Office of Refugee Resettlement Ensured That Selected Care Providers Were Prepared To Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

On July 1, 2019, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-26) appropriated $2.9 billion for the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program. Title IV provided $5 million for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), to conduct oversight of the UAC Program. On January 31, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, the Secretary of HHS declared a public health emergency. Following this declaration, Congress appropriated $12 million to HHS-OIG to conduct oversight of HHS's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous HHS-OIG work has focused on the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (ORR's) efforts to ensure the health and safety of children in the UAC Program, including when the UAC Program experiences a sudden change in the number or needs of children. This report builds on our oversight of ORR's efforts to protect children and is one of two reports addressing emergency preparedness at ORR facilities. This report specifically addresses communicable disease preparedness. Our objective was to determine whether ORR ensured that selected care provider facilities (facilities) followed ORR requirements in preparing for and responding to communicable diseases, such as COVID-19.