The US Department of Health and Human Services is assessing vendors that could provide mobile biometric and identity-document collection services nationwide for the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Unaccompanied Children Bureau.
The Administration for Children and Families issued the request as a sources-sought notice, a market-research step used to identify capable suppliers before deciding how to proceed with a procurement. Responses are due at noon Eastern Time on August 10.
The notice calls for deployable collection support rather than a fixed enrollment center. That model would allow biometric and identity-document capture to be brought to locations used by the unaccompanied-children program across the United States.
ORR places children who arrive in the country without a parent or legal guardian in temporary care while case managers identify and assess potential sponsors. Identity and background checks form part of the process used before a child can be released to a sponsor.
Current ORR policy requires certain potential sponsors and adult household members to submit fingerprints. HHS’s Program Support Center sends the prints for FBI checks and returns the biometric and biographic results to ORR. The policy directs field staff to use approved fingerprint service locations because collection is not provided at ORR headquarters or the Program Support Center.
The public notice describes a nationwide deployable service rather than a fixed-site network. It does not announce an award, select a vendor or commit HHS to a particular contracting approach. Responses will help the agency assess available suppliers and delivery models.
Government agencies continue to seek specialized biometric support for immigration and identity programs. Canada recently opened a qualification stage for a new immigration-biometrics front end, covering enrollment equipment and services used at domestic and overseas locations.
US agencies are also adding specialized fingerprint capacity. US Citizenship and Immigration Services sought 12 certified ten-print examiners in July to support biometric reviews, quality control and the resolution of identity records used in immigration adjudication.
Interested companies are being asked to describe their ability to provide the service, giving HHS information about market capacity and possible acquisition options. A later solicitation would set the binding technical, performance and pricing requirements if the department decides to proceed.
Sources: SAM.gov, Office of Refugee Resettlement
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
