ORR Unaccompanied Children Bureau Policy Guide: Introduction
Introduction
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Unaccompanied Children Bureau provides a safe and appropriate environment to children who enter the United States without immigration status and without a parent or legal guardian who is able to provide for their physical and mental well-being (referred to as “unaccompanied children”). In most cases, unaccompanied children are apprehended by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration officials and then transferred to the care and custody of ORR.
ORR funds residential care provider facilities that provide temporary housing and other services to unaccompanied children in ORR custody. Care provider facilities provide a continuum of care for children, including placements in ORR shelters, group homes, individual family homes, heightened supervision facilities, or secure facilities, including residential treatment centers. These facilities provide children with classroom education, health care, socialization/recreation, vocational training, mental health services, religious services, access to legal services, and case management. Standard programs (including heightened supervision facilities) and secure facilities (including residential treatment centers), are State licensed or meet the State’s licensing requirements if located in a State that does not allow State licensing of ORR programs. All care provider facilities must comply with ORR requirements to ensure a high-level quality of care.
ORR and its care providers work to ensure that children are released timely and safely from ORR custody to parents, other family members, or other adults (often referred to as “sponsors”) who can care for the child’s physical and mental well-being. Unaccompanied children remain in ORR’s care and custody until they are released to a parent or other sponsor in the United States, are repatriated to their home country, obtain legal status, or turn 18 years old, at which time they are transferred to the custody of DHS.
The Policy Guide provides guidance to care providers and other service providers regarding the placement, care, and services provided to unaccompanied children in ORR custody consistent with ORR’s legal authorities (e.g., section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296, 6 U.S.C. 279; section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), Public Law 110-457, 8 U.S.C. 1232; the Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule, codified at 45 C.F.R. Part 410; the Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment Involving Unaccompanied Children Interim Final Rule, codified at 45 C.F.R. Part 411; and the Investigations of Child Abuse and Neglect Interim Final Rule, codified at 45 C.F.R. Part 412).