State Letter #03-09

TO: STATE REFUGEE COORDINATORS
WILSON FISH GRANTEES

FROM: Nguyen Van Hanh, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Refugee Resettlement

SUBJECT: Notice of FY 2003 Proposed Targeted Assistance Formula Allocations

Enclosed is the FY 2003 Notice of Allocations to States of Funds for Targeted Assistance. This notice will not be published in the Federal Register this year.

The qualification process took place in FY 2002. As stated in the FY 2002 notice of proposed allocations (67 FR 36905), the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) does not plan to consider the eligibility of additional counties for targeted assistance formula funding until FY 2005, when ORR will again review data on all counties that could potentially qualify for targeted assistance based on the published criteria.

With regard to the number of qualifying counties (53) and States (28), this notice does not differ from the FY 2002 notice of final allocations published on September 10, 2002 (67 FR 57433).

Application Due Date and Contact Information

Applications from States must be received at ORR no later than forty-five days after the date of this letter, Friday, August 1, 2003. Due to delays in mail delivery to Federal offices, we encourage States to use overnight courier service to ensure prompt delivery and receipt.

Please send targeted assistance applications in duplicate to: Ms. Pamela Green-Smith, 370 L’Enfant Promenade, S.W., Eighth Floor West, Washington, D.C. 20447. Ms. Green-Smith may be reached at (202) 401-4531 or by e-mail at pgreensmith@acf.hhs.gov

Application Content

States that are currently operating under approved management plans for their FY 2002 targeted assistance program and wish to continue to do so without any changes to their plans for FY 2003 may provide an abbreviated application. Guidance regarding application content may be found in Section VII of the attached notice.

Questions Regarding Allocations

Please be advised that final allocations may be adjusted slightly to reflect additional county-level data on asylees and trafficking victims submitted by States in response to Section V of this notice. A final table of FY 2003 targeted assistance allocations will be distributed by a State Letter after adjustments are made based upon States’ submissions.

Questions regarding the amount of targeted assistance allocations should be directed to Loren Bussert at (202) 401-4732 or by e-mail at lbussert@acf.hhs.gov.

Time Limits for Obligating and Expending Targeted Assistance Funds

Pursuant to 45 CFR 400.210(b)(1), "A State must obligate its targeted assistance grants no later than one year after the end of the FFY in which the Department awards the grant." Under 45 CFR 400.210(b)(2), "a State must expend its targeted assistance grants no later than two years after the end of the FFY in which the Department awards the grant. A State’s final financial report on expenditures of targeted assistance grants must be received no later than 90 days after the end of the two-year expenditure period."