Notice2023-22028
Announcement of Intent To Award an Unsolicited Cooperative Agreement to Church World Services (CWS) Headquartered in New York, NY
Primary source
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Published
October 4, 2023
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
ACF, ORR, Refugee Program announces the intent to award an unsolicited cooperative agreement in the amount of up to $1,984,144 to Church World Services (CWS) in New York, NY. The purpose of this award is to provide enhanced refugee housing solutions for Afghan and Ukrainian humanitarian parolees and other ORR-eligible populations. This proposal seeks to create a local resources directory for housing, increase access to housing resources for vulnerable refugee and humanitarian parolee populations, expand innovative and replicable solutions through capacity building and key partnerships, address challenges to identifying and securing safe, affordable housing options, and provide a bank of housing resources for both refugees and community sponsors.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 68623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22028]
[[Page 68623]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[Assistance Listing Number: 93.576]
Announcement of Intent To Award an Unsolicited Cooperative
Agreement to Church World Services (CWS) Headquartered in New York, NY
AGENCY: Refugee Program, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR),
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of Issuance of an Unsolicited Award.
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SUMMARY: ACF, ORR, Refugee Program announces the intent to award an
unsolicited cooperative agreement in the amount of up to $1,984,144 to
Church World Services (CWS) in New York, NY. The purpose of this award
is to provide enhanced refugee housing solutions for Afghan and
Ukrainian humanitarian parolees and other ORR-eligible populations.
This proposal seeks to create a local resources directory for housing,
increase access to housing resources for vulnerable refugee and
humanitarian parolee populations, expand innovative and replicable
solutions through capacity building and key partnerships, address
challenges to identifying and securing safe, affordable housing
options, and provide a bank of housing resources for both refugees and
community sponsors.
DATES: The proposed period of performance is September 30, 2023, to
September 29, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yimeem Vu, Program Specialist,
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee
Resettlement, Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC
20201. Telephone: 202-401-4825; Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c39aaaaea6a6aeed95b683a2a0a5edababb0eda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0a5363676f6f67245c7f4a6b696c24626279246d657c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 30, 2023, Church World Services
(CWS), on behalf of its Refugee Housing Solutions (RHS) initiative,
submitted an unsolicited proposal to ORR for ``Enhancing Refugee
Housing Solutions.'' One area of focus is directed towards eligible
Ukrainian and Afghan Humanitarian Parolees and the other to all ORR-
eligible populations. The first focus aims at addressing challenges in
securing affordable, long-term housing for Afghan and Ukrainians
through the following three means: (1) creating a `Housing Hub' with a
local resources directory and information specific to housing solutions
for these populations (and translated into relevant languages); (2)
increasing access to housing resources for both eligible humanitarian
parolees and their sponsors; and (3) expanding innovation efforts
through capacity building and key partnerships. The second area of
focus aims to address challenges in securing affordable housing for all
ORR-eligible populations and identify more housing options for
resettlement stakeholders to utilize. This proposal seeks to achieve
this by advancing innovative housing initiatives (through consultation
and guidance) in collaboration with new and existing partners from
nontraditional resettlement backgrounds.
RHS is currently funded by the Department of State's Bureau of
Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to provide Reception and
Placement housing education and training, targeted assistance, piloting
of three housing initiatives, expanding housing access, and reimagining
refugee housing. Unlike the proposals submitted to ORR, the work done
by RHS through PRM funding does not include services specifically for
Ukrainian and Afghan humanitarian parolees, in addition to other ORR-
populations outside of refugees. In addition, some of the concurrent
work of the PRM contract will bolster the initiatives proposed to ORR,
including consulting on additional innovative housing pilot programs
and collection of localized resources for a housing `hub' and
directory. Further, RHS receives a subaward from ORR for housing
education, training, and technical assistance through the grant to the
International Rescue Committee's Switchboard. The activities of that
subaward do not overlap with the suggested activities of these
unsolicited proposals but could add to the bank of resources provided
to newcomers and their sponsors as outlined in the first proposal. RHS
is stating that their capacity to achieve the proposed activities is
not possible with current levels of funding from PRM and the technical
assistance subaward from ORR.
ORR intends to award CWS with one cooperative agreement for the
project ``Enhancing Refugee Housing Solutions.'' After both internal
and external reviews, ORR concluded with the intent to award this
unsolicited proposal based on a desire to address stakeholder concerns
regarding housing access and affordability and considering that the
capacity of CWS would need to be expanded through additional funding to
address these challenges. Various stakeholders across the nation,
including grant recipient organizations, State Refugee Coordinators,
local community and ethnic community-based organizations, and
beneficiaries have raised concerns over the last year of housing
affordability and housing stock availability for the long-term
placement of resettled refugees and newcomers, particularly those with
large families, and often cite housing as the number one challenge
facing resettlement. Further, ORR participates with RHS through various
public/private housing working groups. Through these conversations and
presentations, it is apparent that RHS is unique in its mission to
provide refugee housing technical assistance, identity solutions
specific to refugee housing, and represent RHS partners, including all
10 national resettlement agencies, in housing concerns. However, RHS is
not currently funded at a capacity that allows them to expand
capabilities and advance innovative and replicable housing solutions to
meet the needs of all ORR-eligible populations.
Statutory Authority: Immigration and Nationality Act section
412(c)(1)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1522(c)(1)(A).
Elizabeth Leo,
Senior Grants Policy Specialist, Office of Grants Policy, Office of
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-22028 Filed 9-29-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4184-89-P
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