Post Release Services/Home Studies
How often should a family receive contact with a PRS worker while receiving Post Release Services?
At least bi-weekly
Post Release Services will close after this many days of no contact.
What are 30?
Weekly case closures should be submitted by the Supervisor to their PSS by when?
The last business day of the week.
Following the minor’s date of discharge, this must be completed within 14 calendar days.
Initial Home Visit
The HS/PRS workers should notify their Supervisor immediately of any emergency incidents and within this timeframe for significant incidents.
24 hours
The PRS worker must complete this contact with the sponsor AND minor within one business day of PRS case acceptance.
24 hour call
The PRS worker should initiate the 30 day Loss of Contact procedure in these 2 circumstances:
1.) The PRS worker attempted to contact the sponsor and the child, and they have not responded or 2.) The child ran away from home.
The PRS worker should consult with this person prior to case closure to determine whether an extension is appropriate.
Regional or Clinical Supervisor.
The PRS worker must document all contacts and attempted contacts in individual case notes within this many days.
Two days
For emergency incidents for PRS cases, the HS/PRS Program Manager is required to add updates for addendums within what timeframe?
1 week from the submission of the original NOC
This type of home study may be required if a minor will be aging out within one month of the referral date.
What is an Expedited Home Study?
No Closing Assessment is required under these two circumstances:
1.) PRS Services were never initiated with the family (the sponsor and minor declined services before PRS was initiated, or the PRS worker was never able to establish contact with the family) and 2.) The PRS case is closing due to 30 days of Loss of Contact
A TVPRA case will receive PRS unless one of these three things occurs:
1.) the worker determines the child/family is stable and PRS is no longer needed
2.) the child’s immigration proceedings are terminated, and
3.) the child turns 18 years old (whichever comes first)
The PRS worker has this many days to complete the Reason for Referral in Apricot.
14 Calendar Days
Name 5 of the 11 significant incidents that would warrant an NOC.
Criminal activity
Child ran away from sponsor/caregiver/s home
Child abuse or neglect by sponsor/caregiver or other individual
Unable to contact sponsor/child or loss of contact with safety concerns
Significant substance abuse concerns
Placement disruption with safety concerns
Serious medical attention/hospitalization
Child had a significant behavior incident with safety concerns
Child/sponsor were victims of potential fraud
Child was a victim of a crime
Sponsor declined services with safety concerns
Name 5 of the PRS required service areas.
Placement Stability and Safety
Immigration Proceedings
Guardianship
Legal Services
Medical
Individual Mental Health
Education
Family Stabilization and Counseling Services
Substance Abuse
Gang Prevention
Child Trafficking and Other Services
These efforts must be made following efforts to reestablish contact with the sponsor and child during the 30 days following a Loss of Contact. (Name at least 3)
Call or text the sponsor and/or child at least twice a week during the first two weeks, and at least once a week thereafter.
After at least three phone call attempts and within the first two weeks of no returned phone calls or contact, the PRS worker should send a sealed letter to the sponsor and child with the PRS worker’s contact information, asking that they make contact as soon as possible. The letter should include the date and time that the PRS worker will be attempting a home visit (this is required for new cases), and provide the date that their case will be closed if they do not make contact with the PRS worker. Note that sending a letter may not apply for runaway cases.
The PRS worker should attempt at least one collateral contact. This may include contacting the ORR facility, family members in home country, alternate caregiver or other contacts listed in the referral documents, or the child’s school or other community service providers involved with the child (if a consent to release information was previously signed).
For new cases where there is no contact, an unannounced home visit should be completed within the 14-day timeframe. To the extent possible, the PRS worker should attempt the visit after school hours to increase the chances of finding someone in the home.
If the sponsor and child are present during the unannounced home visit, the PRS worker conducts the first in-person visit, if possible, or reschedules the visit for another time.
If the sponsor and minor are not at home during the unannounced visit, the PRS worker should leave the following items in a sealed addressed envelope: PRS Welcome Letter (if the case is new); Community Resource List (if the case is new); Letter addressed to the sponsor and minor with the PRS worker’s contact information, requesting that they communicate with the PRS worker and the date their case will be closed if no contact is made.
The PRS worker must maintain confidentiality with any individual they interact with during an unannounced visit. For example, if someone is in the home who is not the sponsor and/or child, the PRS worker can inquire about the sponsor and child, but must protect their privacy and confidentiality by not providing any case-specific information.
For new cases where the child is never reached or located, the PRS worker should staff the case with their assigned Supervisor and contact local law enforcement to request a child welfare check. This should be completed in the week following the unannounced home visit, to allow time for the family to respond to the wellness check and contact the PRS worker.
Name three reasons PRS services may be extended, following ORR approval.
A report to CPS has been made regarding the sponsor/household member within the service period and is pending.
