Simatree’s expertise in analytics, strategy, and project management has helped drive operational and reporting improvements for migrant care facilities throughout the southwestern United States.
Overview
To manage the influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S. southwest border, a non-profit organization contracted with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to stand up Pecos Children’s Center (PCC), a 75 acre, 3,000-bed facility for unaccompanied migrant youth in Texas. Previously the organization was contracted with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to open eight family staging centers throughout Texas and Arizona. Simatree was engaged by the non-profit to help run a large Program Management Office (PMO) that oversaw operations related to the two contracts valued at over ~$360 million.
The Challenge
Simatree was tasked with helping to bridge the gap between front-line employees and C-suite executives, provide strategic guidance for executive-level decision-making, identify and escalate operational risks to executive leaders, and ensure compliance with federal contractual requirements.
The Solution & Benefits
Since engaging on the contract, Simatree has helped stand up and train a Daily Operations Reporting team to gather operational data and information to communicate updates and risks daily to C-suite executives through a Daily Operations Report and met daily with front-line employees and middle-level managers to gather operational updates for all nine migrant facilities. Simatree also helped to develop and manage a staffing matrix for 500+ employees across eight migrant facilities. More recently, the Simatree team supported project management of the expansion of PCC from an Emergency Intake Shelter (EIS) to an Influx Care Facility (ICF), including tracking and reporting on construction and compliance with ORR requirements for case management, education, and medical services.
Simatree is able to assist leaders stay well informed on the overall health of operations, mitigate operational risks in a timely manner, and make data-driven decisions to ensure contractual compliance and drive continuous improvement of care for migrant youth and families across their facilities.
The Results
34,000
children served with a 15-day average length of stay.
81%
of all cases are reunifications (release of an unaccompanied child to a qualified sponsor).