1. It has come to our attention that some released unaccompanied Afghan minors (UAM), particularly those Afghan children who were released and reunified with sponsors at safe havens in the US, may not have correct or updated contact/address information in the system. We understand this is posing challenges for PRS and other ORR-funded service delivery following release of the child. Please know that we are working to fix this issue; efforts are underway to try to obtain updated contact information from the resettlement agencies. Once we have this information, we will also share with you which resettlement agencies are serving which discharged UAM and their families. We also plan to share with the resettlement agencies which UAM each PRS provider is serving. We will keep you posted and will make every effort possible to ensure communications are only sharing the absolutely necessary details that will enable each provider (resettlement agency and PRS provider alike) to successfully be able to serve the child/family. For those UAM who have contact information on file and with whom you have already been able to get in touch/are currently working with:
2. Please make sure that the Afghan children you are working with, who entered the US on parole, have received a copy of the attached letter. There are certain medical requirements of humanitarian parole, one of which is to receive a tuberculosis (TB) screening. Afghan children on parole must obtain a screening and log into a USCIS website to attest their compliance with this requirement. Children who were discharged from a state-licensed ORR provider should have already completed the TB screening, but children discharged directly from Starr EIS will not have. All of these details and more information is included in the attached letter, as is the link to the specific USCIS webpage. As stated in the letter, questions about this requirement can be directed to dcsmedical@acf.hhs.gov.
3. Please also make sure that Afghan children understand and are accessing their resettlement benefits and have applied for a EAD and SSN. More information is available at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/fact-sheets/Information_Sheet_for_Afghans_Departing_Safe_Havens-English.pdf.
4. For your awareness, we wanted to share that case managers will be asking questions of UAM/sponsors regarding UAMs’ parents or other primary caregivers in Afghanistan, in an effort to support family reunification, as part of the follow-up Safety and Wellbeing calls.