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SUMMARY: This final notice announces the availability of funds and award procedures for FY 2009 Targeted Assistance Program (TAP) formula grants to States for services to refugees. These grants are for service provision in localities where large refugee populations and high refugee concentrations result in specific needs for supplementation of currently available resources. Qualification of counties and targeted assistance areas for eligibility for TAP grants is determined once every three years, as stated in the FY 1999 Notice of Proposed Availability of Targeted Assistance Allocations to States, which was published in the Federal Register on March 10, 1999, 64 Fed. Reg. 11927. The current three-year project cycle began in FY 2008, when counties were qualified for the project cycle that includes FYs 2008, 2009, and 2010. The FY 2008 qualification of counties was based on the arrivals of refugees during the five-year period from FY 2003 - FY 2007 (October 1, 2002 - September 30, 2007) and on the concentration of the arrivals population as a percentage of the general county population. Under the FY 2008 qualification announcement, a total of 57 counties located in 30 States qualified for targeted assistance grants. The FY 2009 TAP populations, allocations by county, allocations by State, and targeted assistance areas can be found in Tables 1 and 2 at the end of this notice. Eligible Populations Eligible populations for refugee services include refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, certain Amerasians from Viet Nam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants, certain Amerasians from Viet Nam who are U.S. citizens, victims of a severe form of trafficking who receive certification eligibility letters from ORR and certain other specified family members, and Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants. See 45 C.F.R. 400.43 and ORR State Letter #00-17 (September 14, 2000) on eligibility for ORR programs. Also see ORR State Letter #01-13 ((May 3, 2001) on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as modified by ORR State Letter # 02-01 (January 4, 2002) and ORR State Letter # 04-12 (June 18, 2004). Finally, ORR State Letters #08-04 (January 18, 2008) #08-06 (February 7, 2008) and #09-17 (April 9, 2009) provide information on Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant eligibility. ORR State Letters may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/policy/orr_policy.htm. ORR regulations may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/policy/orr_regulations.htm. The term “refugee,” used in this notice for convenience, is intended to encompass such additional persons who are eligible to participate in refugee program services. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces the final allocations of FY 2009 funds for targeted assistance grants for services to refugees in counties and targeted assistance areas where, because of factors such as unusually large refugee populations and high refugee concentrations, there exists a specific need for supplementation of resources for services to this population. Targeted assistance areas include both metropolitan areas and areas formed by contiguous counties with high refugee populations and high concentrations of refugees. Eligible applicants for these grants comprise States, Wilson/Fish projects, and State Replacement Agencies. The word “State” is used for convenience in this notice to encompass all eligible applicants. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has available $48,590,000 in FY 2009 funds for the targeted assistance program under the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-8). The Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) proposes to use the $48,590,000 in targeted assistance funds as follows:
The purpose of targeted assistance formula grants is to provide, through a process of local planning and implementation, direct services intended to result in the economic self‑sufficiency and reduced welfare dependency of refugees through job placements. Section 412(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides that targeted assistance grants shall be made available "(i) primarily for the purpose of facilitating refugee employment and achievement of self-sufficiency, (ii) in a manner that does not supplant other refugee program funds and that assures that not less than 95 percent of the amount of the grant award be made available to the county or other local entity." The targeted assistance program is funded under the authority of section 412(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1522(c)(2). (The INA may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/policy/legislative.htm.) III. Client and Service Priorities Targeted assistance funding must be used to assist refugee families to achieve economic independence. To this end, States and counties are required to ensure that a coherent family self-sufficiency plan (FSSP)/individual employability plan (IEP) is developed for each eligible family/individual that addresses the family's/individual’s needs from time of arrival until attainment of economic independence. (See 45 C.F.R. 400.79 and 400.156(g.)) Each family self-sufficiency plan/individual employability plan should address a family's/individual’s needs for both employment-related services and other needed social services. The plan must include: (1) a determination of the income level a family/individual would have to earn to exceed its cash grant and move into self-support without suffering a monetary penalty; (2) a strategy and timetable for obtaining that level of family income through the placement in employment of sufficient numbers of employable family members at sufficient wage levels; (3) individual employability plans for every employable member of the family; and (4) a