[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 187 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54200-54202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21281]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Release of Unaccompanied Children From 
ORR Custody (OMB #0970-0552)

AGENCY: Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and 
Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on revisions to an approved 
information collection. The request consists of several forms that 
allow the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to process release of UC 
from ORR custody and provide services after release.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a 
decision about the collection of information between 30 and 60 days 
after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, 
a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it 
within 30 days of publication.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Description: ORR received several comments 
on this information collection in response to the Federal Register 
Notice published on February 25, 2021, (86 FR 11536) and has provided 
responses to those comments in its final submission to OMB. UC Path is 
critical to program operations, and it

[[Page 54201]]

is important that rollout of the new system not be delayed. Therefore, 
the below description details what will be included in the initial 
launch of the UC Path case management system, and revisions based on 
public comments will be made after initial launch. ORR plans to conduct 
a deliberative review of commenters' suggestions and concerns and 
submit a request for revisions to this information collection request 
in January 2022. The upcoming information collection request will also 
include revisions based on feedback from UC Path system users (i.e., 
ORR grantee, contractor, and federal staff).
    A. ORR plans to revise all four instruments currently approved 
under OMB #0970-0552 and reinstate one instrument previously approved 
under OMB #0970-0498 and add it to this collection. All instruments 
will be incorporated into ORR's new case management system, UC Path. In 
addition, ORR plans to replace the term ``unaccompanied alien child 
(UAC)'' with ``unaccompanied child (UC)'' throughout the instruments in 
this collection.
    1. Verification of Release (Form R-1): This instrument is an 
official document provided to UC and their sponsors by care provider 
facilities showing that ORR released the UC into the sponsor's care and 
custody. This form was previously approved under OMB #0970-0498 and is 
being reinstated with formatting changes under this new OMB number. No 
changes were made to the content. The average burden minutes per 
response was increased from 3 to 10 minutes.
    2. Discharge Notification (Form R-2): This instrument is used by 
care provider facilities to notify stakeholders of the transfer of a UC 
to another care provider facility or the release of a UC from ORR 
custody. ORR made the following revisions:
    a. The ``Proof of Relationship'' field was removed because that 
information is found elsewhere in UC Path and does not need to be 
displayed in this instrument.
    b. The following fields were added: ``Returning UC, Entry #,'' 
``Type of Age Out,'' ``Sponsor Category,'' ``Next Immigration 
Hearing,'' ``Granted Voluntary Discharge Date,'' ``Parent/Legal 
Guardian Separation,'' ``Is this a MPP Case,'' ``UC Parent Name,'' 
``Program Type.''
    c. The ``Local Law Enforcement'' and ``DHS Family Shelter'' fields 
were replaced with the ``Governmental Agency'' and ``Name of Government 
Agency'' fields.
    d. The following fields were added, but are not visible on version 
of the instrument sent to stakeholders:
    i. ``Discharge Delay,'' ``DHS Age Out Plan,'' ``Referral to 
Services in COO,'' ``Completed Referral Services COO?,'' ``Date Travel 
Document Requested,'' ``Date of Issuance of Travel Document''; and
    ii. All fields in the ``Transportation Details'' section.
    3. ORR Release Notification--Notice to Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE) Chief Counsel--Release of Unaccompanied Child to 
Sponsor and Request to Change Address (Form R-3): This instrument is 
used by care provider facilities to notify ICE Chief Counsel of the 
release of a UC and request a change of address. The instrument was 
reformatted. No changes were made to the content.
    4. Release Request (Form R-4): This instrument is used by care 
provider facilities, ORR contractor staff, and ORR federal staff to 
process recommendations and decisions for release of a UC from ORR 
custody. ORR made the following revisions:
    a. The instrument was reformatted and the titles of some fields 
were reworded.
    b. Several fields containing biographical information for the UC 
were removed from the top of the instrument.
    c. The ``Provide details on relationship including official 
documentation'' text box was removed because that information is easily 
accessible elsewhere in UC Path.
    d. Several fields related to release dates and immigration court 
appearance were removed because they are easily accessible elsewhere in 
UC Path.
    e. A new section called ``Release Request Routing'' was added to 
facilitate automated notification of pending releases within UC Path. 
Some fields in this section are auto-populated.
    f. A new ``Child Advocates'' section was added, containing two 
fields.
    g. A new ``Medical'' section was added to facilitate automated 
notification to the ORR medical coordinator, when applicable. The 
section contains two fields.
    h. A new ``Legal'' section was added. All fields in this section 
are auto-populated with the exception of the comments field.
    i. A new ``Program Information'' section was added to capture 
relevant details when a UC is being release to a program/entity.
    j. In the ``Case Manager Recommendation'' section, a couple of 
auto-populated date fields were added.
    5. Safety and Well-Being Call (Form R-6): This instrument is used 
by care provider facilities to document the outcome of calls made to UC 
and their sponsors after release to ensure the child is safe and refer 
the sponsor to additional resources as needed. Currently, case managers 
document responses from the sponsor and UC interview questions 
(required per ORR procedures) in their case management notes. ORR 
expanded this instrument to include the information currently captured 
in case management notes, in addition to the information captured in 
the current version of the Safety and Well-Being Follow-Up Call Report. 
The average burden minutes per response was increased from 30 to 45 
minutes.
    B. ORR plans to remove the term ``alien'' from the title of this 
information collection and revise it to read ``Release of Unaccompanied 
Children from ORR Custody.''
    C. ORR intends to conduct a phased rollout of the UC Path system. 
Beginning fall 2021, ORR plans to roll the UC Path system out to a 
small group of care provider programs. ORR will gradually expand use of 
the system to other programs and expects all care provider programs 
will be using UC Path by spring 2022. To ensure continuity of 
operations, care provider programs will need the ability to continue 
using instruments in the UC Portal system and in other formats (e.g., 
PDF, Excel) while they are waiting to transition over to the UC Path 
system. Therefore, ORR proposes continued use of the following 
instruments, concurrently with the UC Path versions of the same 
instruments, until all care provider programs are using UC Path.

1. Verification of Release (Form R-1)
2. Discharge Notification (Form R-2)
3. Notice to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Chief 
Counsel--Release of Unaccompanied Child to Sponsor and Request to 
Change Address (Form R-3)
4. Release Request (Form R-4)
5. Safety and Well-Being Follow-Up Call Report (Form R-6)

    Respondents: ORR grantee and contractor staff and released children 
and sponsors.

[[Page 54202]]



                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                   Annual number  Average burden
                   Instrument                      Annual number   of responses     minutes per    Annual total
                                                  of respondents  per respondent     response      burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verification of Release (Form R-1)..............             216             253              10           9,108
Discharge Notification (Form R-2)...............             216             290              10          10,440
ORR Release Notification--ORR Notification to                216             270               5           4,860
 ICE Chief Counsel Release of UC to Sponsor and
 Request to Change Address (Form R-3)...........
Release Request (Form R-4)--Grantee Case                     216             254              25          22,860
 Managers.......................................
Release Request (Form R-4)--Contractor Case                  170             321              20          18,190
 Coordinators...................................
Safety and Well-Being Call (R-6)................             216             253              45          40,986
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours Total.........  ..............  ..............  ..............         106,444
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    Authority: 6 U.S.C. 279; 8 U.S.C. 1232; Flores v. Reno Settlement 
Agreement, No. CV85-4544-RJK (C.D. Cal. 1996).

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-21281 Filed 9-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-45-P