It is filed as a burden reduction, and most of it is.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement published a routine information-collection notice today revising two forms used for children in its custody: the Mental Health Assessment Form and the Onsite Health Intervention Form. Burden falls 32.7 percent for response and 43.9 percent for recordkeeping. Fixed diagnosis options are replaced with free text. Duplicate documentation is removed by dropping the History section requirement for follow-up mental health visits [1].
Inside the same notice is a change of a different kind.
'If a child with a health condition that requires daily management or accommodation (e.g., medication, durable medical equipment) is identified for repatriation by DHS, relevant information from their established treatment plan must be shared with DHS to ensure continuity of care' [1]. Describing what changed, the notice says ORR 'has updated the stated uses of data sharing to include providing relevant health information to DHS when a child with healthcare needs is identified by DHS for repatriation' [1].
Must be shared. The stated purpose is continuity of care, which is a real thing - a child removed while on daily medication needs the receiving end to know.
Mental health is handled differently, and the difference is worth reading twice. 'Prior to sharing mental health information with DHS, ORR will request consent from the child' [1].
That is a genuine protection and should not be described as an absence of one. It is also a consent requested by the agency holding the child, from the child, concerning disclosure to the agency removing him - sitting in the same document that deletes the history section from his follow-up mental-health visits.
The covered population is 'unaccompanied alien children in ORR custody.' The respondents are 250 mental health professionals and 150 care provider staff [1].
This is an information-collection notice rather than a rule; comment and OMB review still apply. As of this morning no other outlet has reported it.
