Data Submission Procedures for FY 2017 Social Services and Targeted Assistance Grant Formula Allocations

Date: October 14, 2016

Dear Colleague:

This Dear Colleague Letter provides the timeline and requirements for the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Refugee Social Services (RSS) and Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG) formula allocations data submissions via the ORR data submission website. FY 2017 is a re-qualifying year for TAG formula.  

This year, only two files will be collected from each state:

1. A file with county-level data of asylees and Cuban/Haitian entrants with a date of admission to the United States or grant date of qualifying status between October 1, 2014, and September 30, 2016. Appendix A below provides the format for this served populations data submission.
2. A file with secondary migration information by submitting data on refugees, asylees, Cuban/Haitian entrants, Special Immigrant Visa holders, and victims of trafficking who initially resettled in another state. To be included in this data, the individual must have been resettled in the United States between September 30, 2014, and September 30, 2016. Appendix B below provides the format for this secondary migration data submission.

FY 2017 Data Submission Process
The FY 2017 RSS and TAG formula data submissions will consist of the following steps:

1. States must submit the name, email address, and telephone of a primary and an alternate user of the ORR data submission website to Khalil Ali at Khalil.Ali@acf.hhs.gov by COB on Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Both old and new users planning to submit data this year must submit a point of contact in order to access the website.
2. The primary and secondary users will receive instructions for the web-based data submission system by Friday, October 28, 2016, from ORR’s contractor for the data submission website, General Dynamics.
3. Submit the required two data files for served populations and secondary migration during the period of November 14, 2016, to December 30, 2016, in accordance with the instructions. ORR’s data submission website will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week during this period.

ORR’s Data Submission Website
ORR’s data submission website allows states to securely upload data files and confirms receipt. The website also allows ORR to perform front-end editing to reject improperly formatted or otherwise invalid data immediately after receipt and provide the reason for rejection. If data is rejected, you should make corrections and submit the revised files. The process is designed to ensure that final data submissions are complete and accurate.

Files with duplicate alien numbers will be rejected. ORR will no longer reject individuals based on their immigration status. For example, an individual submitted by a state as a Cuban/Haitian entrant will not be rejected if the same individual is reported as an asylee by the federal source. This individual will be moved into the asylee category and the state will receive a credit for the individual as an asylee instead of a Cuban/Haitian entrant.

For questions about this Policy Letter, please contact Khalil Ali at khalil.ali@acf.hhs.gov or (202) 401-5445 or Iulia Kramar at iulia.kramar@acf.hhs.gov or (202) 401-4646.  For technical assistance, please contact Gary Frost at gary.frost@gdit.com at (703) 995-3700 or Ken Rohrer at kenneth.rohrer@gdit.com or (703) 995-1949.

Sincerely,
Robert Carey
Office of Refugee Resettlement

Appendix A

Appendix B