SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK
REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Private
Sponsor Information
1405-XXXX
Why is this collection necessary and what are the legal statutes that allow this?
The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Refugee Act of 1980, allows for the admission as refugees of persons of special humanitarian concern to the United States who can establish that they have suffered past persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. See INA §§ 101(a)(42) and 207; 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(42) and 1157. The law also provides for resettlement assistance to be provided to arriving refugees, including initial reception and placement with a sponsor. See INA § 412; 8 U.S.C. § 1522.
In Executive Order 14013 on “Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs
to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on
Migration” issued in February 2021, President Biden directed
the Department of State and Department of Health and Human Services
to “capitalize on...private sponsorship of refugees” as
part of efforts to “meet the challenges of restoring and
expanding the [U.S. Refugee Admissions Program].” To fulfill
this directive, the Department of State is launching a program for
private sponsorship of refugees approved for admission to the United
States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), named
“the Welcome Corps.” Through the Welcome Corps, private
sponsors will accept primary responsibility to welcome arriving
refugees and to provide core services/assistance to support their
initial resettlement equivalent to what is provided by nonprofit
resettlement agency partners through the U.S. Government-funded
Reception and Placement (R&P) program. Private sponsor entities
will include Private Sponsor Groups (groups of at least five or more
individual American citizens or permanent residents who will be able
to apply to sponsor the resettlement of refugees) and Private Sponsor
Organizations (established and/or incorporated organizations who will
be able to apply to mobilize, organize, oversee, and/or offer support
to Private Sponsor Groups).
Information
will be collected from Private Sponsor Groups (PSGs), Private Sponsor
Organizations (PSOs), and/or NGO consortium partners to facilitate
the placement of approved refugee applicants with private sponsors
and to plan for refugee applicants to travel to the appropriate
location of private sponsors within the United States.
What business purpose is the information gathered going to be used for?
The Department of State’s Bureau of
Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) has entered into a
cooperative agreement with a consortium of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to establish and oversee an online application
process to intake applications from PSGs and PSOs and screen their
applications for approval for participation in the Welcome Corps.
Specifically, PRM has selected a consortium comprising Church World
Service, the Community Sponsorship Hub, Integrated Refugee and
Immigrant Services, the International Refugee Assistance Project, the
International Rescue Committee, and Welcome.US. Several of these
organizations have deep experience in securely collecting refugee
placement information as participants in the Reception and Placement
Program.
As part of the
online application process for PSGs, the NGO consortium will collect
information on PSGs as part of completed applications submitted
electronically by prospective private sponsors through the program
website that is being built and managed by the consortium
(www.welcomecorps.org).
This will include biographic information on each member of the PSG,
evidence that each member of the PSG has completed the required
background checks through a third-party identified by the consortium,
evidence that at least one member of the PSG has completed required
online training developed by the consortium, and details on how PSGs
will plan to provide initial resettlement support to the refugees who
are matched to them through the Welcome Corps. In addition, the NGO
consortium will also oversee a separate application process for PSOs
and collect information from PSOs accordingly. This will include
biographic information for a key point of contact at the PSO,
background information on the organizational structure of the PSO,
and information on the PSO’s organizational resources and
staffing capacity to mobilize, support, and oversee PSGs. The
majority of this information will not be shared with PRM since PRM is
funding the consortium to manage the application process for PSGs and
PSOs and PRM has no operational need to see information like evidence
of completion of required training by PSGs or background information
on the organizational structure of PSOs.
To
support PRM’s operational requirements to facilitate placements
of refugee cases with PSGs, including those supported by specific
PSOs, the consortium will specifically share key biographic
information on points of contact PSGs and PSOs along with consortium
points of contact (if deemed necessary) with PRM, such as the name of
the designated point of contact along with that private sponsor group
member’s address, phone number, e-mail address, and other
relevant contact information. The consortium will electronically
transmit this biographic information on PSGs to PRM’s Refugee
Processing Center (RPC) through secure means to enable PRM to
facilitate the matching of approved refugee applicants with approved
PSGs and to track the placement of refugee applicants with PSGs,
similarly to how PRM facilitates and tracks placement of refugee
applicants supported by PRM’s funded resettlement agency
partners through the R&P Program. This will enable PRM to have a
record of the relevant point of contact for each resettled refugee
case supported by a PSG through the Welcome Corps.
Is this collection able to be completed electronically (e.g. through a website or application)?
PSG applicants will submit application materials, including key biographic information, through the online application portal owned by the NGO consortium (www.apply.welcomecorps.org/s/) that is on the consortium-owned Welcome Corps program site (www.welcomecorps.org). Separately PSO applicants will directly submit application materials, including key biographic information for a PSO point of contact, over email to the NGO consortium to be approved as certified PSOs participating in the Welcome Corps. The NGO consortium will share the necessary biographic information of points of contact of approved PSGs and any relevant PSO point of contacts with RPC by secure means. In turn, the RPC will coordinate the input of information on PSGs and PSOs into START, the State Department’s electronic case management system for USRAP cases. Initially, this process may entail manual exchange of information between the NGO consortium and the RPC through a secure file sharing platform.
Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information?
There is no duplication of collection. This will be the first time
that the Department of State is collecting information on private
sponsors to facilitate the placement of approved refugee applicants
with private sponsors (including PSGs and PSOs).
Describe any impacts on small business.
This information collection will not impact small business.
What are consequences if this collection is not done?
Without this information collection, PRM would not be able to
facilitate the placement and travel of refugees with PSGs (including
PSGs overseen and supported by specific PSOs), and, in turn, would be
unable to establish and implement the private sponsorship program.
Are there any special collection circumstances?
The NGO consortium will collect this information only once when
PSGs and PSOs submit their applications. Updates will be recorded if
there are changes to the data during resettlement processing.
Document publication (or intent to publish) a request for public comments in the Federal Register
The Department is requesting emergency
approval of this information collection. Once approved, it will
initiate a routine PRA approval process by publishing a notice in the
Federal Register soliciting public comments for a period of 60 days.
Are payments or gifts given to the respondents?
There are no payments or gifts to respondents.
Describe assurances of privacy/confidentiality
Respondents will be notified by the NGO consortium overseeing
the application process for PSGs and PSOs that the relevant
information in their applications will be released to State
Department personnel, local government officials (e.g., State Refugee
Coordinators), approved refugee applicants, and resettlement agency
employees on a need-to-know basis. Disclosure of information will be
restricted in accordance with provisions of the cooperative agreement
between the NGO consortium and the State Department. This information
collection is covered under the Systems of Records Notice (SORN)
entitled State-59, Refugee Case Records.
Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked?
No.
Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection
In the first year of the Welcome Corps, the NGO
consortium will aim for at least 2000 PSGs (at least 10,000
individuals since each group must comprise at least five individual
members) to participate. Since this is a new program, the calculation
of hour time burden and hour cost burden is based on the assumption
of meeting the goal of at least 2000 PSGs participating in the
program.
We estimate that it
will take approximately two hours for each PSG to collect the
necessary information to submit a complete application including
providing key biographic details of each PSG member, meaning that
total hour burden is estimated to be 4,000 hours (2000 PSGs x two
hour estimated time for information collection = 4000 hours).
Assuming that one member of
a PSG will lead on the submission of the application, that it will
take that individual two hours to collect the information for
submission, and that individual made a wage of $28.01 per hour1,
the hour cost burden would be $168,060.00. This is based on the
calculation of $28.01 (average hourly wage) x 1.5 (weighted wage
multiplier) times 4000 hours.
In addition, the NGO consortium will aim for at
least 20 PSOs to be mobilized. We
estimate that it will take approximately three hours for a point of
contact at a PSO to collect the necessary information to submit a
complete application including providing key biographic details of
the PSO point of contact, meaning that total hour burden is estimated
to be 60 hours (20 PSOs x three hour estimated time for information
collection = 60 hours).
Assuming
that a dedicated point of contact at a PSO will lead on the
submission of the application, that it will take that individual
three hours to collect the information for submission, and that
individual made a wage of $28.01 per hour1,
the hour cost burden would be $2,520.90. This is based on the
calculation of $28.01 (average hourly wage) x 1.5 (weighted wage
multiplier) times 60 hours.
Describe the monetary burden to respondents (out of pocket costs) needed to complete this collection.
There is no monetary cost for private sponsors to provide their
biographical information as part of the application process for the
private sponsorship pilot program.
Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.
PRM will fund the NGO consortium $5
million in Fiscal Year 2023 to establish the core infrastructure for
the Welcome Corps, including but not limited to the establishment of
an application system for PSGs and PSOs which will include the
collection of private sponsor information. In terms of RPC staff
time, RPC staff estimate devoting 135 minutes to process the
information on a PSG (and PSO if relevant) for each match of an
approved refugee applicant to an approved PSG (including PSGs that
are linked to a specific PSO). The cost to the RPC of this
processing, at a $44.00 hourly rate, is approximately $198,000.00.
That is based on the calculation of $44.00 (hourly rate) times 2.25
hours (135 minutes) times 2000 PSGs. The total estimated cost to the
federal government of this information collection is $5,198,00.00.
Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission
This is a new information collection.
Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published.
The State Department will not publish the data gathered by this
collection.
If
applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not
display the OMB expiration date. Otherwise, write “The
Department will display the OMB expiration date.”
The
Department will display the OMB expiration date for approval of the
information collection.
Explain
any exceptions to the OMB certification statement below. If there
are no exceptions, write “The Department is not seeking
exceptions to the certification statement”.
The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Canfield, Danielle P |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-07-29 |