State Letter 12-12

TO: State Refugee Coordinators

FROM: Eskinder Negash
Director
Office of Refugee Resettlement

SUBJECT: Targeted Assistance Formula Allocations

Attached is a Federal Register Notice, published on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, that announces the FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula awards.  As described in ORR State Letter #12-10 and in the Federal Register Notice published on Thursday, August 23, 2012, ORR is now providing notice of formula grant awards through publication in the Federal Register.  Final formula allocations will no longer be available under the Funding Opportunities section of the ORR website.

The total amount of FY 2012 funds being allocated is $25,265,582.  This amount is 58 percent of the amount originally available for FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula allocations ($43,561,348). The unprecedented and significant increase in the number of unaccompanied alien children entering ORR care that began in FY 2012 and has continued throughout the fiscal year has necessitated the reallocation of funds from Targeted Assistance formula grants (as well as Targeted Assistance discretionary and Social Services discretionary grants).  As a result, the FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula grants are being incrementally funded and supported with both FY 2012 and FY 2013 funding.  Subject to funds availability, the remaining 42 percent of the total amount will be funded with FY 2013 Targeted Assistance funds and will be allocated to States in accordance with the FY 2012 population distribution.  

The attached tables show the FY 2012 Targeted Assistance County and Targeted Assistance Area allocations (Table 1) and State allocations (Table 2) and the population figures used to determine the allocations. The population figures are based on FY 2010 and FY 2011 arrivals data (October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2011) in the ORR Refugee Arrivals Data System (RADS) and data for the same time period that States submitted to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and that ORR matched against the data in RADS.
      
The purpose of Targeted Assistance formula grants is to provide, through a process of local planning and implementation, direct services intended to result in the economic self-sufficiency and reduced welfare dependency of refugees through job placements.  Section 412(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides that Targeted Assistance grants shall be made available "(i) primarily for the purpose of facilitating refugee employment and achievement of self-sufficiency, (ii) in a manner that does not supplant other refugee program funds and that assures that not less than 95 percent of the amount of the grant award be made available to the county or other local entity."

In accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.314, States are required to provide Targeted Assistance services to refugees in the following order of priority, except in certain individual extreme circumstances: (a) refugees who are cash assistance recipients; (b) unemployed refugees who are not receiving cash assistance; and (c) employed refugees in need of services to retain employment or to attain economic independence.

Pursuant to 45 C.F.R. 400.210(b), Targeted Assistance funds must be obligated by the State no later than one year after the end of the federal fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.  Funds must be liquidated within two years after the end of the federal fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.  A State’s final SF-425 Federal Financial Report on Targeted Assistance expenditures must be received no later than 90 days after the end of the liquidation period.  If final reports are not received on time, any unexpended funds, including any unliquidated obligations, will be de-obligated on the basis of the State’s last filed report.

Reporting

States are required to submit (1) the ORR-6 Performance Reports on a trimester basis and (2) Standard Form (SF) 425 Federal Financial Reports on a quarterly basis. 

Performance Reports are submitted using Schedule A and Schedule C of the ORR-6.  The ORR-6 Performance Reports are submitted to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.  The ORR-6 Performance Report may be found at: /programs/orr/resource/report-forms.   

The Federal Financial Report should be submitted both to ACF’s Office of Grants Management and to ORR.  The SF-425 Federal Financial Report may be found at: /report-forms. 

Grantees also have the option of submitting the SF-425 Federal Financial Report through ACF’s on-line data collection (OLDC) system.  

If you have any questions about the Targeted Assistance allocations, please contact Henley Portner at (202) 401-5363 or Henley.Portner@acf.hhs.gov. 

418446U

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT
C.F.D.A. Number: 93.584

Notice of FY 2012 Refugee Targeted Assistance formula awards to States and Wilson/Fish Alternative Project grantees

AGENCY: Office of Refugee Resettlement, ACF, HHS

ACTION: Notice of awards

SUMMARY: The Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces the allocation of Refugee Targeted Assistance formula awards to States and Wilson/Fish Alternative Project grantees. The purpose of the Targeted Assistance program is to provide employment and other resettlement services to refugees, Amerasians, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, victims of trafficking, and Iraqis and Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas. The grant allocations are awarded to States on behalf of counties that have had high levels of arrivals of the eligible populations. The awards supplement available refugee resettlement resources to ensure that refugees and other eligible populations become employed and self-sufficient as soon as possible. Awards are determined by the number of the eligible populations residing in each county during the two-year period from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2011.

Targeted Assistance allocations are available on the ORR webpage.

DATES: The awards are effective immediately. Funds must be obligated by September 30, 2013, and funds must be expended by September 30, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Henley Portner, Office of the Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement, 202.401.5363, Henley.Portner@acf.hhs.gov.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Section 412(c)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1522)

________________________________________
Eskinder Negash
Director
Office of Refugee Resettlement

Footnotes to Table 1