[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 68623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22028]



[[Page 68623]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[Assistance Listing Number: 93.576]


Announcement of Intent To Award an Unsolicited Cooperative 
Agreement to Church World Services (CWS) Headquartered in New York, NY

AGENCY: Refugee Program, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Unsolicited Award.

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SUMMARY: ACF, ORR, Refugee Program announces the intent to award an 
unsolicited cooperative agreement in the amount of up to $1,984,144 to 
Church World Services (CWS) in New York, NY. The purpose of this award 
is to provide enhanced refugee housing solutions for Afghan and 
Ukrainian humanitarian parolees and other ORR-eligible populations. 
This proposal seeks to create a local resources directory for housing, 
increase access to housing resources for vulnerable refugee and 
humanitarian parolee populations, expand innovative and replicable 
solutions through capacity building and key partnerships, address 
challenges to identifying and securing safe, affordable housing 
options, and provide a bank of housing resources for both refugees and 
community sponsors.

DATES: The proposed period of performance is September 30, 2023, to 
September 29, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yimeem Vu, Program Specialist, 
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee 
Resettlement, Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 
20201. Telephone: 202-401-4825; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 30, 2023, Church World Services 
(CWS), on behalf of its Refugee Housing Solutions (RHS) initiative, 
submitted an unsolicited proposal to ORR for ``Enhancing Refugee 
Housing Solutions.'' One area of focus is directed towards eligible 
Ukrainian and Afghan Humanitarian Parolees and the other to all ORR-
eligible populations. The first focus aims at addressing challenges in 
securing affordable, long-term housing for Afghan and Ukrainians 
through the following three means: (1) creating a `Housing Hub' with a 
local resources directory and information specific to housing solutions 
for these populations (and translated into relevant languages); (2) 
increasing access to housing resources for both eligible humanitarian 
parolees and their sponsors; and (3) expanding innovation efforts 
through capacity building and key partnerships. The second area of 
focus aims to address challenges in securing affordable housing for all 
ORR-eligible populations and identify more housing options for 
resettlement stakeholders to utilize. This proposal seeks to achieve 
this by advancing innovative housing initiatives (through consultation 
and guidance) in collaboration with new and existing partners from 
nontraditional resettlement backgrounds.
    RHS is currently funded by the Department of State's Bureau of 
Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to provide Reception and 
Placement housing education and training, targeted assistance, piloting 
of three housing initiatives, expanding housing access, and reimagining 
refugee housing. Unlike the proposals submitted to ORR, the work done 
by RHS through PRM funding does not include services specifically for 
Ukrainian and Afghan humanitarian parolees, in addition to other ORR-
populations outside of refugees. In addition, some of the concurrent 
work of the PRM contract will bolster the initiatives proposed to ORR, 
including consulting on additional innovative housing pilot programs 
and collection of localized resources for a housing `hub' and 
directory. Further, RHS receives a subaward from ORR for housing 
education, training, and technical assistance through the grant to the 
International Rescue Committee's Switchboard. The activities of that 
subaward do not overlap with the suggested activities of these 
unsolicited proposals but could add to the bank of resources provided 
to newcomers and their sponsors as outlined in the first proposal. RHS 
is stating that their capacity to achieve the proposed activities is 
not possible with current levels of funding from PRM and the technical 
assistance subaward from ORR.
    ORR intends to award CWS with one cooperative agreement for the 
project ``Enhancing Refugee Housing Solutions.'' After both internal 
and external reviews, ORR concluded with the intent to award this 
unsolicited proposal based on a desire to address stakeholder concerns 
regarding housing access and affordability and considering that the 
capacity of CWS would need to be expanded through additional funding to 
address these challenges. Various stakeholders across the nation, 
including grant recipient organizations, State Refugee Coordinators, 
local community and ethnic community-based organizations, and 
beneficiaries have raised concerns over the last year of housing 
affordability and housing stock availability for the long-term 
placement of resettled refugees and newcomers, particularly those with 
large families, and often cite housing as the number one challenge 
facing resettlement. Further, ORR participates with RHS through various 
public/private housing working groups. Through these conversations and 
presentations, it is apparent that RHS is unique in its mission to 
provide refugee housing technical assistance, identity solutions 
specific to refugee housing, and represent RHS partners, including all 
10 national resettlement agencies, in housing concerns. However, RHS is 
not currently funded at a capacity that allows them to expand 
capabilities and advance innovative and replicable housing solutions to 
meet the needs of all ORR-eligible populations.
    Statutory Authority: Immigration and Nationality Act section 
412(c)(1)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1522(c)(1)(A).

Elizabeth Leo,
Senior Grants Policy Specialist, Office of Grants Policy, Office of 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-22028 Filed 9-29-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4184-89-P