Expanded Data Match Process for Fiscal Year 2018
Dear Colleague Letter 17-08
Date: August 2, 2017
Dear Colleague:
ORR is expanding its annual data collection beginning with the fiscal year (FY) 2018 State Match Process. By collecting more detailed data, ORR can ensure that all arriving populations, including those arrivals served through programs not funded by ORR, are accurately counted when ORR funding is allocated for formula and reimbursement grants. This additional data will also provide a mechanism to track the continuum of services and benefits received by ORR-eligible populations and help respond to shifting arrival patterns.
Additionally, the FY 2018 Expanded Data Match Process will allow ORR to calculate the length of time that benefits and services are provided to all eligible ORR populations, including refugees, asylees, Cuban/Haitian entrants, Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIVs), and victims of trafficking (VOT). With this new process, ORR will collect service dates for medical screening, Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA), and the initial enrollment date for the Refugee Social Services program. ORR is also analyzing data related to RCA recipients previously enrolled in the Matching Grant program.
Currently, eight states and one replacement designee are participating in a pilot of the Expanded State Match Process. This pilot is intended to get preliminary feedback on the expanded data request and help ORR refine our data checking algorithms before implementing the expansion on a widespread basis. We have already received helpful feedback from our test participants and will be evaluating and incorporating many of the recommendations into the final data request that you will receive later this fiscal year.
ORR received feedback that many states have the ability to track and report referrals to mainstream assistance programs such as: Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid. ORR is requesting that states submit this data, to the extent possible, so we have a more comprehensive view of services provided at the state level. Our goal is to implement an integrated data collection system that more robustly reports services across programs.
As with the current data match process, state users will continue to upload a file to the Refugee Arrival Database System (RADS) application. However, the data being collected and the format of the file are changing. Please see the table below for the information requested under the pilot. As we continue to work through the pilot of the expanded data collection, and learn more about states’ ability to provide the requested data, the data collection file will be modified.
If you have questions about this letter, please email Joann Simmons, Director, Division of Budget and Data Analysis, at joann.simmons@acf.hhs.gov. Thank you for your support with this important step in improving our ability to serve refugees and other ORR-eligible populations.
Sincerely,
E. Scott Lloyd
Office of Refugee Resettlement
Data | Notes |
Alien Number | 8 or 9 digits |
Status | Refugee, SIV, VOT, Asylee, C/H |
Name | Last, First, Middle |
Date of Birth | mm/dd/yyyy |
Gender | M, F, or U for Unknown |
State | State Code |
County | County Name |
Nationality | Country Code |
Organization providing the support | State Name or Replacement |
Date eligible for ORR benefits (e.g., date of arrival in qualifying status, date of grant of qualifying status, date of certification) based on status in #2 | mm/dd/yyyy |
Medical Screening Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Medical Screening End Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Social Services Program Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Social Services Program End Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
RCA Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
RCA Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
RMA Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
RMA Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Match Grant Support Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Match Grant Support Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
SSI Support Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
SSI Support Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
TANF Support Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
TANF Support Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Medicaid Support Enrollment Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Medicaid Support Exit Date | mm/dd/yyyy or Null if not enrolled |
Migration Status | In, Out, or No Change |
Date of Migration | In/Out date based on Migration |