Notice2025-04839
Office of Refugee Resettlement; Notice of Change of Eligibility
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 21, 2025
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
In accordance with ORR regulations, the Director of ORR is announcing the shortening of the Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) eligibility period from 12 months to four months of assistance for participants who become eligible for ORR benefits 45 days after publication of this notice. For 30 years, ORR had not increased the RCA and RMA eligibility period. In 2022, during a surge in refugee admissions, ORR increased the eligibility period from eight months to 12 months. ORR has determined that it must shorten the RCA and RMA eligibility period to four months to avoid a significant budget shortfall.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 54 (Friday, March 21, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 54 (Friday, March 21, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13370-13371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04839]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Refugee Resettlement; Notice of Change of Eligibility
AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families (ACF), HHS.
ACTION: Notice of change of eligibility period.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with ORR regulations, the Director of ORR is
announcing the shortening of the Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and
Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) eligibility period from 12 months to
four months of assistance for participants who become eligible for ORR
benefits 45 days after publication of this notice. For 30 years, ORR
had not increased the RCA and RMA eligibility period. In 2022, during a
surge in refugee admissions, ORR increased the eligibility period from
eight months to 12 months. ORR has determined that it must shorten the
RCA and RMA eligibility period to four months to avoid a significant
budget shortfall.
DATES: The changes described in this Federal Register notice are
effective 45 days after the date of publication--exceeding the minimum
permitted by 45 CFR 400.211(b).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colleen Mahar-Piersma, Refugee Policy
Unit, Division of Policy and Procedures, Office of the Director, Office
of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, by
phone at (202) 260-5493, and email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#483a2d2e3d2f2d2d382724212b3108292b2e6620203b662f273e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="deacbbb8abb9bbbbaeb1b2b7bda79ebfbdb8f0b6b6adf0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1980 Refugee Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(e)(1))
authorized the Director of ORR (hereinafter ``the Director'') to
provide RCA and RMA during the first 36 months after a refugee's
arrival in the United States. For the first two years, ORR provided
refugees with RCA and RMA for the first 36 months after a refugee's
arrival. Thereafter, due to reduced appropriations, ORR had to decrease
this assistance, first to 18 months, then to 12 months, and finally, in
FY 1992, to eight months. RCA and RMA remained at eight months until FY
2022. In FY 2022, ORR expanded the RCA and RMA eligibility period to 12
months. However, ORR is unable to sustain this expansion based on
current and projected congressional appropriations and the number of
refugees eligible for RCA and RMA. Accordingly, the time-eligibility
period for RCA and RMA will be changed to four months.
Prior to 1993, ORR would change the text in the Code of Federal
Regulations each time it changed the number of months for cash and
medical assistance. In 1993, ORR drafted regulations removing the
specific duration of RCA and RMA from the regulatory text and instead
added 45 CFR 400.211(a) establishing a methodology by which the
Director to determines the time-eligibility period for RCA and RMA each
year based on the appropriated funds available for the fiscal year. 58
FR 64499 (Dec. 8, 1993). The preamble explained that the methodology in
the regulation was the substantive rule regarding how to determine RCA
and RMA duration but future determinations of the actual months using
the methodology would be interpretive rules. Id.
In recent years, annual refugee admissions have been high,
resulting in an expanding pool of refugees and other eligible
populations in need of services. As of March 3, 2025, approximately
109,800 refugees and other eligible populations have been resettled in
the U.S. since October 1, 2024. In addition, approximately 714,000 ORR-
eligible individuals were admitted to the U.S. in FY 2024. The open
border policies of the Biden Administration have caused
[[Page 13371]]
budgetary shortfalls, requiring supplemental appropriations or
transfers from other essential programs each year since FY2022. In
fiscal year 2024, Congress decreased appropriations for Refugee and
Entrant Assistance by more than 35% The level of funds appropriated for
services has not kept pace with arrivals over the past two years,
making it difficult to serve all refugees in need of services with
available resources. Pursuant to 45 CFR 400.211, ORR calculated the
costs of providing RCA and RMA to current recipients and the estimated
number of future recipients at 12, nine, eight, six, and four months,
and determined that it must shorten the period of eligibility for RCA
and RMA to four months.
ORR acknowledges the reasoning articulated in its March 28, 2022,
notice expanding the eligibility period for RCA and RMA. 87 FR 17312.
Namely, that a longer eligibility period would ``positively impact
refugees'' by allowing them to address medical and mental health
conditions in order to become self-sufficient and allowing them to
focus on learning English and secure employment. Id. at 17312-13. But
such reasoning is not a basis to stay with the 12-month eligibility
period, due to both legal considerations and practical considerations.
First, the determination of the eligibility period is, by ORR's own
regulation, supposed to be straightforwardly derived from the available
appropriations. 45 CFR 400.211(a); see also 58 FR at 64502. Second, as
a practical reality, the beneficial effects referenced in the 2022
notice must be weighed against resource constraints. As explained
above, budget shortfalls require an adjustment of the eligibility
period in order to ensure adequate coverage of the entire population of
ORR-eligible individuals. Furthermore, the effective date of this
notice has been set to account for reliance interests, in that the new
eligibility period will only come into effect for those individuals who
become eligible in the future.
Refugees whose date of eligibility for ORR benefits is on or after
45 days following publication of this notice are subject to the
shortened RCA and RMA eligibility period.
(Authority: 45 CFR 400.211)
Angie Salazar,
Acting Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement.
[FR Doc. 2025-04839 Filed 3-20-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-45-P
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