National Emergency Repatriation Framework

June 2021

Publication Date: June 4, 2021
Current as of:

The U.S. Repatriation Program was established in 1935 under Section 1113 of the Social Security Act to provide temporary assistance to private U.S. citizens and their dependents who are identified by the Department of State as having returned from a foreign country to the United States because of destitution, illness, war, threat of war, or a similar crisis, and are without available resources.

The Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead for the U.S. Repatriation Program.

OHSEPR leads all federal emergency repatriation planning and operations conducted as part of the U.S. Repatriation Program.

OHSEPR developed the National Emergency Repatriation Framework (NERF) in order to advance the U.S. Repatriation Program’s mission to support U.S. citizens evacuated and returned to the United States due to crises overseas and provide updated guidance to OHSEPR’s federal and state partners.

The NERF incorporates the guiding principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to ensure flexibility, standardization, and unity of effort. It also enhances coordination during emergency repatriation operations that support the return of large numbers of U.S. citizens and their dependents after they are returned to the United States by the Department of State.