Standard programs and secure facilities shall:

(a) Be licensed by an appropriate State agency, or meet the State's licensing requirements if located in a State that does not allow State licensing of programs providing or proposing to provide care and services to unaccompanied children.

(b) Comply with all State child welfare laws and regulations (such as mandatory reporting of abuse) and all State and local building, fire, health, and safety codes.

(c) Provide or arrange for the following services for each unaccompanied child in care:

(1) Proper physical care and maintenance, including suitable living accommodations, food that is of adequate variety, quality, and in sufficient quantity to supply the nutrients needed for proper growth and development, which can be accomplished by following the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and appropriate for the child and activity level, drinking water that is always available to each unaccompanied child, appropriate clothing, personal grooming and hygiene items such as soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, floss, towels, feminine care items, and other similar items, access to toilets, showers, and sinks, adequate temperature control and ventilation, maintenance of safe and sanitary conditions that are consistent with ORR's concern for the particular vulnerability of children, and adequate supervision to protect unaccompanied children from others;

(2) An individualized needs assessment that shall include:

(i) Various initial intake forms;

(ii) Essential data relating to the identification and history of the unaccompanied child and family;

(iii) Identification of the unaccompanied child's individualized needs including any specific problems that appear to require immediate intervention;

(iv) An educational assessment and plan;

(v) Identification of whether the child is an Indigenous language speaker;

(vi) An assessment of family relationships and interaction with adults, peers and authority figures;

(vii) A statement of religious preference and practice;

(viii) An assessment of the unaccompanied child's personal goals, strengths, and weaknesses; and

(ix) Identifying information regarding immediate family members, other relatives, godparents, or friends who may be residing in the United States and may be able to assist in family unification;

(3) Educational services appropriate to the unaccompanied child's level of development, communication skills, and disability, if applicable, in a structured classroom setting, Monday through Friday, which concentrate on the development of basic academic competencies and on English Language Training (ELT), as well as acculturation and life skills development including:

(i) Instruction and educational and other reading materials in such languages as needed;

(ii) Instruction in basic academic areas that may include science, social studies, math, reading, writing, and physical education; and

(iii) The provision to an unaccompanied child of appropriate reading materials in languages other than English for use during the unaccompanied child's leisure time;

(4) Activities according to a recreation and leisure time plan that include daily outdoor activity, weather permitting, at least one hour per day of large muscle activity and one hour per day of structured leisure time activities, which do not include time spent watching television. Activities must be increased to at least three hours on days when school is not in session;

(5) At least one individual counseling session per week conducted by certified counseling staff with the specific objectives of reviewing the unaccompanied child's progress, establishing new short and long-term objectives, and addressing both the developmental and crisis-related needs of each unaccompanied child;

(6) Group counseling sessions at least twice a week;

(7) Acculturation and adaptation services that include information regarding the development of social and inter-personal skills that contribute to those abilities necessary to live independently and responsibly;

(8) An admissions process, including:

(i) Meeting unaccompanied children's immediate needs to food, hydration, and personal hygiene including the provision of clean clothing and bedding;

(ii) An initial intakes assessment covering biographic, family, migration, health history, substance use, and mental health history of the unaccompanied child. If the unaccompanied child's responses to questions during any examination or assessment indicate the possibility that the unaccompanied child may have been a victim of human trafficking or labor exploitation, the care provider facility must notify the ACF Office of Trafficking in Persons within twenty-four (24) hours;

(iii) A comprehensive orientation regarding program purpose, services, rules (provided in writing and orally), expectations, their rights in ORR care, and the availability of legal assistance, information about U.S. immigration and employment/labor laws, and services from the Unaccompanied Children Office of the Ombuds (UC Office of the Ombuds) in simple, non-technical terms and in a language and manner that the child understands, if practicable; and

(iv) Assistance with contacting family members, following the ORR Guide and the care provider facility's internal safety procedures;

(9) Whenever possible, access to religious services of the unaccompanied child's choice, celebrating culture-specific events and holidays, being culturally aware in daily activities as well as food menus, choice of clothing, and hygiene routines, and covering various cultures in children's educational services;

(10) Visitation and contact with family members (regardless of their immigration status) which is structured to encourage such visitation, including at least 15 minutes of phone or video contact three times a week with parents and legal guardians, family members, and caregivers located in the United States and abroad, in a private space that ensures confidentiality and at no cost to the unaccompanied child, parent, legal guardian, family member, or caregiver. The staff shall respect the unaccompanied child's privacy while reasonably preventing the unauthorized release of the unaccompanied child;

(11) Assistance with family unification services designed to identify and verify relatives in the United States as well as in foreign countries and assistance in obtaining legal guardianship when necessary for release of the unaccompanied child;

(12) Legal services information regarding the availability of free legal assistance, and that they may be represented by counsel at no expense to the Government, the right to a removal hearing before an immigration judge; the ability to apply for asylum with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the first instance, and the ability to request voluntary departure in lieu of removal;

(13) Information about U.S. child labor laws and education around permissible work opportunities in a manner that is sensitive to the age, culture, and native or preferred language of each unaccompanied child; and

(14) Unaccompanied children must have a reasonable right to privacy, which includes the right to wear the child's own clothes when available, retain a private space in the residential facility, group or foster home for the storage of personal belongings, talk privately on the phone and visit privately with guests, as permitted by the house rules and regulations, and receive and send uncensored mail unless there is a reasonable belief that the mail contains contraband.

(d) Deliver services in a manner that is sensitive to the age, culture, native or preferred language, and the complex needs of each unaccompanied child.

(e) Develop a comprehensive and realistic individual service plan for the care of each unaccompanied child in accordance with the unaccompanied child 's needs as determined by the individualized needs assessment. Individual plans must be implemented and closely coordinated through an operative case management system. Service plans should identify individualized, person-centered goals with measurable outcomes and with steps or tasks to achieve the goals, be developed with input from the unaccompanied child, and be reviewed and updated at regular intervals. Unaccompanied children ages 14 and older should be given a copy of the plan, and unaccompanied children under age 14 should be given a copy of the plan when appropriate for that particular child's development. Individual plans shall be in that child's native or preferred language or other mode of auxiliary aid or services and/or use clear, easily understood language, using concise and concrete sentences and/or visual aids and checking for understanding where appropriate.

[89 FR 34584, Apr. 30, 2024; 89 FR 53361, June 26, 2024]