Submission for OMB Review; ORR-2 Quarterly Report on Expenditures and Obligations (OMB #0970-0407)

AGENCY:

Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION:

Request for public comment.

SUMMARY:

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is requesting a three-year extension of the ORR-2 Quarterly Report on Expenditures and Obligations (OMB #0970-0407, expiration 8/31/2021). There are no changes requested to the form.

DATES:

Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a decision about the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reimburses, to the extent of available appropriations, certain non-federal costs for the provision of cash and medical assistance to refugees, along with allowable expenses for the administration the refugee resettlement program at the State level. States and Replacement Designees currently submit the ORR-2 Quarterly Report on Expenditures and Obligations, which provides aggregate expenditure and obligation data. This data collection collects expenditures and obligations data separately for each of the four CMA program components: Refugee cash assistance, refugee medical assistance, cash and medical assistance administration, and services for unaccompanied minors. This breakdown of financial status data allows ORR to track program expenditures in greater detail to anticipate any funding issues and to meet the requirements of ORR regulations at CFR 400.211 to collect these data for use in estimating future costs of the refugee resettlement program. ORR must implement the methodology at CFR 400.211 each year after receipt of its annual appropriation to ensure that appropriated funds will be adequate for reimbursement to States of the costs for assistance provided to entering refugees. The estimating methodology prescribed in the regulations requires the use of actual past costs by program component. If the methodology indicates that appropriated funds are inadequate, ORR must take steps to reduce federal expenses, such as by limiting the number of months of eligibility for Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee Medical Assistance. This single-page financial report allows ORR to collect the necessary data to ensure that funds are adequate for the projected need and thereby meet the requirements of both the Refugee Act and ORR regulations.

Respondents: State governments and Replacement Designees.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 378.

Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1522 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) (Title IV, Sec. 412 of the Act) for each state agency requesting federal funding for refugee resettlement under 8 U.S.C. 524 (Title IV, Sec. 414 of the Act).