Youth For Tomorrow – New Life Center, Inc., an Administration for Children and Families Grantee, Did Not Comply With All Applicable Federal Policies and Requirements

The Unaccompanied Alien Children ProgramThe UAC program funds temporary shelter care and other related services for unaccompanied children in ORR custody. For project periods with services beginning during FYs 2014 and 2015, ORR awarded grants totaling $2.1 billion to providers for the care and placement of children. The UAC program is separate from State-run child welfare and traditional foster care systems.By law, HHS must provide for the custody and care of a UAC, defined as a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States, who has not attained 18 years of age, and with respect to whom there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody (6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2)). The Flores Settlement Agreement established a nationwide policy for the detention, treatment, and release of UAC and recognized the particular vulnerability of UAC while detained without a parent or legal guardian present (Flores v. Meese—Stipulated Settlement Agreement (U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1997)).Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Congress transferred the care and custody of UAC to HHS from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service to move toward a child welfare-based model of care and away from the adult detention model. In the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which expanded and redefined HHS’s statutory responsibilities, Congress directed that each child must “be promptly placed in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child” (8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)).Care ProcessYFT, a nonprofit entity, is an ORR funded, faith-based shelter care provider in Bristow, Virginia. YFT also serves other adolescents in a separate residential program at its main campus and provides behavioral health services to the general public at various locations throughout the region. Since 2012, YFT has participated in ORR’s UAC program and served approximately 1,000 children. During our audit period, YFT’s ORR funded program received $9.2 million in Federal funds for the care and placement of 266 children.