Recommendations for Executive Action

1. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: ORR took steps to consider including SIV holders in its Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), but ultimately determined that this was not feasible due to cost and survey validity issues. In 2018, ORR contracted for a technical study looking at options to improve the ASR, including exploring costs and technical issues associated with increasing the sample size and adding questions to allow for ORR to include other humanitarian migrants, such as SIV holders. The study, which was completed in May 2018, estimated doing such would increase the cost of the ASR by over a third and double the time needed to administer the survey. The study also noted that costs would be higher and other technical issues could arise if survey conditions- such as demographic characteristics, propensities to participate, and availability of contact information-were dissimilar between the newly-added populations and refugees. ORR determined that a number of factors distinguish SIV holders from refugee populations, including their prior education experiences, English-language proficiency, and pre-arrival experiences. ORR concluded that, in addition to prohibitive cost issues, the inclusion of SIV holders could potentially introduce bias to the overall survey results and undermine the scientific rigor of the ASR. Instead of including SIV holders in its ASR, ORR plans to expand its program administrative data to better understand self-sufficiency and integration outcomes for SIV holders and other ORR-eligible populations. Specifically, for all ORR-eligible populations who receive employment related services funded by ORR's Refugee Support Services, ORR will require administering agencies to collect additional client-level information, such as on initial assessments, referrals for services, and follow-up assessments, for all individuals within the family during the first year of arrival to the United States. ORR published a notice of these new data collection requirements in the Federal Register in July 2020 and plans to commence data collection after approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

   Recommendation: The Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) should consider including SIV holders in its Annual Survey of Refugees. (Recommendation 1)

   Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families: Office of Refugee Resettlement

2. Status: Closed - Implemented

   Comments: In order to improve information accuracy and access for prospective and current SIV holders overseas and in the United States, PRM has taken several actions. It has enhanced its online resources and introduced new mobile resources through its U.S. Cultural Orientation Technical Assistance Provider, CORE. CORE's online cultural orientation website (www.corenav.org) highlights information on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program on a number of cultural orientation topics and conveys information through different formats and different languages in order to reach people of varying levels of literacy. According to PRM officials, in 2018, CORE added new content to this website on various topics, including employment, money management, health, and education; and completed Dari translations of the website's content. Also, in March 2018, CORE launched an accompanying mobile app, Settle In, in which prospective or current SIV holders can learn about various pre- and post-arrival cultural orientation topics and access information through short videos or interactive lessons. Further, to increase awareness of available informational resources, starting in January 2018, PRM's Refugee Processing Center has included links to CORE's website in every e-mail communication with SIV holders. In February 2019, PRM also added a link to the www.corenav.org website in its other informational documents for SIVs, such as FAQs, including the translated versions of these documents. PRM officials also confirmed with Consular Affairs that the Welcome to the United States guidebooks are being distributed to prospective SIV holders in Embassies Kabul and Baghdad.

   Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) should identify and implement additional ways to deliver information to prospective SIV holders about resettlement to assist with adjustment and expectations after arrival in the United States, including providing more detailed or in-depth information on key issues. PRM, working with Consular Affairs as needed, should also identify and address potential gaps in disseminating relevant information to SIV holders, such as at embassies. (Recommendation 2)

   Agency Affected: Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration

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