plan to address the family's social services needs that may be barriers to self-sufficiency. In local jurisdictions that have targeted assistance and refugee social services programs, one family self-sufficiency plan may be developed for a family that incorporates both targeted assistance and refugee social services. Services funded through TAP are required to focus primarily on those refugees who, either because of their protracted use of public assistance or because of difficulty in securing employment, continue to need services beyond the initial years of resettlement. States may not, however, provide services funded under this notice, except for referral and interpreter services, to refugees who have been in the United States for more than 60 months (five years). In accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.314, States are required to provide targeted assistance services to refugees in the following order of priority, except in certain individual extreme circumstances: (a) refugees who are cash assistance recipients, particularly long-term recipients; (b) unemployed refugees who are not receiving cash assistance; and (c) employed refugees in need of services to retain employment or to attain economic independence. In addition to the statutory requirement that TAP funds be used "primarily for the purpose of facilitating refugee employment" (INA § 412(c)(2)(B)(i)), funds awarded under this program are intended to fulfill the Congressional intent that "employable refugees should be placed on jobs as soon as possible after their arrival in the United States" (INA § 412(a)(1)(B)(i)). Therefore, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.313, targeted assistance funds must be used primarily for employability services designed to enable refugees to obtain jobs with less than one year's participation in TAP in order to achieve economic self-sufficiency as soon as possible. Targeted assistance services may continue to be provided after a refugee has entered a job to help the refugee retain employment or move to a better job. Targeted assistance funds may not be used for long-term training programs such as vocational training that last for more than a year or educational programs that are not intended to lead to employment within a year. Reflecting section 412(a)(1)(A)(iv) of the INA, States must “ensure that women have the same opportunities as men to participate in training and instruction.” Additionally, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.317, services must be provided to the maximum extent feasible in a manner that includes the use of bilingual/bicultural women on service agency staff to ensure adequate service access by refugee women. ORR also strongly encourages the inclusion of refugee women in management and board positions in agencies that serve refugees. In order to facilitate refugee self-support, ORR also expects States to implement strategies that address simultaneously the employment potential of both male and female wage earners in a family unit. States and counties are expected to make every effort to obtain day care services, preferably subsidized day care, for children in order to allow women with children the opportunity to participate in employment services or to accept or retain employment. Day care may therefore be treated as an employment-related service under this program. Refugees who are participating in targeted assistance-funded or social services-funded employment services or who have accepted employment are eligible for day care services for children. States and counties are expected to use day care funding from other publicly administered programs, such as day care services funded under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or under the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as a primary resource. States and counties are encouraged to work with service providers to ensure mainstream access for refugees to other publicly funded resources for day care. For an employed refugee, targeted assistance-funded day care should be limited to situations in which no other publicly funded day care is available. In these cases, day care services funded by a targeted assistance grant should be limited to one year after the refugee becomes employed. In accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.317, targeted assistance services must be provided in a manner that is culturally and linguistically compatible with a refugee’s language and cultural background, to the maximum extent feasible. In light of the increasingly diverse population of refugees who are resettling in this country, refugee service agencies must develop practical ways of providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to a changing ethnic population. Services funded under this notice must be refugee specific, designed specifically to meet refugee needs, and be in keeping with the rules and objectives of the refugee program. Short-term vocational or job-skills training, on-the-job training (OJT), or English language training (ELT), however, need not be refugee specific. ORR strongly encourages States and counties, when contracting for targeted assistance services, including employment services, to give consideration to the special strengths of mutual assistance associations (MAAs), whenever contract bidders are otherwise equally qualified, provided that the MAA has the capability to deliver services in a manner that is culturally and linguistically compatible with the background of the target population to be served. ORR also strongly encourages MAAs to ensure that their management and board composition reflect the major target populations to be served. ORR defines MAAs as organizations with the following qualifications: (a) the organization is legally incorporated as a nonprofit organization; and (b) not less than 51 percent of the composition of the