(a) Monitoring activities. ORR shall monitor all care provider facilities for compliance with the terms of the regulations in this part and 45 CFR part 411. ORR monitoring activities include:

(1) Desk monitoring that is ongoing oversight from ORR headquarters;

(2) Routine site visits that are day-long visits to facilities to review compliance for policies, procedures, and practices and guidelines;

(3) Site visits in response to ORR or other reports that are for a specific purpose or investigation; and

(4) Monitoring visits that are part of comprehensive reviews of all care provider facilities.

(b) Corrective actions. If ORR finds a care provider facility to be out of compliance with the regulations in this part and 45 CFR part 411 or subregulatory policies such as its guidance and the terms of its contracts or cooperative agreements, ORR will communicate the concerns in writing to the care provider facility director or appropriate person through a written monitoring or site visit report, with a list of corrective actions and child welfare best practice recommendations, as appropriate. ORR will request a response to the corrective action findings from the care provider facility and specify a timeframe for resolution and the disciplinary consequences for not responding within the required timeframes.

(c) Monitoring of secure facilities. At secure facilities, in addition to other monitoring activities, ORR shall review individual unaccompanied child case files to make sure children placed in secure facilities are assessed at least every 30 days for the possibility of a transfer to a less restrictive setting.

(d) Monitoring of long-term home care and transitional home care facilities. ORR long-term home care and transitional home care facilities are subject to the same types of monitoring as other care provider facilities, but the activities are tailored to the foster care arrangement. ORR long-term home care and transitional home care facilities that provide services through a sub-contract or sub-grant are responsible for conducting annual monitoring or site visits of the sub-recipient, as well as weekly desk monitoring. Upon request, care provider facilities must provide findings of such reviews to the designated ORR point of contact.

(e) Enhanced monitoring of unlicensed standard programs and emergency or influx facilities. In addition to the other requirements of this section, for all standard programs that are not State-licensed because the State does not allow State licensing of programs providing care and services to unaccompanied children, and emergency or influx facilities, ORR shall conduct enhanced monitoring, including on-site visits and desk monitoring.

(f) Care provider facility quality assurance. Care provider facilities shall develop quality assurance assessment procedures that accurately measure and evaluate service delivery in compliance with the requirements of the regulations in this part, as well as those delineated in 45 CFR part 411.

(g) Reporting. Care provider facilities shall report to ORR any emergency incident, significant incident, or program-level event and in accordance with any applicable Federal, State, and local reporting laws. Such reports are subject to the following rules:

(1) Care provider facilities shall document incidents with sufficient detail to ensure that any relevant entity can facilitate any required follow-up; document incidents in a way that is trauma-informed and grounded in child welfare best practices; and update the report with any findings or documentation that are made after the fact.

(2) Care provider facilities shall not fabricate, exaggerate, or minimize incidents; use disparaging or judgmental language about unaccompanied children in incident reports; use incident reporting or the threat of incident reporting as a way to manage the behavior of unaccompanied children or for any other illegitimate reason.

(3) Care provider facilities shall not use reports of significant incidents as a method of punishment or threat towards any child in ORR care for any reason.

(4) The existence of a report of a significant incident shall not be used by ORR as a basis for an unaccompanied child's step-up to a restrictive placement or as the sole basis for a refusal to step a child down to a less restrictive placement. Care provider facilities are likewise prohibited from using the existence of a report of a significant incident as a basis for refusing an unaccompanied child's placement in their facilities. Reports of significant incidents may be used as examples or citations of concerning behavior. However, the existence of a report itself is not sufficient for a step-up, a refusal to step-down, or a care provider facility to refuse a placement.

(h) Develop, maintain, and safeguard each individual unaccompanied child's case file. This paragraph (h) applies to all care provider facilities responsible for the care and custody of unaccompanied children.

(1) Care provider facilities and PRS providers shall preserve the confidentiality of unaccompanied child case file records and information, and protect the records and information from unauthorized use or disclosure;

(2) The records included in an unaccompanied child's case file are ORR's property, regardless of whether they are in ORR's possession or in the possession of a care provider facility or PRS provider. Care providers facilities and PRS providers shall not release those records or information within the records without prior approval from ORR, except for program administration purposes;

(3) Care provider facilities and PRS providers shall provide unaccompanied child case file records to ORR immediately upon ORR's request; and

(4) Subject to applicable whistleblower protection laws, employees, former employees, or contractors of a care provider facility or PRS provider shall not disclose case file records or information about unaccompanied children, their sponsors, family, or household members to anyone for any purpose, except for purposes of program administration, without first providing advanced notice to ORR to allow ORR to ensure that disclosure of unaccompanied children's information is compatible with program goals and to ensure the safety and privacy of unaccompanied children.

(i) Records. Care provider facilities and PRS providers shall maintain adequate records in the unaccompanied child case file and make regular reports as required by ORR that permit ORR to monitor and enforce the regulations in this part and other requirements and standards as ORR may determine are in the interests of the unaccompanied child.