Characteristics of separated children in ORR’s care: June 27, 2018–November 15, 2020
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Data snapshot
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Inspector General. Office of Evaluation and Inspections, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, November 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Child Health -- legislation & jurisprudence Government Regulation Refugees -- statistics & numerical data Vulnerable Populations -- legislation & jurisprudence United States United States. Department of Health and Human Services
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- What OIG Did. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program office of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ORR operates the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to provide care and placement for children without lawful immigration status who do not have a parent or guardian in the United States who is available to take custody (“unaccompanied children”). An unaccompanied child typically remains in ORR’s care until one of three things happens: an appropriate sponsor is located in the United States who can assume custody, the child turns 18 years old, or the child’s immigration status is resolved. Most children referred to ORR by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have surrendered to or been apprehended by immigration officials while entering the United States without a parent or legal guardian. However, some children enter the United States with a parent or legal guardian but are subsequently separated from that adult by DHS officials and then referred to ORR. In this report, we refer to these two types of unaccompanied children as “non-separated children” and “separated children,” respectively. Historically, separations were rare and typically occurred because of an unverified parental relationship, a parental health issue, or another concern that the parent could pose a danger to the child.1 However, in 2017 and 2018, the number of separated children referred to ORR increased significantly as a result of initiatives by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DHS to increase prosecution of certain immigration offenses. These initiatives culminated in the spring 2018 implementation of the “zero tolerance” policy. Under that policy, large numbers of families entering the United States without authorization were separated by DHS. Typically, adults were held in Federal detention while their children were referred to ORR.2 On June 26, 2018, a Federal district court halted family separations with only a few exceptions.3 Prior OIG work identified challenges that ORR faced in addressing the mental health needs of separated children and efficiently identifying appropriate sponsors for their release.4 Given these challenges, this study provides the following information: the number of separated children who have been referred to ORR since the June 2018 court order; the reasons the separations occurred; the separated children’s key characteristics and release outcomes; and how separated children compare to non-separated children in ORR’s care.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (14 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918384887106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918384887106676