Board of Directors or governing board of the MAA is comprised of refugees or former refugees, including both refugee men and women. Finally, in order to provide culturally and linguistically compatible services in as cost-efficient a manner as possible in a time of limited resources, ORR strongly encourages States and counties to promote and give special consideration to the provision of services through coalitions of refugee service organizations, such as coalitions of MAAs, voluntary resettlement agencies, or a variety of service providers. ORR believes it is essential for refugee-serving organizations to form close partnerships in the provision of services to refugees in order to be able to respond adequately to a changing refugee environment. States and counties are encouraged to consider entities that are public or private non-profit, including faith-based, refugee-based, or community-based, in allocating TAP funds. Additionally, coalition-building and consolidation of providers is particularly important in communities with multiple service providers in order to ensure better coordination of services and maximum effectiveness in the use of funding for services by minimizing the funds used for multiple administrative overhead costs. The award of funds to States under this final notice will be contingent upon the completeness of a State’s assurances, as described in Section VII of this notice. Eligible grantees are: (1) agencies of State governments and State Replacement Agencies that are responsible for the refugee program under 45 C.F.R. 400.5 in States containing counties that qualify for FY 2009 targeted assistance awards; and (2) agencies funded under the Wilson-Fish program (See INA § 412(c)(7)) that administer a statewide refugee assistance program containing counties which qualify for FY 2009 targeted assistance awards. The State will submit a single set of assurances to ORR on behalf of all county governments of the qualified counties in that State. Subsequent to the approval of the State’s submission by ORR, local targeted assistance plans will be developed by the county government or other designated entity and submitted to the State for review. The use of targeted assistance funds for services to Cuban and Haitian entrants is limited to States that have an approved State plan under the Cuban/Haitian Entrant Program (CHEP). A State with more than one qualified county is permitted, but not required, to determine the allocation amount for each qualified county within the State. States that chose to allocate the FY 2008 targeted assistance funds in a manner different from the allocations set forth in the final FY 2008 notice, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.319, must provide assurance to ORR in the FY 2009 application that the same methodology will be used to allocate funds in FY 2009. If a State chooses to allocate the FY 2009 allocations differently from the FY 2008 application, the State must include the allocations and methodology in the FY 2009 submission for review and approval. The allocations proposed by the State must be based on the State’s population of refugees who arrived in the United States during the most recent five-year period. A State may use welfare data as an additional factor in the allocation of its targeted assistance funds if it so chooses; however, a State may not assign a greater weight to welfare data than it has assigned to population data in its allocation formula. V. Qualifying Counties and Allocation Formula For FY 2009, ORR continued to use the formula that bases allocation of targeted assistance funds on the most recent five-year (FY 2004 - FY 2008) refugee arrivals data. This final notice of allocations includes the 57 counties that qualified for TAP funds in FY 2008. A. Qualifying Counties Counties are qualified for eligibility for targeted assistance once every three years. Since ORR determined the qualification of counties for targeted assistance in FY 2008, those qualifying counties that were eligible in FY 2008 are listed in this TAP final notice as qualified for FY 2009 TAP funding. These counties will remain qualified through the end of FY 2010. ORR does not plan to consider the qualification of additional counties for TAP funding until FY 2011, when ORR will again review data on all counties that could potentially qualify for TAP funds. Redetermining county qualification for targeted assistance grants more frequently than every three years would not provide qualifying counties a sufficient period of time within a stable funding climate to address adequately the refugee impact in their counties. A less frequent re-determination of county qualification would pose the risk of not considering new population impacts in a timely manner. B. Allocation Formula Of the funds available for FY 2009 for targeted assistance, $43,731,000 has been allocated by formula to States for qualified counties based on resettlement in these counties during the five-year period from FY 2004 - FY 2008 (October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2008) of refugees, Amerasians, asylees, Iraqi and Afghan SIVs entrants, and Havana parolees. These data are available in the ORR Refugee Arrivals Data System (RADS). Although victims of a severe form of trafficking are eligible for TAP benefits, ORR’s database does not currently have county-level information on them, so they are not considered in the TAP allocations formula. The request for voluntary data submission for FY 2009 on the number of asylees and entrants to be used for the TAP allocations was sent to States via email on November 20, 2008, with data uploads possible from January 12 to January 30, 2009. States were requested to follow the standardized EXCEL format provided by ORR to submit the data on asylees and entrants served during the five-year period from FY 2004 - 2008 (October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2008). Data for each population group were to be submitted separately on an EXCEL spreadsheet, via a secure (password-protected) data submission website developed by ORR. Data submitted via the website were verified by ORR against the ORR Refugee Arrivals Data System (RADS); and States were credited for verified arrivals in the allocation of funds through the formula described in this notice. (Data from the ORR-11 Secondary Migration reporting form, which were also uploaded to the data submission website, were not considered in the TAP allocation formula, since these data are at the State-level only and not at the county-level.) For the FY 2009 TAP allocation, many States responded to ORR's voluntary process for data submission on the number of asylees and entrants. Documentation files submitted by States included fields for State, county, name, alien number, individual immigration status, date of birth, and date of arrival in the United States (as well as certain other fields) for each of the eligible individuals claimed for TAP funding. Twenty-eight States submitted 115,074 asylee records through the data submission website, of which 36,609 were verified against the RADS database. ORR matched State records against data received from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Customs and Border Patrol, the Port of Miami, and an extract of the Department of Homeland Security’s Central Index database. The primary reasons for the unmatched (unverified) submissions that have not been included in the determination of allocations were that (1) the asylum claim was granted outside the five-year eligibility period, (2) the A-Number did not appear in the ORR database, (3) the name submitted did not match the A-Number and name in the ORR database, or (4) the alien’s status was ineligible for TAP benefits. Table 1 lists the 30 States, the 57 qualifying counties, the number of arrivals in those counties during the five-year period from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2008, and the allocations. Table 2 lists the final TAP allocations by State for FY 2009. VII. Submission of Assurances and Implementation Process Under the FY 2009 targeted assistance program, States may request continuation of , and receive, grant awards on behalf of qualified counties in the State. A single allocation will be made to each State by ORR following approval of a State’s submission of assurances concerning implementation of the program. The State will, in turn, receive, review, and determine the acceptability of individual county targeted assistance plans. Pursuant to 45 C.F.R. 400.210(b), FY 2009 targeted assistance funds must be obligated by the State no later than one year after the end of the federal fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. Funds must be liquidated within two years after the end of the federal fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. A State’s final Financial Status Report on targeted assistance expenditures must be received no later than 90 days after the end of the two-year expenditure period. If final reports are not received on time, any unexpended funds, including any unliquidated obligations, will be de-obligated on the basis of the State’s last filed report. A. Assurances Requirements The deadline for submission of assurances is August 7, 2009. For FY 2009, States must submit assurances that:
VIII. Results or Benefits Expected All applicants must establish proposed targeted assistance performance goals for each of the five ORR performance outcome measures for each qualified county's proposed service contract(s) or sub-grants for the next contracting cycle. The five ORR performance measures are: (1) entered employments, (2) average wage at placement, (3) job placements with available health benefits, (4) 90-day employment retentions, and (5) cash assistance terminations due to employment. Targeted assistance program activity and progress achieved toward meeting performance outcome goals are to be reported on a trimester basis on the ORR-6 Performance Report. Final targeted assistance outcome goals are due on November 15, 2009, in conjunction with the ORR Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) cycle. States are required to submit (1) program Performance Reports on a trimester basis on the outcomes of TAP and (2) Standard Form (SF) 269 Financial Status Reports on expenditures and obligations on a quarterly basis. Program Performance Reports are submitted using Schedule A and Schedule C of the ORR-6 Performance Report (OMB Clearance Number 0970-0036, expiration date 08/30/2010, 10 estimated burden hours per response), which may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/policy/report_forms_instructions.htm. Program Performance Reports are submitted to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The SF-269 Financial Status Report form may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/grants_resources.html. The Financial Status Report should be submitted both to ACF’s Office of Grants Management and to ORR. States also have the option of submitting Financial Status Reports though ACF’s on-line data collection (OLDC) system. Contact Sarah Donnelly at 202-401-5646 or Sarah.Donnelly@acf.hhs.gov for more information on submitting Financial Status Reports electronically. This notice includes application requirements that are currently under review at OMB, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, P.L. 104-13. The public reporting burden for the information collection is estimated to average two hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Henley Portner, Division of Budget, Policy and Data Analysis (DBPDA), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, (202) 401-5363, Henley.Portner@acf.hhs.gov.
Footnotes to Table 1 1/ Includes Amerasian immigrants from Viet Nam
Posted on July 28, 2009 |
