On Friday, April 16, President Biden issued an Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for FY 2021, keeping the refugee admissions cap at the Trump-era, all-time low of 15,000 and restoring region-based admissions categories. Later that day, the administration clarified that a subsequent Determination would be issued on or before May 15 to increase the admissions cap. The International Rescue Committee outlines five key reasons President Biden must act quickly to prevent any further harm to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) by setting an admissions cap of 62,500 refugees, as his administration previously proposed to Congress.

In 2022, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) implemented the Remote Early Learning Program (RELP) in partnership with Sesame Workshop as part of the Ahlan Simsim project. This project aims to provide vital educational support and resources to children in crisis and conflict-affected regions. The program targeted households with children aged 5-6. From March to June 2022, RELP reached 995 children across four regions in Lebanon. This analysis examines the costs of implementing two treatment arms during wave one of the research study: RELP alone and RELP plus Ahlan Simsim Families (ASF), a parenting support program.