugee assistance  programs. Difficulties in Projecting Certain Program Costs Have Contributed to Fluctuations in ORR’s Unobligated Balances

ORR considers a broad range of factors when estimating its program costs,  and these estimates for fiscal years 1999 through 2009 have generally  tracked actual program obligations in most but not all years. Between fiscal years 1999 and 2009,  ORR’s estimates were, on average, within 6 percent of the agency’s actual  obligations. Despite its efforts to consider various factors when estimating program  costs, ORR has faced difficulties in estimating specific variables, such as  the number of refugees that will enter the country in a given year and the  share of those refugees who will be eligible for ORR assistance programs,  according to officials. 8.) In total, from fiscal years 2006 to 2009, ORR’s unobligated balances grew  from $17 million to over $83 million. From fiscal years 1999 to  2005, ORR used prior years’ unexpired and unobligated funds to allow it to  obligate more than it was appropriated in those years. From fiscal years 2006  to 2009, however, ORR obligated less than it was appropriated and thus  was able to accumulate balances again. State and voluntary agencies that administer ORR’s programs vary in how  they provide assistance, and little is known about the effectiveness of the  approaches they use to help refugees become self-sufficient—an overall  goal of all of ORR’s programs. Recommendation for Executive Action

We recommend that the Secretary of Health and Human Services identify  effective approaches that state and voluntary agencies can use to help  refugees become employed and self-sufficient. We also  reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations. To describe how ORR estimates program costs and how estimates affect  its unobligated balances, we interviewed officials from the Department of  Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and  Families (ACF), and ORR to determine how ORR formulates its budget. Refugee Resettlement: Federal Support to the States Has Declined. Refugee Programs: Status of Early Employment Demonstration Projects.
Why GAO Did This Study

In fiscal year 2009, the United States resettled close to 70,000 refugees fleeing persecution in their homelands. To assist in their transition to the United States and help them attain employment, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides temporary cash, medical, and other assistance through four different assistance programs. The economic downturn and an increase in refugee arrivals posed challenges to ORR's efforts to assist refugees and estimate program costs, resulting in fluctuating unobligated balances. Congress required GAO to examine (1) differences in ORR's refugee assistance programs and factors program providers consider when placing refugees in a particular program; (2) refugee employment outcomes and the effectiveness of different approaches to providing assistance; and (3) how ORR estimates program costs and how its estimates have affected the agency's unobligated balances. GAO met with federal and state officials, voluntary agency staff, and refugees; reviewed selected case files; analyzed ORR performance data for fiscal years 2007 through 2009; and reviewed and analyzed relevant federal laws, regulations, and budget documents.

What GAO Found

ORR supports several approaches to providing cash, medical assistance, and social services to refugees through its Matching Grant, Publicly Administered, Wilson/Fish, and Public Private Partnership programs. The Matching Grant program, which is administered and partially funded by private voluntary organizations, features several design elements that set it apart from ORR's other programs. For example, voluntary organizations select refugees for the Matching Grant program and those who participate have 4 to 6 months to find employment before their cash assistance ends. Most states also offer one of ORR's other programs: these programs enroll any eligible refugee, and participants have up to 8 months to find a job before their assistance ends. Three of ORR's programs--the Wilson/Fish, Public Private Partnership, and Matching Grant--were designed to give providers flexibility in developing innovative approaches to help refugees find employment and become self-sufficient. GAO observed providers using a number of different approaches, including offering refugees cash incentives for early employment, and these approaches varied within and among programs. Voluntary agencies told GAO that they consider several factors, such as the refugee's English language and employability skills, in deciding whether to enroll a refugee in the Matching Grant program or another ORR assistance program. ORR's four assistance programs showed some success in helping refugees obtain employment in fiscal year 2009, but the percentage of program participants who obtained employment declined in recent years and little is known about which approaches are most effective in improving the economic status of refugees. In fiscal year 2007, between 59 percent and 65 percent of refugees receiving cash assistance from ORR programs entered employment within 4 to 8 months. By fiscal year 2009, these rates decreased to between 31 percent and 52 percent, depending on the program. Little is known about the effectiveness of the different approaches providers use to improve employment outcomes for refugees, such as intensive case management and employment incentives, in part because of differences in the way programs are structured and the populations they serve and in part because of differences in the way program performance is measured. ORR's estimates of program costs have generally tracked actual obligations but challenges in estimating specific variables such as the number of eligible refugees and the cost of serving them have contributed to fluctuations in unobligated balances between fiscal years 1999 and 2009. ORR has a 3-year period in which to obligate its annual appropriations. From fiscal years 1999 to 2005, ORR used unexpired and unobligated prior year funds to obligate more than it was appropriated for those years, in part because of higher-than-expected increases in refugee arrivals and medical costs. As a result, its unobligated balances were reduced in most of these years and were gone by fiscal year 2005. However, from fiscal years 2006 to 2009, ORR obligated less than it was appropriated, which allowed the agency to carry over funds from one year to the next. As a result, its unobligated balances grew from $17 million in fiscal year 2006 to over $83 million in fiscal year 2009.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the Secretary of Health and Human Services identify effective approaches that state and voluntary agencies can use to help refugees become employed and self-sufficient.