ORR Emergency Justication

May 9, 2018

The Honorable Neomi Rao

Administrator

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Office of Management and Budget

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Administrator Rao:

The Administration for Children (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) requests the use of emergency processing procedures in accordance with 5 CFR Section 1320.13 to expand the scope of an existing information collection under OMB control number 0970-0278, Sponsor Review Procedures for Unaccompanied Alien Children. The information collection will allow ACF to conduct suitability assessments to vet potential sponsors of unaccompanied alien children in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between ORR and the Department of Homeland Security. Specifically, the information collection allows ORR to obtain biometric and biographical information from sponsors, adult members of their household, and adult care givers identified in a sponsor care plan, where applicable. ORR in turn shares the information collected with other federal departments to conduct background checks. ORR intends the instruments used in this submission to be available for use by mid-May 2018.

ACF cannot reasonably comply with the normal clearance procedures because the use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to prevent the collection of needed information in a timely manner. Complying with the normal clearance procedures would delay or disrupt ORR’s ability to expand the background checks in order to more comprehensively evaluate the suitability of potential sponsors of unaccompanied alien children, and to ensure safe and appropriate placement of children. The information collection is essential to the mission of the agency. A Federal Register notice will be published to solicit comments from the public for ways to minimize burden of the collection of information. ACF requests approval of the information collection by May 11, 2018.

Please contact me for any additional information at 202-401-4997, or at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Jallyn Sualog

Acting Deputy Director, Children’s Programs

Office of Refugee Resettlement

Administration for Children and Families | Office of Refugee Resettlement | www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr