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Family Reunification Monthly Update
March 2023
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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.
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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
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Standing Notice of Funding Opportunity Home Study, Post-Release Services
The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) posted a Standing Notice of Funding Opportunity (SNOFO) on Grants.Gov, to solicit applications for organizations to provide post-release services and home studies to unaccompanied children released from the care of ORR to a vetted sponsor nationwide. ORR continues to work toward its goal of providing post-release services to all children discharged to sponsors and to expand support to include additional services and grantees so that post-release services can provide a stronger base of support upon discharge.
The SNOFO posted on Thursday, March 16, 2023, and can be accessed at this link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346130. Applications are due by Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Anticipated award date is September 29, 2023. This SNOFO has been updated from previous funding announcements for home studies and post-release services and contemplates provision of post-release services for all unaccompanied children released from the care of ORR. As this is a SNOFO, ORR will have additional publications and awards in FY 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Post-release services are only one piece of the larger effort to promote safety and well-being of unaccompanied children, and the ORR team is excited to see the positive impact it will have toward our shared goals. We appreciate your help in driving changes to post release efforts by expanding post release services and increasing home studies capacity in our communities, states, and across the nation.
Please forward the SNOFO link to any organizations/agencies in your contacts list that may be interested in applying for this funding. If you have any questions regarding the SNOFO, please email Gail Houppert, Home Studies and Post Release Project Officer Supervisor, at HSPRS_ProjectOfficers@acf.hhs.gov.
For general information on the SNOFO process, please refer to the ACF website at How to Apply for a Grant. Providing home studies and post release services to unaccompanied children is a key priority for ORR. Please help ORR spread the word about this opportunity.
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USCCB/MRS Program Updates
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Please join us in welcoming Elizabeth Throm to the Family Reunification Team!
Elizabeth has been with USCCB since November 2022 as a Program Associate with the TX URM/Refugee School Impact program and is now our new Program Specialist with the Family Reunification Team. Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Catholic University.
As a Program Specialist, Elizabeth will provide administrative support, data entry, and assistance in review of post release reports for the increased number of unaccompanied children being served by our network.
Please join me in congratulating Elizabeth in her promotion!
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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.
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USCCB Family Reunification Program Assignment
The program assignment indicated below will remain in effect while the new CCS's onboard and become familiar with the Safe Passages program. Your currently assigned program CSS will inform you when you the transition and re-assignment will occur.
Kailey Cano, CSS
- Catholic Charites of Atlanta
- Catholic Charities of San Diego
- Catholic Charities of Nashville
- Bethany Christian Services of Florida
- Catholic Charities of Boston
- Catholic Charities of Arlington
Simy Cuervo, Associate Director, Family Reunification
- Catholic Charities of Trenton
- Catholic Charities of Houston
- Catholic Charities of Los Angeles
- International Christian Adoptions, Inc.
- At Promise Youth Solutions
McKenna Heap-Garner, CSS
- Catholic Charities of Ohio
- Catholic Charities of New York
- Catholic Charities of Newark
- Bethany Christian Services of Maryland
- Catholic Charities of San Antonio
- Catholic Charities of Baltimore
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Quarterly Network Call
The 2nd network call of FY23 is scheduled for:
Wednesday, April 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 April 11th.
To find recordings of past meetings see resource section below.
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Community of Practice Call
The next Community of Practice Call is scheduled for:
Friday, April 21st
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.
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USCCB FR Network Meeting Recordings and Handouts:
- First Network Call:
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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
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The recording and handout for the network call on February 2nd.
- Password= Standard ORR PW.
- Network Call to discuss new forms on February 17th.
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The recording for the network call on February 17th.
- Password=Standard ORR PW.
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Children's Services Convening
November 1- 3, 2023
Washington, DC
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Safe Passages Family Reunification Training | |
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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
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.
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Additional Training Opportunities | |
Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. | |
Arriving in record numbers, they're ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws - including in factories that make products for well-known brands like Cheetos and Fruit of the Loom.
Recently, the NY Times highlighted the number of undocumented children working in factories and different trades in the US. This article has highlighted the importance for us as HS/PRS providers to ensure proper vetting processes are occurring at the shelter level. As soon as these kids are released, we want to help them find other opportunities in the US that is safe and appropriate for them.
Please talk to your CSS about ways to screen for labor/trafficking concerns.
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During Social Work Month, NASW educates the public about the contributions social workers make and provides social workers and their allies tools to elevate the profession.
Thank YOU to ALL of you in Safe Passages Programming advocating for Unaccompanied Minors who arrived in this country to seek refuge, better opportunities, and education. Thank you for serving these kids and their families day in and day out!
Click here for more.
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Chapter Five: Haiti Earthquake - USCRI | |
The retrospective reviews the Unaccompanied Children's Program from the passage of the Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002 until today. It assesses 20 years of legislation, policies, litigation, and, most importantly, the U.S. federal government's care of unaccompanied migrating children, with a view toward the next steps and improvements for the years ahead. The fifth chapter examines the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and the processing of Haitian children as unaccompanied children.
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BRYCS - Bridging Refugee Youth & Children's Service
- Language Line and Translation Services
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LanguageLine, Cyracom, Tarjimly (telephone) or Native interpretations, MasterWord, AccuracyNow Language Services, Interpretalk, Voyce Interpretation Services, Boost Lingo, Linguava, Maya Interpreters, Global Village Language, Pacific, and ITS.
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Mayan Translation Services in Bold.
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Updated Title 42 Backgrounder
- Child Abuse Prevention Resources
- Resource Guide
- Child Maltreatment Data
- Multimedia Gallery
- Publications
- Community of Practice Call Shared Resources
- Child Friendly Interviewing Techniques
- PFA with UC's
- Safety Tips for Social Workers in the Field
- Loyola University Study
- A study being conducted by Loyola University on the gaps and challenges faced by UC in federal care. Please see these two attachments if you are interested in participating.
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Loyola Study Info and Handout.
- Guide to Converting Grade Levels from Different Countries
- Resource Guide
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NOC Submission: ORR Email Template
ORR has asked that we use a new template for all NOC email submissions. Please copy and paste the template information in all NOC emails that you submit to ORR.
The subject line of the email should continue to read "USCCB NOC: XX, XX (last 4 of A#)"
Email Body:
· NOC Synopsis
· UC’s Initials and last 4 of A#
· New Address for Sponsor - YES or NO
· Flag Address - YES or NO
· Flag entered in portal by PRS Provider - YES or NO
***Standard password applies***
Subrecipient of USCCB
NEW FY 2023 NOC Template
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Monthly reports
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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.
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The 2023 Updated Monthly Report Form can be found here.
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Next Monthly Report is due on April 14th.
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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.
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Please remember to add HHM interviews to the additional comments section.
- Print the form to PDF to be able to include revisions.
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FY 23 Budget Revisions
Any site thinking about modifying their budgets should submit a new budget to Michelle Peterson - mpeterson@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.
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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.
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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.
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