ORR Selected Six New Child Advocate Program Locations, but Advocates Are Not Available in Other Locations Where Services May Be Needed

		ORR Selected New Locations in Cities with Large Numbers of Unaccompanied Children

ORR expanded the child advocate program to three locations in fiscal  year 2015, and selected an additional three locations for expansion in  fiscal year 2016 that each held more than 50 children in ORR custody, as  required by VAWA 2013. 6). ORR Provides Guidance on Referrals but Lacks a Process to Monitor Referrals to Ensure Vulnerable Children Are Served

		ORR Reports Plans to Review Referral Guidance in Light of the Changing Population of Children

To help vulnerable children receive advocate services, ORR provided  guidance in September 2011 to care providers and other relevant  stakeholders on referring vulnerable children to the child advocate  program. After the local Young Center office decides an  advocate is available to work with a child, it sends a recommendation to  ORR headquarters for ORR to officially appoint an advocate for the child. Further, cases served that met  multiple criteria increased from 44 percent in fiscal year 2014 to 66  percent in fiscal year 2015. Inconsistent referral practices. These recommendations give children— especially those who are unable to make an independent decision due to  young age or trauma—a voice during the immigration process, according  to our interviews with various stakeholders. We analyzed Young Center program data and found that from fiscal years  2012 through 2015 the child advocate program submitted 493  recommendations to ORR, immigration courts, children’s attorneys, and  others (see table 4). Over 70 percent of these recommendations were  adopted by the entity receiving them. The Trafficking Victims  Protection Reauthorization Act states that “ child advocate shall be  provided access to materials necessary to effectively advocate for the  best interest of the child.” In addition, federal standards for internal  control state that relevant, reliable, and timely information should be  communicated to those who need it in a form and time frame that enables  them to carry out their responsibilities. ORR officials told us that significant incident reports may include  information about other children or ORR care provider staff and as a  result, ORR does not provide copies to the Young Center to protect the  confidentiality of the other individuals. ORR’s information sharing policies  allow its care providers to verbally describe information contained in  significant incident reports when requested by the Young Center. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure vulnerable unaccompanied children receive child  advocate services, we recommend that the Secretary of the Department  of Health and Human Services direct ORR to develop a monitoring  process that includes: (1) regularly reviewing referrals to the program  contractor, including identifying which care providers in locations with a  child advocate program do not make referrals; and (2) reviewing  information on the children the program contractor determines it is unable  to serve. To help the program’s contractor improve its recommendations on behalf  of vulnerable unaccompanied children, the Secretary of Health and  Human Services should direct ORR to work with the program’s contractor  to ensure access to key information is provided in a timely manner. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report examines: (1) the extent to which the Office of Refugee  Resettlement (ORR) implemented requirements to increase the number  of child advocate program locations and the impact of the expansion on  program costs and number of children served, (2) the extent to which  ORR ensured vulnerable unaccompanied children were receiving  services, and (3) the benefits of the child advocate program, and what  challenges, if any, it faces. These sites were selected based on variation in the number of  children served, amount of time the advocate program has been  operational, and types of ORR care facilities in operation. In addition, we  interviewed three legal services providers—located in Chicago, Ill.,  Corpus Christi, Tex., and Washington, D.C.—that had experience  representing children with an advocate. We also reviewed relevant federal  laws and regulations, including the Violence Against Women  Reauthorization Act of 2013 and the William Wilberforce Trafficking  Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. The recommendations information we analyzed included all  written recommendations from fiscal years 2012 through 2015 and some  verbal recommendations tracked by the Young Center and provided to  stakeholders in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. The  recommendation information included the number of recommendations  made; types of decision makers that received recommendations (such as  immigration judges, attorneys, ORR, etc. Unaccompanied Children: HHS Can Take Further Actions to Monitor their  Care.
Why GAO Did This Study

Thousands of unaccompanied children arrive in the United States each year. For a small number of especially vulnerable children—about 1 percent in fiscal year 2015—ORR provides an independent child advocate to develop safety and well-being recommendations to stakeholders, such as immigration judges. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 directed HHS to expand the program and included a provision for GAO to review the child advocate program.
This report examines (1) the extent to which ORR increased the number of program locations, (2) the extent to which ORR ensured vulnerable children received advocate services, and (3) the program's benefits and challenges. GAO reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations; analyzed data from fiscal years 2012-2015 on the number and characteristics of child advocate cases served and recommendations made to stakeholders; and interviewed officials at ORR and the Department of Justice's immigration judges, and child advocate service providers in Chicago, Ill.; Brownsville, Tex.; and Washington, D.C.—selected to obtain variation in the number of children served and amount of time the program was operational, among other factors.

What GAO Found

In fiscal year 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) expanded the child advocate program from two locations to five and added three more locations in fiscal year 2016. The child advocate program—operated by a contractor—was developed in 2004 to promote the best interests of especially vulnerable unaccompanied children in ORR custody. Advocates meet with children regularly and develop recommendations regarding their care and custody. Approximately 336 children were assigned an advocate in fiscal year 2015—97 of them in the three new locations. ORR expects the contractor to provide advocates to an increasing number of children in locations with larger numbers of children in ORR custody, and plans to monitor progress through monthly reports from the contractor.
Children are referred to the program primarily by shelter staff (care providers), who are expected to use a set of criteria established by ORR to determine eligibility. Once the program contractor receives the referral, it decides if an advocate is available to work with a child and then sends a recommendation to ORR to officially appoint an advocate. However, ORR does not receive a copy of referrals that the contractor is unable to serve. Further, GAO's data analysis shows and the program's contractor reported inconsistent referral practices. Contrary to federal internal control standards, ORR does not monitor referrals by care providers or contractor decisions about which children it serves. As a result, ORR cannot know whether eligible vulnerable children are overlooked.
Stakeholders GAO interviewed said the advocate program gives children a voice during the immigration process and aids decision making regarding their care and custody. However, the contractor said their efforts are hampered by ORR's information sharing policy. GAO found that from fiscal years 2012-2015, more than 70 percent of the 493 recommendations made by advocates were adopted by ORR, immigration courts, and others. However, the contractor said ORR does not provide them with some key information on children. For example, they do not receive significant incident reports that describe behavioral incidents while in ORR care, past abuse or neglect, or other concerns. The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 states that child advocates “shall be provided access to materials necessary to effectively advocate.” The contractor said creating recommendations without complete information limits their effectiveness. ORR officials told GAO that they are considering providing the contractor with copies of all significant incident reports and other key information; but as of April 6, 2016 the policy had not changed.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that ORR improve its efforts to monitor care provider referrals and contractor decisions, and ensure that the contractor has timely access to key information on the children. HHS agreed with GAO's recommendations.