Latest UAC Data – FY2021
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families, an operational division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) manages the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program.
UAC are defined as a child who has no lawful immigration status in the United States; has not attained 18 years of age; and, with respect to whom, there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States, or no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody.
Other federal agencies, usually the Department of Homeland Security, refer UAC to ORR. Most children were placed into ORR care because immigration authorities apprehended them while trying to cross the border. Other UAC referrals resulted after coming to the attention of immigration authorities at some point after crossing the border. HHS plays no role in the apprehension or initial detention of UAC prior to their referral to HHS custody and HHS is not a party to the child's immigration proceedings.
Since 2003, ORR has provided care for and found suitable sponsors for over 409,550 UAC. For its first nine years, ORR served fewer than 8000 children annually. Since Fiscal Year 2012 (October 1, 2011 – September 30, 2012), this number has jumped dramatically, with 13,625 children referred to ORR by the end of FY 2012. The program received 24,668 UAC referrals from DHS in FY 2013, 57,496 referrals in FY 2014, 33,726 referrals in FY 2015, 59,170 in FY 2016, 40,810 in FY 2017, 49,100 in FY 2018, and 69,550 in FY 2019. In FY 2020, DHS referred 15,381 UAC to ORR.
The latest data available on UAC demographics and program operations for fiscal year 2021 is on this page.
Overall Data | Gender | Age | Tender Age (0-12) UAC By Shelter Type | Total Monthly Discharges to Individual Sponsors Only (By Category)
Overall Data
In Care Statistics Calculated on the Last Day of the Month | 10/31/2020 |
---|---|
Average Number of Children in Care: | 1,929 |
Maximum Number of Operations Beds*: | 13,674 |
Average Occupancy Rate: | 15% |
Average Length of Care (for those discharged)**: | 51 |
Average Length of Care (for those in care)***: | 123 |
30-Day Average Number of UAC Referrals: | 49 |
30-Day Average UAC Discharge Rate: | 2 |
*includes Influx shelters
**includes all discharge types & all program types
***Length of Care calculated as of the last day of the corresponding month showing above
Gender
In Care Statistics Calculated on the Last Day of the Month | 10/31/2020 |
---|---|
Male | 1,410 |
Female | 631 |
Age
In Care Statistics Calculated on the Last Day of the Month | 10/31/2020 |
---|---|
0-5 | 70 |
6-12 | 242 |
13-14 | 222 |
15-16 | 754 |
17+ | 753 |
Tender Age (0-12) UAC By Shelter Type
In Care Statistics Calculated on the Last Day of the Month | 10/31/2020 |
---|---|
Standard Shelter | 167 |
Transitional Foster Care | 104 |
Residential Treatment | 1 |
Staff Secure | 0 |
Secure | 0 |
Therapeutic | 0 |
Long Term Foster Care | 40 |
Total Monthly Discharges to Individual Sponsors Only (By Category)
In Care Statistics Calculated on the Last Day of the Month | 10/31/2020 |
---|---|
Category 1 | 544 |
Category 2 | 443 |
Category 3 | 66 |
Total | 1,053 |
*** PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL FY21 UAC DATA REPRESENTED HERE IS UNRECONCILED AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE***