The Office of Refugee Resettlement/Division of Unaccompanied Children Operations (ORR/DUCO), within the Administration for Children and Families, is announcing the availability of funds for Home Study (HS) and Post-Release Services (PRS) for unaccompanied children.
Donor Name: Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/08/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
The primary function of the ORR UC Program is to provide temporary shelter care and other related services to unaccompanied children in ORR custody in accordance with section 462 of the HSA. HSA of 2002 uses the term “unaccompanied alien children,” but ORR uses the term “unaccompanied children” or “unaccompanied child.” An unaccompanied child as a child who “has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age; and with respect to whom there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States; or no parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody.”
ORR seeks HS/PRS providers who can provide services for a diverse population of unaccompanied children of all ages and genders, as well as pregnant and parenting teens, subject to timeframes established in ORR policies (e.g., PRS end when the unaccompanied child turns 18). Unaccompanied children come from all over the world, with the majority from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Unless otherwise specified, successful applicants are expected to provide culturally competent, linguistically appropriate services for unaccompanied children from any country (using interpretation services as appropriate/necessary).
Under the TVPRA, ORR is required to perform a HS when:
- The child is a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons;
- The child is a special needs child with a disability
- The child has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse under circumstances that indicate that the child’s health or welfare has been significantly harmed or threatened; or
- The proposed sponsor clearly presents a risk of abuse, maltreatment, exploitation, or trafficking to the child based on all available objective evidence.
Additionally, ORR policy mandates that HS be completed for unaccompanied children who meet the following criteria:
- The child is being released to a non-relative sponsor who is seeking to sponsor multiple children or has previously sponsored or sought to sponsor a child and is seeking to sponsor additional children;
- The child is 12 years of age or under and is being released to a non-relative sponsor; and/or
- Other circumstances, as recommended by ORR through the release of new policy or initiatives.
While providing PRS, providers must take special consideration of the case-specific needs of certain unaccompanied children, as follows:
- Children with special needs;
- Children with disabilities;
- LGBTQI+ and gender non-conforming children;
- Adjudicated youth and youth at high risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system;
- Youth at high risk of sex and labor exploitation and trafficking;
- Unaccompanied children who entered ORR custody after being separated by DHS from a parent or legal guardian, or a close family member; and/or
- Children who entered the United States as special immigrant entrants following a special operation (such as the Operation Allies Welcome).
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Funding: $300,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $50,000,000
- Award Floor: $1,000,000
Project Period
36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods
Eligible Applicants
- Private institutions of higher education
- State governments
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Small businesses
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Independent school districts
- County governments
Additional Information on Eligibility:
Please note that ACF does not fund concurrent projects. If an applicant is successful under this SNOFO, any subsequent applications in response to other HS/PRS SNOFOs from the same applicant for the same service delivery area will not be funded. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity. Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements, ACF will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization’s religious character, affiliation, or exercise.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
