II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1615 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2015 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. KING, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform and modernize domestic refugee resettlement 

programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Refugee Re5 settlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a non10 profit organization providing a variety of social, 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1615 IS

1 health, educational and community services to a pop2 ulation that includes refugees resettled into the 

3 United States. 

4 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

5 the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement 

6 in the Department of Health and Human Services. 

7 (3) NATIONAL RESETTLEMENT AGENCIES.— 

8 The term ‘‘national resettlement agencies’’ means 

9 voluntary agencies contracting with the Department 

10 of State to provide sponsorship and initial resettle11 ment services to refugees entering the United States. 

12 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF REFUGEE DOMESTIC RESETTLE13 MENT PROGRAMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

16 of the United States shall conduct a study regarding the 

17 effectiveness of the domestic refugee resettlement pro18 grams operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

19 (b) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—In the study re20 quired under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

21 determine and analyze— 

22 (1) how the Office of Refugee Resettlement de23 fines self-sufficiency and integration and if these 

24 definitions adequately represent refugees’ needs in 

25 the United States; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1615 IS

1 (2) the effectiveness of Office of Refugee Reset2 tlement programs in helping refugees to meet self3 sufficiency and integration; 

4 (3) technological solutions for consistently 

5 tracking secondary migration, including opportuni6 ties for interagency data sharing; 

7 (4) the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s budg8 etary resources and project the amount of additional 

9 resources needed to fully address the unmet needs of 

10 refugees with regard to self-sufficiency and integra11 tion; 

12 (5) the role of community-based organizations 

13 in serving refugees in areas experiencing a high 

14 number of new refugee arrivals; 

15 (6) how community-based organizations can be 

16 better utilized and supported in the Federal domes17 tic resettlement process; 

18 (7) recertification processes for high-skilled ref19 ugees, specifically considering how to decrease bar20 riers for Special Immigrant Visa holders to use their 

21 skills; and 

22 (8) recommended statutory changes to improve 

23 the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the domestic 

24 refugee program in relation to the matters analyzed 

25 under paragraphs (1) through (7). 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1615 IS

1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

3 submit a report to Congress that contains the results of 

4 the study conducted under this section. 

5 SEC. 4. REFUGEE ASSISTANCE. 

6 (a) ASSISTANCE MADE AVAILABLE TO SECONDARY

7 MIGRANTS.—Section 412(a)(1) of the Immigration and 

8 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(1)) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) The Director shall ensure that assistance under 

11 this section is provided to refugees who are secondary mi12 grants and meet all other eligibility requirements for such 

13 assistance.’’. 

14 (b) REPORT ON SECONDARY MIGRATION.—Section 

15 412(a)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(3)) is amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(3)’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘periodic’’ and inserting ‘‘an18 nual’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) At the end of each fiscal year, the Director shall 

21 submit a report to Congress that includes— 

22 ‘‘(i) States experiencing departures and arrivals 

23 due to secondary migration; 

24 ‘‘(ii) likely reasons for migration; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1615 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) the impact of secondary migration on 

2 States hosting secondary migrants; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the availability of social services for sec4 ondary migrants in those States; and 

5 ‘‘(v) unmet needs of those secondary mi6 grants.’’. 

7 (c) AMENDMENTS TO SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING.— 

8 Section 412(c)(1)(B) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1522(c)(1)(B)) is amended— 

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘a combination of—’’ after 

11 ‘‘based on’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘the total number’’ and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) the total number’’; and 

15 (3) by striking the period at the end and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) the total number of all other eligible popu18 lations served by the Office during the period de19 scribed who are residing in the State as of the be20 ginning of the fiscal year; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) projections on the number and nature of 

22 incoming refugees and other populations served by 

23 the Office during the subsequent fiscal year.’’. 

24 (d) NOTICE AND RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

25 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and not 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1615 IS

1 later than 30 days before the effective date set forth in 

2 subsection (e), the Director shall— 

3 (1) issue a proposed rule for a new formula by 

4 which grants and contracts are to be allocated pur5 suant to the amendments made by subsection (c); 

6 and 

7 (2) solicit public comment regarding such pro8 posed rule. 

9 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 

11 fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act. 

13 SEC. 5. RESETTLEMENT DATA. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall expand the Of15 fice of Refugee Resettlement’s data analysis, collection, 

16 and sharing activities in accordance with the requirements 

17 set forth in subsections (b) through (e). 

18 (b) DATA ON MENTAL AND PHYSICAL MEDICAL

19 CASES.—The Director shall— 

20 (1) coordinate with the Centers for Disease 

21 Control and Prevention, national resettlement agen22 cies, community-based organizations, and State ref23 ugee health programs to track national and State 

24 trends on refugees arriving with Class A medical 

25 conditions and other urgent medical needs; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1615 IS

1 (2) examine the information sharing process, 

2 from country of arrival through refugee resettle3 ment, to determine if access to additional mental 

4 health data could— 

5 (A) help determine placements; and 

6 (B) enable agencies to better prepare to 

7 meet refugee mental health needs; and 

8 (3) in collecting information under this para9 graph, utilize initial refugee health screening data, 

10 including— 

11 (A) a history of severe trauma, torture, 

12 mental health symptoms, depression, anxiety, 

13 and posttraumatic stress disorder recorded dur14 ing domestic and international health 

15 screenings; and 

16 (B) Refugee Medical Assistance utilization 

17 rate data. 

18 (c) DATA ON HOUSING NEEDS.—The Director shall 

19 partner with State refugee programs, community-based 

20 organizations, and national resettlement agencies to col21 lect data relating to the housing needs of refugees, includ22 ing— 

23 (1) the number of refugees who have become 

24 homeless; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1615 IS

1 (2) the number of refugees who are at severe 

2 risk of becoming homeless. 

3 (d) DATA ON REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT AND SELF4 SUFFICIENCY.—The Director shall gather longitudinal in5 formation relating to refugee self-sufficiency, integration, 

6 and employment status during the 2-year period beginning 

7 1 year after the date on which the refugees arrived in the 

8 United States. 

9 (e) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Director shall an10 nually— 

11 (1) update the data collected under this section; 

12 and 

13 (2) submit a report to Congress that contains 

14 the updated data. 

15 SEC. 6. GUIDANCE REGARDING REFUGEE PLACEMENT DE16 CISIONS. 

17 (a) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 

18 provide guidance to national resettlement agencies and 

19 State refugee coordinators on consultation with local 

20 stakeholders pertaining to refugee resettlement. 

21 (b) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services, in collaboration with the Secretary of 

23 State, shall collect best practices related to the implemen24 tation of the guidance on stakeholder consultation on ref25 ugee resettlement from voluntary agencies and State refVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1615.IS S1615

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1615 IS

1 ugee coordinators and disseminate such best practices to 

2 such agencies and coordinators. 

3 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act (except for the amendments made by section 

5 4) shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS