The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program of the
Administration for Children and Families
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billi ...
, an office within the
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
, created with the passing of the
United States Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212). The Office of Refugee Resettlement offers support for
refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. seeking safe haven within the United States, including victims of
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
, those seeking asylum from persecution, survivors of torture and war, and unaccompanied alien children. The mission and purpose of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is to assist in the relocation process and provide needed services to individuals granted asylum within the United States.
Since 1975, the United States has assisted in the resettlement of more than 3million refugees. Annual admissions of refugees to the United States since the 1980 Refugee Act was enacted have ranged from 27,100 to as many as 207,116.
In Fiscal Year 2019, Refugee and Resettlement Assistance comprised a discretionary budget of $1.905billion. The largest share of that, $1.303billion, was designated for the
Unaccompanied Alien Children
Unaccompanied Alien Children (or UAC, also referred to as unaccompanied alien minors or UAMs) is a United States government classification for children in immigration custody and the name of a program operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement ...
program housing child migrants.
Other major programs include Transitional and Medical Services, $354million; Refugee Support Services, $207million; and the Trafficking Victims Support Program, $27million.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is currently headed by Director
Robin Dunn Marcos, who formerly served as International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) senior director for resettlement, asylum, and integration programming.
History
Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, nonprofit voluntary agencies called
"Volags" were generally responsible for aiding immigrants and refugees. In 1946, the U.S. federal government began supporting these organizations financially with the Corporate Affidavit Program.
However, beginning with an influx of refugees fleeing Castro's Cuba, the federal government began to take the primary financial role in assisting refugees. This response set a precedent of federal involvement, with Eisenhower and Kennedy expanding efforts to assist nonprofits in settling refugees—efforts which became permanent with the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement was officially established with the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. It was created in "an attempt to design a coherent and comprehensive refugee admission and resettlement policy".
The act (a) gave recognition to the Office of the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, which was given authority over the development of U.S. “refugee admission and resettlement policy”, and (b) established the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which was given the authority to provide grants with nonprofits for resettlement services (including training and healthcare), and reimbursed states for efforts undertaken within the first three years of a refugee's living in the United States.
In its goal of allowing the United States to respond quickly and efficiently to the needs of refugees, the Refugee Act of 1980 also established a new appointed office, the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, who is appointed by the President and consults with the ORR.
Major changes
In 2000, additional categories of potential recipients of ORR services were added including persons granted asylum, survivors of torture, unaccompanied alien children and certified adult victims of human trafficking. The
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) is a federal statute passed into law in 2000 by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton. The law was later reauthorized by presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump. In additi ...
of 2008 added trafficked children to the list of individuals qualified for services.
The Unaccompanied Alien Children program was transferred to ORR by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, effective on March 1, 2003.
The Office' work is subject to the provisions of the Flores Agreement in 1997, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its reauthorization acts, the
(TVPRA) of 2005 and 2008.
In 2010, the ORR reported to U.S. Congress six guiding principles which represented a modification of its priorities:
* Appropriation placement and services
* Client-centered case management
* Newly arriving refugees
* Health and mental health services
* Outreach
* Data-informed decision-making
Additionally, the ORR reshaped its vision: “to assist refugees with accessing mainstream opportunities and resources”.
Leadership
, the current director of ORR is
Robin Dunn Marcos.
The Office of the Director also includes the ORR Deputy Director who oversees ORR's refugee program, and the ORR Deputy Director for Children's Services who oversees ORR's unaccompanied alien children program.
The ORR has eight major divisions at the federal level, each with a director and support staff:
# Division of Policy & Procedures
# Division of Budget & Data Analysis
# Division of Refugee Assistance
# Division of Refugee Health
# Division of Refugee Services
# Division of Unaccompanied Children Operations
# Division of Planning and Logistics
# Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children
Service delivery
Service delivery to refugees varies based on the division providing services and the program being performed. For example, the Division of Resettlement Services works through private nonprofit and public organizations to provide economic support and social integration services to refugees. This particular division “administers the Voluntary Agency Match Grant Program and seven competitive refugee social services discretionary grant programs. Discretionary grants are awarded on a competitive basis".
Funding
The ORR receives an appropriation from Congress each year with some specifications on allotments for each division, and divides the allotment among its programs. These programs then appropriate the money to their partnering agencies in the form of grants, following specified formula guidelines. States ultimately hold the responsibility for carrying out the ORR's mission:
“Federal resettlement assistance to refugees is provided primarily through the state-administered refugee resettlement program. States provide transitional cash and medical assistance and social services, as well as maintain legal responsibility for the care of unaccompanied refugee children."
The ORR uses a matching grant program to provide funding for its affiliate voluntary agencies. These voluntary agencies are then expected to operate the program through their national networks. The ORR “awards $2 for every $1 raised by the agency up to a maximum of $2,500 in Federal funds per enrollee. Note that while federal and match funds are calculated on a per capita or client basis, the actual spending of such funds is not per capita based."
Partnerships
The ORR partners with several federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
, the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
, and the
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
.
Within the Department of Health and Human Services the ORR partners with the Office for Civil Rights, the
Center for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
, the Office of Head Start, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the U.S. Administration on Aging. Within the Department of Homeland Security it partners with
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
, and
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system. It is a successor to the Immigration and Naturalizati ...
. Within the Department of Justice, it partners with the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Lastly, within the Department of State it partners with the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.
References
External links
*
Office of Refugee Resettlementin the
Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
{{Authority control
Administration for Children and Families programs
Government agencies established in 1980
1980 establishments in Washington, D.C.