Family Reunification Monthly Update

May & June 2023

ORR Program Updates

  • For a complete list of ORR policies and procedures, click here.
  • Here is the latest UAC program assignment list. Please use this updated list to find the Federal Field Specialist (FFS) when submitting home study reports.
  • USCCB HS/PRS ORR Project Officer (PO) is Jaqueline Mustache (jaquelin.mastache@acf.hhs.gov). The PO is to be copied on certain NOC submissions (i.e., media attention, death of a UC, and/or trafficking concerns)
  • ORR and Department of Education - Explained Rights of UC to Enroll in School - Click here.
  • ORR UAC Portal Changes: HS Calendar due date and other changes described here.
  • DHS OAW Re-Parole Announcement here.
  • USCRIS Afghan Re-Parole Recording here.
  • ORR Policy Update: Unaccompanied Children Terminology - Effective May 12, 2023 - Click here to view the details of the change.

ORR Language Services

ORR has in-person and remote interpretation available to children and ORR-eligible persons whose primary languages differ from what language resources may be found in-house or in that provider’s community. This contract can be leveraged for all language backgrounds and nationalities in the ORR network (e.g., Mayan language speakers).

 

If you have any children or clients in your census that do not speak English, Spanish, or a language found and available in your community, please follow the attached SOP. You should submit a request to ORRLanguageServices@acf.hhs.gov to deploy an in-person or remote interpreter for one-off important meetings/assessments or for the lifecycle that child remains in your care.

 

ORR is committed to ensuring language access and equity. Please take advantage of the Army’s interpretation capabilities if there are not viable and timely options in your community. Thank you for continuing to provide exceptional care for all children and new arrivals in your programs. Please do not hesitate to contact your ORRLanguageServices@acf.hhs.gov if you have any additional questions.

 

This contract can also be used for HQ translations as well as translation of client- or grantee-specific documentation (assuming there is a mission-critical rationale for a client or grantee-specific document translation). 


Click here for the Request Form.

ORR Digitial Fingerprint Site List


Attached you will find an updated ORR Digital Fingerprint Site List. Updates are in highlighted in yellow. Please ensure that you are using the most recent list when making fingerprint appointments for sponsors, household members, and adult caregivers.


REMINDERS:

  • ORR digital fingerprint sites do not send paperwork (Coversheet, ARI, photo ID) to PSC. It is the case manager’s responsibility to submit paperwork to PSC to request the fingerprint check. See UAC MAP Section 2.5.1, Appendix 2.9, and Appendix 2.14.
  • Case managers must make an appointment before directing the sponsor to travel to the digital site. The majority of digital sites conduct fingerprinting by appointment only (see ORR Digital Fingerprint Site List).


Click here for ORR Fingerprint Site List


USCCB/MRS Program Updates

USCCB Staff

We're Hiring!


USCCB Family Reunification is still looking to hire one Program Specialist to assist with the increased workload related to the expansion. We are actively recruiting and hopeful to fill this position soon. If you know someone who might be interested, direct them to apply here.

USCCB Office Closures & Holidays


USCCB will be closed on the following days:


  • Monday, June 19th, 2023, for Juneteenth.

ORR Monitoring of USCCB


ORR will be conducting a monitoring visit of USCCB FR HS/PRS program the week of June 26th - June 30th. USCCB FR Staff may be less responsive during this time. Please flag your e-mails as urgent so that we may prioritize review.

USCCB Staff Contact List

Simy Cuervo, Associate Director of Family Reunification

scuervo@usccb.org

Minh Martinez, Referral and Placement Specialist

mmartinez@usccb.org


Kailey Cano, Children's Services Specialist

kcano@usccb.org

McKenna Heap Garner, Children's Services Specialist

mgarner@usccb.org

Dory Dinoto, Children's Services Specialist

ddinoto@usccb.org

Asma Rehan, Children's Services Specialist

arehman@usccb.org

Elizabeth Throm, Program Specialist

ethrom@usccb.org

USCCB Family Reunification Program Assignment


Please see below for the new program assignment list. You should have been notified by your previously assigned CSS of the transition. Please note that for the next month, Asma and Dory will still be shadowed by previous CSS's to complete their last phase of CSS's training. Please let us know if you have any questions.


