Unaccompanied Children

Last Updated: 04-03-2024

Since responsibility for unaccompanied children was transferred to HHS by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, OIG has provided oversight of the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program.*

OIG is charged with overseeing programs and operations in HHS, including the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), to combat fraud and abuse in those programs and promote their efficiency and effectiveness. To accomplish this, OIG employs an array of oversight tools: investigations, evaluations, and audits.

OIG has completed work examining various aspects of the UC Program. For example, we audited grantee expenditures and assessed their internal controls for administering UC Program funds. We also examined whether ORR grantees met safety standards for the care and release of children in their custody. When OIG has identified possible criminal misconduct, we have investigated it or referred it to our Federal or local law enforcement partners as appropriate. All of these efforts have one unifying purpose—to promote the protection of children in the Department's care.

*Before March 2021, the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program was named the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program.