There are any ongoing concerns about human trafficking.
There are any ongoing safety concerns;
The minor has not been enrolled in school and is of compulsory school age; or
There are other significant needs that would merit continuation of services.
List the different types of visits for TVPRA cases and their timelines.
Initial Visit- 14 days
Second Visit/90 Day
6 month visit
Annual for TVPRA- every year until case closure
Name the 5 emergency incidents that would warrant an NOC.
Human trafficking concerns
Child Death
Child alleged abuse while in federal custody
Child abduction/kidnapping
Incident resulting in medical attention
Name 4 of the 7 reasons why a home study might be conducted prior to release.
1. The potential sponsor clearly presents a risk of abuse, maltreatment, exploitation, or trafficking to the minor based on all available objective evidence;
2. The minor has been identified as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons;
3. The minor has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse under circumstances that indicate that the minor’s health or welfare has been significantly harmed or threatened;
4. The minor has special needs, with a disability as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1):
• A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual
• A record of such an impairment
• Being regarded as having such an impairment
5. The minor is under the age of 12 and sponsor is a Category 3 sponsor (unrelated or unverified relative);
6. The sponsor is unrelated and is seeking to sponsor multiple UCs;
7. The sponsor is unrelated and has previously sponsored another UC;
8. Other concerns: The facility, the Third-Party Reviewer/Case Coordinator, and/or Federal Field Specialist (FFS) may refer the case for a discretionary home study if there are concerns that do not fall under one of the mandated home study categories. Examples of reasons for referral for a discretionary home study include: a minor who has a history of severe trauma, substance abuse, or gang involvement; a sponsor or other household member with a significant criminal history; or significant discrepancies in the case.
These 6 steps must be followed if a family wishes to decline PRS services.
The PRS worker should ask the sponsor and minor why they wish to end services and document their reasoning in a case note.
The PRS worker should speak with both the sponsor and the minor. The case should remain open until the PRS worker is able to speak with the minor to assess and confirm their safety and wellbeing.
The PRS worker should send the family a community resource list, including the ORR hotline number (1-800-203-7001), within two business days of the family declining services and upload it to Apricot if it was not previously uploaded.
The PRS worker should inform their supervisor of the family declining services within two business days of the family declining services. The supervisor may ask to staff the case with the PRS worker.
The supervisor will inform the PSS of the case closure in their weekly closure report. The closure date is the date the last step was completed (either the date the sponsor declined, the minor declined, or the resource list was sent—whichever happened last).
If a family declines services and there are safety concerns with the case (e.g., the PRS worker is unable to speak with the minor), the PRS worker should notify their supervisor, and the supervisor will complete a notification of concern consistent with NOC policy.
For each of the following situations list the correct date the case should close.
Completed PRS Only:
Completed PRS following an ORR mandated HS or discretionary HS:
PRS following a TVPRA mandated home study:
Age out:
Loss of contact:
Case Transfers to another Provider:
Completed PRS Only: 180 days from activation date
Completed PRS following an ORR mandated HS or discretionary HS: 180 days from activation date
PRS following a TVPRA mandated home study: 18th birth date or date immigration proceedings are closed (whichever occurs first)
Age out: 18th birthday
Loss of contact: date of last attempted contact after there has been 30 days of no contact.
Case Transfers to another Provider : The Program Support Specialist will notify the new provider when the case has been cancelled on the UC Portal which will allow the new provider to accept the case.
List the 3 different types of PRS assessments and visits that a PRS worker needs to complete for a non-TVPRA PRS case, and their due dates.
Initial Visit- within 14 days (assessment completed within 7 days following the visit)
Ongoing Visit- 90 days (assessment completed within 7 days following the visit)
Closing Visit- Within 45 days of case closure (assessment completed in the 7 days prior to or following the case closure date)
What is the process for submitting an NOC?
The HS/PRS Supervisor must notify their Program Manager/Lead immediately for emergency incidents and within the same business day for significant incidents.
The Program Manager/Lead will determine if a case staffing is needed.
The Program Manager/Lead will notify the Senior Director of Children’s Services, the Director of HS/PRS (for USCRI teams only), and the Assistant Director of HS/PRS (for partner agency teams only) within 4 hours of notification of an emergency incident. Note that NOCs documented for past trafficking concerns that occurred in a child’s home country do not need to be elevated as emergency incidents.
If deemed appropriate, the Senior Director of Children’s Services, Director of HS/PRS, or Assistant Director HS/PRS will notify the ORR Project Officer and/or Senior ORR Project Officer.
The Supervisor completes NOC in client’s file in Apricot within 2 business days.
The Supervisor must check the box “NOC completed and ready for review,” which will generate an automatic alert to the QA team for review and submission of the NOC to ORR.
The QA Specialist/Manager reviews the NOC and submits via email to ORR.