Simy Cuervo, Associate Director, Family Reunification

  • At Promise Youth Solutions


Kailey Cano, CSS

  • Catholic Charites of Atlanta
  • Catholic Charities of San Diego
  • Catholic Charities of Nashville
  • Bethany Christian Services of Florida


McKenna Heap-Garner, CSS

  • Catholic Charities of Ohio
  • Bethany Christian Services of Maryland
  • Catholic Charities of Newark
  • Catholic Charities of Baltimore


Dory Dinoto, CSS

  • Catholic Charities Arlington
  • Catholic Charities Boston
  • Catholic Charities of Los Angeles
  • International Christian Adoptions, Inc.


Asma Rehman, CSS

  • Catholic Charities of New York
  • Catholic Charities of San Antonio
  • Catholic Charities of Trenton
  • Catholic Charities of Houston

Upcoming Calls & Events

Quarterly Network Call


The 3rd network call of FY23 is scheduled for:


Wednesday, July 12th, 2023

2 -3:30 PM EST


Use this LINK to access the call via Zoom on the indicated day/time.

Meeting ID: 993 6384 8850

Passcode: 108855


Should you have any questions to submit prior to the call, please do so using this link. Questions must be submitted by 5pm EST on July 11th.


To find recordings of past meetings see resource section below.

Community of Practice Call


The next Community of Practice Call is scheduled for:


Friday, June 16th

1:00 PM EST


Use this LINK to access the call via Zoom on the indicated day/time.

Meeting ID: 873 8791 7055

Passcode: 523485



Please reach out to Kailey Cano at kcano@usccb.org if you would like to volunteer to chair the meeting or submit a topic for discussion.

USCCB FR Network Meeting Recordings and Handouts:



  • First Network Call:
  • The recording and handout for the first network call of FY23 (held January 11, 2023) can be accessed here.
  • Password= Standard ORR PW.
  • Network Call to discuss HS Expansion
  • The recording and handout for the network call on February 2nd.
  • Password= Standard ORR PW.
  • Network Call to discuss new forms on February 17th.
  • The recording for the network call on February 17th.
  • Password=Standard ORR PW.
  • Second Network Call:
  • The recording and handout for the most recent network call held on April 12th, 2023 can be accessed here.
  • Password = Standard ORR PW.
  • Community of Practice Call:
  • The recording from the last CoP call held on April 21st, 2023 can be accessed here.
  • Password = Standard ORR PW.
  • The materials shared can be accessed here.

Children's Services Convening

November 1- 3, 2023

Washington, DC

Safe Passages Family Reunification Training

Mandatory Training

As a reminder, all NEW staff are required to complete 40 hours of pre-training prior to case assignment.



New Directors Orientation


New Program/Staff Onboarding Training:


*Partial recordings due to technical difficulties


All New Staff MUST complete Child Abuse and Neglect Background Checks before serving children. These must be completed for every state the employee has lived in for the past 5 years.


In the event that you are unable to print the certificate of completion for any mandatory training, please take a screenshot of the final screen, including your training score, and forward it to your assigned CSS.

Additional Training Opportunities



New trainings completed in 2023 should be noted in this FY23 Training Tracker

Resources & News

USCRI Safety Planning Toolkit - Survivors of Trafficking


These U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants' (USCRI) toolkits, located in the UC Resource Center, provide tools and tips to provide safety planning and trauma-informed case management services for foreign national children.


USCRI Safety Planning with Foreign National Children and Youth Survivors of Trafficking

NEW USCCB NOC Decision Flow Chart


 We have developed a new NOC Decision Flow Chart for your convenience. Please have a look and let us know if you have any questions!



