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.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 269563 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Ensure that all case file documents are accurately timestamped to the date they are actually completed and that all staff are trained on how to properly maintain accurate and up-to-date case files | |||||
| 269564 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Strengthen existing procedures to ensure that family reunification packets are sent within required timeframes | |||||
| 269565 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop policies and procedures for promptly notifying DHS of the imminent release of a child to a sponsor and document and maintain all correspondence | |||||
| 269566 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Ensure that all employees follow policies and procedures requiring Federal and State background investigations to be completed before staff begin working with children, provide relevant training to appropriate staff, and document and maintain documentation of all results. | |||||
| 269567 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Implement procedures and controls for collecting and reconciling information contained in its performance reports by developing protocols for collecting required data, handling system failures, and resolving discrepancies to ensure that all performance reports are accurate, verifiable, and reviewed before release to ORR. | |||||
| 269568 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Work with ORR to develop allowable methodologies to allocate salaries, develop a procedure or system to capture what programs each employee actually worked on, and determine what portion of the $1,500,218 in salaries charged based on budget estimates was accurately charged to the UAC program and refund to the Federal Government any unallowable portion | |||||
| 269569 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Work with ORR to determine an allocation methodology or plan to claim shared direct expenditures in proportion to benefits received, develop a policy to reflect this methodology or plan, determine whether any of the $1,352,027 in direct expenditures and up to $235,253 in related indirect expenditures allocated using the unreasonable allocation ratio was allowable, and refund to the Federal Government any unallowable portion | |||||
| 269570 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop policies and procedures for identifying allowable shared UAC program costs, including items that need advance approval, determine whether any of the $210,037 in potentially unallowable and $23,390 in potentially unallowable unapproved expenditures would be allowable under the newly approved allocation methodology or plan, and refund to the Federal Government any unallowable or unapproved portion | |||||
| 269571 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop policies and procedures for identifying shared UAC program costs not in compliance with Federal requirements and refund $10,336 in unallowable employee appreciation expenditures | |||||
| 269572 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop policies and procedures for identifying direct UAC program costs not in compliance with Federal requirements and refund $6,515 in unallowable expenditures not related to the UAC program | |||||
| 269573 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop policies and procedures for claiming indirect expenditures based on the approved indirect cost rate. | |||||
