NonSub Change - Form S-5, S-8, S-16

To: Kelsi Feltz

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Shannon Herboldsheimer

Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: September 25, 2023

Subject: Non-Substantive Change Request – Services Provided to Unaccompanied Children (OMB #0970-0553)

This memo requests approval of a non-substantive change to the approved information collection, Services Provided to Unaccompanied Children (OMB #0970-0553).

Background

The Services Provided to Unaccompanied Children information collection contains 22 instruments that allow ORR to collect information necessary to provide services to unaccompanied children as required by the Homeland Security Act (6 U.S.C. 279), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232), and the Flores Settlement Agreement (No. CV85-4544-RJK (C.D. Cal. 1996)). The collection was last approved by OMB on April 21, 2022 and expires on April 30, 2025.

ORR consistently works to improve data collection activities and update approved collections to improve usability, reduce burden, improve data quality, among other purposes. Recently ORR performed an analysis of languages used by unaccompanied children. This work along with other review of the forms approved under this information collection has led to some minor updates. Updates intend to 1) improve usability of the forms, 2) align data requested with recent policy and procedure updates, 3) reduce burden while improving data quality, and 4) ensure the collection is up to date to only include forms that are in use.

ORR is proposing changes to three instruments under this collection:

• Sponsor Care Agreement (Form S-5)

• Initial Intakes Assessment (Form S-8)

• 30-Day Restrictive Placement Case Review (Form S-16)

OVERVIEW OF REQUESTED CHANGES

Sponsor Care Agreement (Form S-5)

Currently, there are two approved versions of the form, one for the UC Portal system and one for the UC Path system. ORR is proposing to remove the UC Path version from the information collection and to make the following revisions to the UC Portal version:

• Sponsor Demographic Information Tab –

  • Remove the Legal Status section. The requirement to collect documentation of the sponsor’s legal status was removed from ORR policy and procedures, as well as the Family Reunification Application (Form FRP-3, approved under OMB# 0970-0278). Therefore, there is no longer a need to have a section in this form that records receipt of documentation and verification of legal status.

  • Rephrase instruction in the Additional Information section as follows to remove reference to “legal status” – Document any additional information relevant to the sponsor's identity and linguistic and cultural background.

  • Move the Phone & Email section from the Contact Information tab into this tab.

• Contact Information Tab –

  • Add Search for an Address field. ORR linked the UC Portal system to an address database. This field does not request any information from users, but instead allows users to search for and select an address from the database, which will then auto-populate the address fields. Users are still able to manually enter/update the address as needed. This feature helps standardize addresses to support address verification, address search capabilities (e.g., searching for an address to see if it was previously used by another sponsor), and ORR analytic capabilities.

  • Split Address field into two fields – Address Line 1 and Address Line 2.

Initial Intakes Assessment (Form S-8)

Currently, there are two approved versions of the form, one for the UC Portal system and one for the UC Path system. ORR is proposing the following revisions to the UC Portal version:

• Portal ID – Add as a new field. This field does not request any information from users, but instead is an identification number generated by the UC Portal system for each child.

• Language Items:

• Primary Language – Rephrase from Child’s Primary Language and convert from an open text box to a dropdown field.

• Intake conducted in: – Rephrase from Intake conducted in what language and convert from an open text box to a dropdown field.

• Other Languages Spoken – Add as a new multiselect dropdown field. This field is already approved in the UC Path version of the form.

• Language – Convert from an open text box to a dropdown field.

ORR performed an analysis of languages used by unaccompanied children and included the 118 most common as options in the dropdown list. For convenience, the dropdown lists the top five languages first; followed by options for non-verbal, sign language, and unknown dialect; followed by the remaining 113 languages. Standardizing language fields will allow ORR to easily analyze languages used by unaccompanied children and further support ongoing efforts by ORR to improve language accessibility for children in its care.

• Child’s Eye Color – Rephrase from Eye Color. Move data entry for this field from the Verification of Release (Form R-1) to this form.

The Verification of Release (Form R-1, approved under OMB# 0970-0552) contains a field called Eye Color. Prior to the last revision, all fields in Form R-1 were auto-populated. To ease user burden, ORR plans to convert Form R-1 back into an 100% auto-populated form. To accomplish this, ORR proposes moving data entry for the Eye Color field from Form R-1 to Form S-8. In addition, ORR converted the field to a dropdown with following options taken from a standardized listed used by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators: brown, black, hazel, blue, green, gray, pink, maroon, dichromatic, and N/A.

30-Day Restrictive Placement Case Review (Form S-16)

ORR proposes removing this form from the information collection. ORR recently revised its Notice of Placement in a Restrictive Setting (Form P-4, approved under OMB# 0970-0554) and those revisions included merging fields from Form S-16 into Form P-4. With those revisions, Form S-16 became redundant and ORR discontinued its use.

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