Family Reunification Monthly Update
September 2021
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Quarterly Network Call
The 4th network call is scheduled for Tuesday, October 12th
2 -3:30 PM EST
Meeting ID: 993 6384 8850
Passcode: 108855
The recording and handout for the 3rd quarter network call of FY21 can be accessed here.
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USCCB Closings
October 11th
(Columbus Day)
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ORR Program Updates
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Field Guidance #20 - Home Study Processing
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For a complete list of ORR policies and procedures, click here.
- The UC Path launch has been delayed again, with no launch date identified at this time.
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Here is the latest Federal Field Specialist (FFS) and Case Coordinator (CC) UAC program assignment lists as of September 2021. Please use these updated lists when submitting home study reports.
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USCCB/MRS Program Updates
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FY21 Monitoring visits have been tentatively scheduled with all sub-recipient programs. If you haven't already, you will receive more detailed information regarding your visit from your assigned CSS.
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Staffing Update: Congratulations to Simy Cuervo on her new position as the Assistant Director of Family Reunification. Until the two vacant CSS positions are filled, Simy will continue to oversee her current sub-recipient programs. Please see the current CSS program assignments below:
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John Abraham (jabraham@usccb.org)
- Catholic Charities Trenton, NJ
- International Christian Adoptions - ICA
- Catholic Charities Las Angeles, CA
- Catholic Charities Houston, TX
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Nikeita Lawrence (nlawrence@usccb.org)
- Catholic Charities San Antonio, TX
- Catholic Charities Arlington, VA
- Catholic Charities Boston, MA
- Catholic Charities Baltimore, MD
- Catholic Charities Newark, NJ
- Bethany Christian Services Maryland
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Simy Cuervo (scuervo@usccb.org)
- Catholic Charities San Diego, CA
- Catholic Charities Nashville, TN
- Catholic Charities Atlanta, GA
- Bethany Christian Services Florida
- Catholic Charities Cincinnati, OH
- Catholic Charities New York, NY
*With the continued transition, CSS shortage and the increased case loads, we sincerely appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding. For matters that require immediate attention, please include "URGENT" in the email subject line.
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A sincere thank you to those that were able to attend the recent so USCCB/MRS 2021 Children’s Services Convening! We are grateful that so many of you were able to join us this year! We hope the information obtained will help improve the already great work you do to serve unaccompanied children.
We are happy to share that our virtual Convening site will remain accessible through October 30, 2021, along with the recordings for a number of our sessions.
In the Agenda, those sessions that were able to be recorded will show a “View Recording” button.
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Afghan Children
- Afghan Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022
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Justice for Immigrants - Afghanistan Evacuation Resource Page
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October 14th, 3pm-4pm EST (Webinar) - Afghan Legal Status and Eligibility
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RCUSA has launched a new landing page on its website to help direct Afghans in need of services and individuals, organizations, and elected officials hoping to join support and advocacy efforts in the right direction.
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Different Statuses, Different Benefits: Determining Federal Assistance for Afghan Evacuees, from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), includes a table on Immigration and Public Benefits for Afghan Arrivals organized by legal status.
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What Federal Benefits and Services are Available to Afghan Parolees?, a Switchboard blog, summarizes who qualifies for what benefits and lists some of the programs and services in which Afghan parolees may currently participate.
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Settle In Facebook, an initiative launched by the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE), is designed to directly engage newly arrived Afghans resettling in the United States. This platform serves as another touchpoint to disseminate vital, correct information in an interactive format tied to early resettlement services, employment, housing, and education. Learn more about Settle In Facebook and how you can use it to assist you in delivery of Cultural Orientation on CORE’s website. Service providers may also be interested in How to Use Settle In Facebook with Afghan Arrivals.
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A Round-Up of Resources for Serving Afghan Evacuees, a Switchboard blog, is aimed at service providers supporting clients and recent arrivals from Afghanistan. It shares federal policies, cultural orientation resources, and economic empowerment and digital inclusion resources. It includes a focus on resources available in Dari and Pashto
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COVID-19 resources for Afghan new arrivals, from the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), now includes a welcome video in Dari and Pashto describing the current COVID-19 situation in the United States.
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Caring for Afghan Children - A Foster Parent Guide
- Afghan Parole Information Sheet
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Training
NOTE: As we are nearing beginning 4th quarter of this fiscal year, all sub-recipient staff should have completed at minimum, 75% (30 hrs.) of the 40 annual training hours required by ORR.
Mandatory Training:
New Program/Staff Onboarding Training:
*Partial recordings due to technical difficulties
Additional Training Opportunities:
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Pre-recorder (Webinar) - Trauma Pre-, During, and Post-Migration: Behavior, Relationships, Learning, and Wellness for Unaccompanied Children (passcode - 7k$KqM2w)
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October 14th, 2pm EST (Webinar) - Catholic Charities USA Webinar: Unaccompanied Children in 2021: Serving Immigrant and Refugee Youth
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October 14th, 2pm-3pm EST - USCRI's Monthly Legal Q&A Call for Social Service Providers Working with Unaccompanied Children. Click here to register and submit your questions.
