	Background

Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, responsibility for the  apprehension, temporary detention, transfer, and repatriation of  unaccompanied children is delegated to DHS; and responsibility for  coordinating and implementing the care and placement of  unaccompanied children is delegated HHS’s Office of Refugee  Resettlement (ORR). U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border  Patrol and Office of Field Operations (OFO), as well as U.S. Immigration  and Customs Enforcement (ICE), apprehend, process, temporarily detain,  and care for unaccompanied children who enter the United States with no  lawful immigration status. A Joint Collaborative Process for the Referral and Placement of Unaccompanied Children Has Not Yet Been Implemented

In response to a recommendation in our 2015 report, DHS and HHS have  agreed to establish a joint collaborative process for the referral and  transfer of unaccompanied children from DHS to ORR shelters, but the  process has not yet been implemented. In 2015, we reported that the interagency process to refer  unaccompanied children from DHS to ORR shelters was inefficient and  vulnerable to error. Therefore, we  recommended that DHS and HHS jointly develop and implement a  documented interagency process with clearly defined roles and  responsibilities, as well as procedures to disseminate placement  decisions, for all agencies involved in referring and placing  unaccompanied children in ORR shelters. In  February 2018, HHS officials told us that the agency is reviewing a draft  of the DHS-HHS joint concept of operations. In 2016, we reported that 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. We recommended 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. Since our 2016 report, ORR has reported achieving more timely and  complete monitoring. Subsequently, for the 2-year period  of fiscal years 2017 and 2018, ORR reported that as of April 2018, it had  completed monitoring of 65 grantees and planned to complete monitoring  of all of its remaining 39 grantees by the end of the fiscal year. In addition, ORR has reported that it is taking steps to ensure its  monitoring processes and protocols are more systematic and uniform. ORR Relies on Grantees to Identify and Screen Sponsors for Unaccompanied Children

In 2016, we reported that ORR grantees that provide day-to-day care of  unaccompanied children are responsible for identifying and screening  sponsors prior to releasing children to them. In our 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. ORR Reports Creating New Data Collection Guidance on Post-Release Services

In response to a recommendation in our 2016 report, ORR reported  taking various steps to collect additional information on the services  provided to unaccompanied children after they are released from ORR  custody. We welcome this progress, but continue to believe that further  steps are needed to fully address our recommendation. In 2016, we reported that limited information was available about post- release services provided to children and their sponsors. Officials said ORR’s responsibility typically ended after it  transferred custody of children to their sponsors. However, the percentage of unaccompanied youth receiving  post-release services has increased in recent years. According to publicly  available ORR data, approximately 31 percent of unaccompanied youth  received such services in fiscal year 2015, 20 percent in fiscal year 2016,  and 32 percent in fiscal year 2017.
Why GAO Did This Study

ORR is responsible for coordinating and implementing the care and placement of unaccompanied children—that is, children who enter the United States with no lawful immigration status. The number of these children taken into custody by DHS and placed in ORR's care rose from about 6,600 in fiscal year 2011 to nearly 57,500 in fiscal year 2014, many coming from Central America. Though declining somewhat, the number has remained well above historical levels. In fiscal year 2017, DHS referred 40,810 such children to ORR.
This testimony discusses efforts by DHS and HHS to improve the placement and care of unaccompanied children in four key areas: (1) the process by which unaccompanied children are transferred from DHS to ORR custody; (2) how ORR monitors the care of unaccompanied children in its custody; (3) how ORR identifies and screens sponsors before children are transferred to their care; and (4) what is known about services these children receive after they leave ORR custody.
This testimony is based primarily on the findings from two prior GAO reports: a 2015 report on actions needed to ensure unaccompanied children receive required care in DHS custody; and a 2016 report on further actions HHS could take to monitor their care. This testimony also includes updated information on the progress agencies have made in implementing GAO's recommendations, and more recent statistics from publicly available sources.

What GAO Found

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have agreed to establish a joint collaborative process for the referral and placement of unaccompanied children, but the process has not yet been implemented. In 2015, GAO reported that the interagency process for referring unaccompanied children from DHS to HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters was inefficient and vulnerable to error, and that each agency's role and responsibilities were unclear. GAO recommended that DHS and HHS jointly develop and implement an interagency process with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, as well as procedures to disseminate placement decisions, for all agencies involved. In February 2018, HHS officials told GAO that the agency was reviewing a draft of the DHS-HHS joint concept of operations.
ORR has reported taking steps to improve monitoring of grantees that provided services to unaccompanied children. In 2016, GAO reported that ORR relied on grantees to document and annually report on the care they provide for unaccompanied children, such as housing and educational, medical, and therapeutic services, but documents were often missing and ORR was not able to complete all of its planned visits. GAO recommended that ORR review its monitoring program to ensure that onsite visits are conducted in a timely manner, that case files are systematically reviewed, and that grantees properly document the services they provide. Since 2016, ORR has reported that its grantee monitoring has improved, with more timely completion of on-site monitoring of all its grantees.
ORR relies on grantees to identify and screen sponsors before placing children with them. In 2016, GAO reported that most unaccompanied children from certain Central American countries were released to a parent or other relative, in accordance with ORR policy (see figure).
Sponsors' Relationship to Unaccompanied Children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (Released from Custody from January 7, 2014, through April 17, 2015)
In 2016, GAO reported that limited information was available on the services provided to children after they leave ORR care, and recommended that HHS develop processes to ensure its post-release activities provide reliable and useful summary data. Subsequent data from ORR indicate that the percentage of children receiving these services has increased, from about 10 percent in fiscal year 2014, to about 32 percent in fiscal year 2017. Also, in August 2017, ORR officials said that new case reporting requirements had been added to ORR's policy guide; however, further steps are needed to ensure the systematic collection of these data to provide useful information on post-release services across agencies, as GAO recommended.