Dear Community Partners-
Thank you all for completing USCCB's Afghan Parolee Support Program survey last week! USCCB has several updates regarding the program from PRM as well as internal procedures we have included below.
PROGRAM NAME UPDATE-AFGHAN PLACEMENT & ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PRM has updated the name of the Afghan parolee program: it is now Afghan Placement & Assistance (APA) since the initials “APS” could be triggering for Afghans as it may bring to mind the 2014 Taliban bombing of the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar.
UPDATE ON COMMUNITY PARTNER PARTICIPATION
PRM has approved USCCB’s proposal to mobilize our existing community partners to assist in the resettlement of Afghan parolees, including serving No US Tie (NUST) cases to help alleviate the affiliate network from a heavy case load. We anticipate receiving a “letter of intent” from PRM tomorrow that will enable USCCB to start operationalizing the program.
AFGHAN PLACEMENT & ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INFORMATION CALL
On Wednesday, September 8 at 2:00PM EST, USCCB will be holding a call to provide our participating affiliate and community partner network with information about the Afghan Parolee Support Program (APS). At this time, we will share further information about the program based on information we have received from PRM.
To register for this call, please register
here.
Please forward this message with anyone in your network who you may want to join in on the call.
WEEKLY APS NETWORK CALL
In order to provide updates and general technical support for the APS program, USCCB will be scheduling a weekly call for all affiliates and community partners to join. This call will be a great experience to learn from colleagues around the country who will also be providing services to Afghan parolees. During the call on Wednesday, September 8, USCCB will be polling availability through the network to set the weekly day and time for the meeting.
NEXT STEPS
As you are all aware, the APS program is being set up extremely rapidly, and the resettlement community anticipates parolees to start arriving to affiliate and community partner sites in the upcoming weeks. In order to be prepared to receive and service cases as soon as possible, USCCB is asking the community partners to complete the following administrative steps:
- Review and complete internal agency dialogues about the APA MOU. Once PRM finalizes and releases the APS cooperative agreement, USCCB will share the cooperative agreement with community partners and will ask that you sign the new MOU.
- Verify your agency's active status in the SAM Database. If your organization's status in not active, please make sure to reactivate immediately.
- Complete the Financial Risk Assessment (FRA) if your organization receives a message regarding its expiration. A member from the Remote Placement Team or the Office of Financial Administration will be contacting you soon if there is not a current FRA on file for your organization.
PROGRAM OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE
PRM has shared
Operational Guidance with USCCB to provide a clearer picture of the structure and services required of the program. Please review this document ahead of Wednesday's call to familiarize yourself with the requirements of the program and to prepare any questions USCCB can provide clarification on.
Sincerely,
Emily Bayens
Remote Placement Coordinator
USCCB/MRS