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October 14th, 3pm-4pm EST (Webinar) - Afghan Legal Status and Eligibility
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November 3rd, 2pm EST (Webinar) - Parent Engagement Strategies in a Pandemic and Beyond
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November 4th, 2021 - April 21, 2022 (Certification Course) - Trauma Certificate Course 2021, hosted by Nationalities Service Center, will take place November 4, 2021 to April 21, 2022 on Thursdays from 2-3:30 PM (via Zoom). This 6-month, 30-hour course is designed for case managers, lawyers, interpreters, interns and other direct and indirect service providers. The material will focus on working with refugee and immigrant populations but can be generalized to other client communities. This is a practical and strategy-focused training that will include lecture, readings, discussion, reflection interactive activities, guest speakers.
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November 9th, 2 pm-3 pm EST (Webinar) - Moving Beyond Mandatory Reporting from Recognizing, Reacting to Reporting to Resolving Child Maltreatment
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January 22nd - 28th, San Diego CA (Conference) - The 37th Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment (In-person, hybrid and virtual options)
*In the event that you are unable to print the certificate of completion for any mandatory training, please take a screenshot of the final screen, including your training score, and forward it to your assigned CSS
*FY21Training Tracker - Please note that the training tracker has been updated to include the new mandated trauma and UAC Portal training requirements. Please utilize this tracker moving forward.
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Reminders
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Director of Children's Services - As a reminder, Lindsay Shah is the new Director of Children's Services and should be included on NOCs for CPS involvement. Lindsay's email address is LShah@usccb.org.
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Acting Assistant Director of Family Reunification - As a reminder, Simy Cuervo is the acting Assistant Director of Family Reunification. Please be sure to copy Simy (SCuervo@usccb.org) on all NOC and home study submission emails.
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Flagging Sponsors - Per ORR's request, please remember to specifically indicate in NOCs whether or not the sponsor should be flagged. This is particularly important as it pertains to NOCs for placement disruption, CPS, or lost contact. This should be noted in both the submission email as well as the NOC report
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Monthly reports are due the 2nd Friday of the following month. There are several data components from the reports that are used to complete subsequent reports that USCCB/MRS Safe Passages Family Reunification submits to ORR. Please remember to submit your monthly reports on time. The monthly report form can be found here.
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Capacity Issues - If any sub-recipient program experiences capacity issues due to staffing challenges, medical leave, etc., please notify your CSS immediately via email and be sure to include Minh Martinez, Child Placement Specialist.
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Please remember to change your UAC Portal password when prompted via email; as a precaution, be sure to check your spam folders for the alerts. Failure to update your password within the time indicated will result in suspension of your Portal account. Also, you MUST login to the Portal weekly/bi-weekly to prevent being locked out due to inactivity.
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Current NOC Template - This is the latest NOC template, reflecting our new ORR Project Officer (PO), Michelle Sheedy. Please use this updated template moving forward. This NOC flowchart can be used as a reminder of what constitutes a NOC and any additional persons that should be included on the submission email.
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Enhanced Post Release Services (ePRS) - As previously mentioned, ORR partnered with grantees of the National Center for Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) to provide post release services to eligible unaccompanied alien children (UAC) and their sponsors who will require intensive services to maintain placement and/or continued services to ensure that continuity of care and services are not disrupted. ePRS are currently available to UC discharged or reunified with a sponsor in the following states: in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, or Florida. Learn more about ePRS and the eligibility requirements here. If you have a UC to refer for ePRS, please complete this referral form and the referral process flowchart as it relates to subrecipient program staff.
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Migration Protection Protocols - Please continue to track/report Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) (also known as “Remain in Mexico”). Additional information on the MPP can be found here. Please review and complete the information indicated here for all cases in which a child reports being impacted in any capacity by MPP.
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Resources/News
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MRSConnect Web Library
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BRYCS - Bridging Refugee Youth & Children's Service
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Golden Door Scholars (GDS), a nonprofit that invests in undocumented students to help them achieve their dreams through college scholarships and career readiness, is currently accepting applications for their four-year college scholarship program from now through October 10th. In addition to a scholarship, GDS scholars also have access to mentors, internship, job search support, and professional growth opportunities.
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Sea Prayer is a short, powerful, illustrated book written in response to the current refugee crisis. It is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey. Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city’s swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone.
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Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in the United States, a video from the National Children Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), provides a brief overview of the mental health needs of unaccompanied children who have experienced significant trauma in their home countries and along their journey to the United States.
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Childhood Maltreatment Causes Neurobiological Alterations in Early Stages of Life - A paper published in the journal Psychological Medicine confirms the existence of neurobiological alterations in early stages of life in minors exposed to maltreatment. The study's first author is the researcher Laia Marqués-Feixa, from the Faculty of Biology, the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) and the CIBER Mental Health (CIBERSAM), and it has been carried out in collaboration with the CIBERSAM EPI-Young Stress Group.
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