[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10594-10595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5196]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: State Plan for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance--Title 
IV-E.
    OMB No.: 0980-0141.
    Description: A title IV-E plan is required by section 471 part IV-E 
of the Social Security Act (the Act) for each public child welfare 
agency requesting Federal funding for foster care, adoption assistance 
and guardianship assistance under the Act. The title IV-E plan provides 
assurances the programs will be administered in conformity with the 
specific requirements stipulated in title IV-E. The plan must include 
all applicable State statutory, regulatory, or policy references and 
citations for each requirement as well as supporting documentation. A 
title IV-E agency may use the pre-print format prepared by the 
Children's Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families or a 
different format, on the condition that the format used includes all of 
the title IV-E State plan requirements of the law.
    Public Law 110-351, the Fostering Connections to Success and 
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, created a new title IV-E plan option 
to provide a Guardianship Assistance Program for relatives of children 
in foster care (section 471(a)(28) of the Act). The Guardianship 
Assistance program was made effective for States upon enactment of 
Public Law 110-351 (October 7, 2008).
    Effective October 1, 2009, Public Law 110-351 will allow Tribes, 
Tribal organizations and Tribal consortia to directly operate title IV-
E programs for foster care maintenance payments, adoption assistance 
and kinship guardianship assistance.
    The law also made a number of other changes to title IV-E plan 
requirements and eligibility criteria. The law's provisions expanding 
the scope of the title IV-E program necessitates a revision of the 
preprint.
    Respondents: State and Territorial Agencies (State Agencies) 
administering

[[Page 10595]]

or supervising the administration of the title IV-E programs and 
Federally-recognized Tribes, Tribal organizations and Tribal consortia 
administering title IV-E programs.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                  Number of      Average burden
                 Instrument                      Number of      responses per      hours per       Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent        response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title IV-E Plan.............................              33                1               16              528
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 528.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, 
SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. E-mail 
address: [email protected]. All requests should be identified 
by the title of the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Dated: March 6, 2009.
Janean Chambers,
Reports Clearance Officer.
 [FR Doc. E9-5196 Filed 3-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P