U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Freeman Coliseum Emergency Intake Site (EIS), San Antonio

In 2021, the U.S. saw a record number of unaccompanied children (UCs) crossing the southwest border. The U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Administration for Children & Families (HHS-ACF) Office of Refugee Settlement had an immediate need for an emergency intake site (EIS) to receive children directly from the border and via shelter-to-shelter, and transfer to provide direct services for these vulnerable unaccompanied children aged 13-17. Many of these children experienced abuse and exploitation, suffered injuries, and were victims of human trafficking while making the hazardous journey from their home country to the U.S.

SOSi met this challenge, establishing an EIS from an empty facility into one staffed and actively receiving children at the Freeman Coliseum in 72 hours. SOSi realizes the influence and impact of the human trafficking activities both prior to entry into the U.S. and post release; SOSi case managers were highly sensitive to identifying and addressing human trafficking concerns while providing compassionate and care-driven support to vulnerable children.

SOSi quickly developed agile and adaptive processes from intake through discharge of the UC, accounting for many contingency situations. SOSi’s bilingual staff communicated with UCs to perform case management, medical and clinical services, direct care, recreational and educational services, transportation to medical and dental facilities, and national transfers and reunifications.

SOSi quickly designed and implemented a comprehensive data architecture, taking advantage of existing trusted data sources such as laboratory testing data, COVID vaccine data, inventory/procurement data, information technology (IT) badging data, transportation data, and resident data for tracking population and location. This data management system was critical to the program’s success by operationalizing decision-making, informed through 24×7 access to a data visualization system that included data from all resident care and wrap-around services.

With extreme sensitivity to the influence and impact of the human trafficking activities both prior to entry into the U.S. and post release, SOSi Case Managers worked to deliver compassionate and care-driven support to these vulnerable children, while identifying and addressing human trafficking concerns. SOSi Case Managers completed more than 2,100 Sponsor Assessments, vetting the Sponsors for the eventual transfer of more than 70% of the unaccompanied children to support reunification operations.