HHS Loosens Sharing Rules for Unaccompanied Children Records

Status as of September 28, 2026. The Office of Refugee Resettlement published a modified system of records notice for its unaccompanied children records (91 FR 61234). The changes take effect October 28, 2026. Comments are also due October 28.

The Department of Health and Human Services has changed the rules for sharing records the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) keeps on unaccompanied children and their sponsors. A modified system of records notice (SORN), published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2026, removes several procedural checks on disclosures to the Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement and the State Department, and adds a separate basis for sharing records for research and predictive modeling. The notice keeps the prohibition on using the records for immigration enforcement.

The system, numbered 09-80-0321, is maintained by ORR within the Administration for Children and Families. It is renamed from "ORR Unaccompanied Children Bureau Administrative Program Records" to "ORR Unaccompanied Alien Children Bureau Administrative Program Records." The notice is signed by Acting ORR Director Angie Salazar.

Whose records are covered

The system holds records on unaccompanied children in ORR care and on the adults around their release, including:

• potential sponsors;

• members of a sponsor's household;

• adult caregivers named in a sponsor care plan;

• people who provide financial support to a sponsor.

The system also covers personnel of ORR-funded care providers. Records can be retrieved by the child's name, Alien Registration Number or date of birth, and by the name or date of birth of a sponsor, household member or adult caregiver. Case files are kept for 50 years after a child is released from ORR custody, under NARA schedules DAA-0292-2019-0009-0001 and DAA-0292-2019-0009-0002.

What changes in sharing with DHS

Routine Use 5 governs disclosures to DHS. Its introductory language now states that sharing is for child safety and welfare and not for immigration enforcement. The revised text:

• allows disclosures to facilitate human trafficking investigations by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to protect children from crimes including trafficking;

• explicitly covers sharing with DHS for criminal investigations aimed at protecting children;

• adds the word "alien" before "child" and "children" in two listed purposes, to match statutory terminology.

The notice's explanatory section states that Purpose 5(b), which covers transfers to DHS custody for continuity of medical care, no longer cites 45 CFR parts 410 and 411, because those restrictions do not apply to continuity-of-care disclosures. However, the published text of Routine Use 5(b) still contains those citations. The notice is internally inconsistent on this point.

Procedural checks removed

Before the change, disclosures under Routine Uses 5, 6 and 20 required an express written advisory to the recipient, and some required ORR to determine that the disclosure was in the child's best interest. ORR removed these requirements:

ORR said the written advisory was administratively burdensome, difficult to implement and in some cases hindered criminal investigations. It also said that facilitating investigations into serious criminal conduct serves children's interests, and that ORR is not an immigration enforcement entity.

8 U.S.C. 1373, now cited in Routine Use 6, bars federal, state and local government entities from restricting the exchange of information about a person's citizenship or immigration status with federal immigration authorities.

Research and predictive modeling

Routine Use 23 allows ORR to disclose records for research and predictive modeling to entities, including other federal agencies, whose research ORR determines contributes to its policymaking, operations and mission. The explanatory section names the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics and offices at the Departments of Justice and State as examples.

What stays prohibited

The notice states: "In no case shall information be used for immigration enforcement purposes." Without the prior written consent of the person concerned, information from the system may not be disclosed to:

• initiate immigration enforcement;

• determine whether a person should be removed from the United States;

• make immigration detention or bond decisions;

• verify a person's statements in removal proceedings.

Routine Use 5 also bars use of the shared information for USCIS adjudication.

What this means for sponsors and households

• ORR still collects the same categories of information on sponsors, household members, adult caregivers and financial supporters. What changes is how easily those records can move to DHS, law enforcement, the State Department and researchers.

• Disclosures to ICE's HSI for trafficking and criminal investigations, and to law enforcement under Routine Use 6, no longer require a written advisory or an individual best-interest finding.

• Records may now be shared for predictive modeling with other federal agencies, including DHS's statistics office.

• The formal bar on using the records for removal, detention or bond decisions remains, unless the person gives prior written consent.

• People seeking access to or correction of their records can submit a written request to the ORR system manager or through FOIA.gov, with identity verification.

How to comment

Comments are due by October 28, 2026, the same date the changes take effect. They go to Toby Biswas, Assistant Deputy Director for Policy, Office of Refugee Resettlement:

• email: UACPolicy-RegulatoryAffairs@acf.hhs.gov;

• mail: 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201.

Official sources

→ Humanitarian Programs: TPS, U/T Visas, VAWA, SIJ, Parole

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Current as of September 28, 2026. Check the official sources above before making decisions.