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HHS cancels funding for recreational activities in unaccompanied minor shelters

  1. Original Date Announced

    May 30, 2019

    Initially reported in media, HHS, via an email to unaccompanied minor shelters, notified them that that the government will not pay for education or recreational activities retroactive to May 22, including related personnel costs, characterizing those costs as “unallowable.” A HHS official later told the Washington Post that the ORR would be discontinuing funding for activities “not directly necessary for the protection of life and safety, including education services, legal services, and recreation." [ID #81]

    HHS Email to Child Migrant Shelters Trump administration cancels English classes, soccer, legal aid for unaccompanied child migrants in U.S. shelters
  2. Effective Date

    May 22, 2019
  3.  
  4. Biden Administration Action: Revoked/Replaced

    April 30, 2024

    2024.04.30 Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule (45 C.F.R. Part 410)

    This Biden administration policy revokes the Trump-era policy identified in this entry.

    On April 30, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families, enacts a final rule regulating key aspects of the placement, care, and services provided to unaccompanied children in custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The final rule implements the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement.

    Subpart D of final rule, relating to Minimum Standards and Required Services, mandates that ORR care facilities, both standard and secure, provided unaccompanied children with educational services, recreational activities, and in certain circumstances, legal services.

    View Document

Current Status

Not in effect

Most Recent Action

April 30, 2024 Action: Revoked/Replaced 2024.04.30 Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule (45 C.F.R. Part 410)
April 30, 2024
Acted on by Biden Administration

Original Trump Policy Status

Status: Final/Actual
Trump Administration Action: Change in Practice
Subject Matter: Minors Detention
Agencies Affected: ORR ICE

Pre Trump-Era Policies

  • September 16, 1996

    The Flores Agreement sets out a nationwide policy for the detention, release, and treatment of minors in the custody of the DHS and HHS. Minors must be placed in the least restrictive setting appropriate to the minor's age and special needs, provided that such setting is consistent with its interests to ensure the minor's timely appearance for immigration interviews and the immigration courts and to protect the minor's well-being and that of others.

    Flores Settlement Agreement

Commentary

  • Migrant Children May Lose School, Sports and Legal Aid as Shelters Swell

    Go to article

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