NEW FY2023 NOC Decision Flow Chart


NEW FY 2023 NOC Template

Quarterly Program Desk Audits and Training Tracker Audit Checks


USCCB FR Team will begin quarterly audits of USCCB Sub-Recipient Programs and FY23 Training Trackers to ensure ongoing compliance checks required by ORR. Your assigned CSS should be talking with you about this in your program calls. The first audit for Quarter 1 has been conducted and your results will be shared with you soon. We will begin our Training tracker audits in June 2023.


Please each out to your assigned CSS if you have questions.

Reminders/Action Items

CA/N Checks, FBI Clearance, and ORR CA/N Check Waiver Guidance


All New Staff MUST complete Child Abuse and Neglect Background Checks before serving children. These must be completed for every state the employee has lived in for the past 5 years.




Monthly reports


  • Monthly Reports are due the 2nd Friday of the following month. There are several data components from the reports that are used to complete subsequent reports that USCCB/MRS Safe Passages Family Reunification submits to ORR. Please remember to submit your monthly reports on time.


  • The 2023 Updated Monthly Report Form can be found here.
  • Next Monthly Report is due on June 9th.

New HS Template Form and Write-Up Guide


New HS Template Form Here.

New HS Write-up Guide Here.

* Please note due to the type of PDF, these files must be saved to your computer and opened with Adobe Pro. The forms are not compatible with browser pdf viewers. However, you can still save the PDF from the browser view. Please reached out to your CSS if you have questions.




  • Please remember that you may use this form now if you would like, however it is not mandatory until we sign our Cooperative Agreement Addendum with ORR.
  • When using:
  • Please remember to add HHM interviews to the additional comments section.
  • Print the form to PDF to be able to include revisions.

PRS Leveling Down / TVPRA Closure Request Form



  • Please use the following Assessment Form to request a PRS Level 2 to Level down to Level 1 or if you would like to close a PRS/TVRPA Case that has been open and stable for more than 1 year.
  • If you have questions, contact your CSS.
  • Please see the following guidance for more information.


FY 23 Budget Revisions and Reimbursements


Any site thinking about modifying their budgets should submit a new budget to Michelle Peterson - mpeterson@usccb.org (cc Simy Cuervo scuervo@usccb.org) for review and approval. This is for USCCB Programs who budgeted for Level 3 and need to modify their budgets to hire for PRS Level 1 & 2.

 

Reminder: All subgrantee programs are required to submit reimbursement requests not later than 30 calendar days following the end of the month in which the expenditure being submitted for reimbursement is incurred. This policy applies to specifically to all Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Unaccompanied Children’s Programs- Family Reunification/Home Study and Post Release Services and Foster Care Providers. Requests for reimbursement that are older than 30 days from the date of the expense will be subject to denial by USCCB.

 

Do you have questions about reimbursements or experiencing difficulty submitting in MRIS? If so, please contact Michelle Peterson - mpeterson@usccb.org (cc Simy Cuervo scuervo@usccb.org). 


General Reminders


Capacity Issues - If any sub-recipient program experiences capacity issues due to staffing challenges, medical leave, etc., please notify your CSS immediately via email and be sure to include Minh Martinez, Referral and Placement Specialist.


UAC Portal Access:

Please reach out to Simy Cuervo or Kailey Cano to register new employees on the UAC portal.


  • Please remember to change your UAC Portal password when prompted via email; as a precaution, be sure to check your spam folders for the alerts. Failure to update your password within the time indicated will result in suspension of your Portal account.
  • Also, you MUST login to the Portal weekly/bi-weekly to prevent being locked out due to inactivity.
  • If you are locked out of the UAC Portal - Please reach out to the UAC portal Help Desk.


MRIS Updates:

  • We are actively working on adjusting MRIS to reflect the new FY23 Level System inputted by ORR. However, in the meantime, 
  • Please indicate the level of the case in the PRS reports.


FY23 Monitoring Visits:

  • If you have a particular month or time of year you would prefer for monitoring visits, please let your CSS know. We are actively scheduling monitoring for FY23.
CONNECT WITH US!
Facebook  Twitter  Youtube