[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 202 (Thursday, October 20, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
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From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25941]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 20, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

45 CFR Part 1357

RIN AB44

 

Child Welfare Services Program

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the regulations governing direct 
payments to Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) for child welfare 
services, by eliminating the requirement that to be eligible ITOs must 
provide services under contract (or grant) with the Secretary of the 
Interior under section 102 of the Indian Self-Determination Act, and by 
adding a description of the formula used to calculate the amount of 
Federal funds available to eligible ITOs under title IV-B, Subpart 1 of 
the Social Security Act. We believe that complex and limiting 
eligibility requirements and low grant amounts have resulted in low ITO 
participation rates. The amendment will improve the quality of Indian 
child welfare services nationally by broadening eligibility and by 
allowing for an increase in grant amounts.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 19, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please address comments to Associate Commissioner, 
Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, P.O. 
Box 1182, Washington, DC 20013; Attention: Michael Ambrose
    Beginning 14 days after the close of the comment period, comments 
will be available for public inspection in room 2219, 330 C Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20201, Monday through Friday between the hours of 
9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Paul Blatt (202) 205-8324.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Program Description and Background

    Title IV-B, Subpart 1, of the Social Security Act (the Act), the 
Child Welfare Services program, is a formula grant program. Each State 
receives a basic grant representing its share of $141 million and is 
eligible for a share of incentive funds beyond the basic grant if it 
provides certain protections, as required by section 427 of the Act, 
for children in foster care. The basic grant and the incentive funds 
provide States with Federal support for a wide variety of State child 
welfare services including preplacement preventive services to 
strengthen families and avoid placement of children, services to 
prevent abuse and neglect and services for the provision of foster care 
and adoption. The basic grant and incentive funds can be used to 
provide services regardless of the income of the families and children 
who are in need of such services.
    The Child Welfare Services program has been a part of the Social 
Security Act (the Act) since the Act's inception in 1935. In 1968, 
Congress transferred this program to title IV, part B of the Act 
(sections 420-425 of the Act). Historically, title IV-B has provided 
Federal grants to States to establish, extend and strengthen child 
welfare services. Under this program, services are available to all 
children, including the homeless, neglected, dependent and those with 
disabilities.
    The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-
272) was enacted on June 17, 1980. In addition to amending title IV-B, 
Pub. L. 96-272 established a new program, the title IV-E program, which 
replaced on October 1, 1982, the title IV-A foster care program in the 
States. The law created links between the two programs with numerous 
program and fiscal incentives. The impetus behind the passage of Pub. 
L. 96-272 was the belief of Congress and most State child welfare 
administrators, supported by extensive research, that the public child 
welfare system responsible for serving dependent and neglected 
children, youth and families had become a receiving or holding system 
for children living away from their parents. Congress envisioned in the 
new legislation a system that would help families remain together by 
assisting parents in carrying out their rules and responsibilities and 
providing alternative permanent placement for those children who cannot 
return to their own homes.

II. Discussion of 45 CFR 1357.40

    Pub. L. 96-272 created section 428 of the Act which provides for 
direct payments to certain Indian Tribal Organizations, of funds 
authorized under title IV-B for child welfare services to certain ITOs. 
Effective June 22, 1983, regulations published at 45 CFR 1357.40 
implemented section 428 of the Act, and specified which ITOs are 
eligible to receive funds directly and under what circumstances direct 
payments should be made available. In determining which ITOs would be 
eligible for direct funding, the Department decided to make the option 
of applying for direct funding available to those ITOs which had 
contracted with, or received a grant from, the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
under Pub. L. 93-638 (Indian Self-Determination Act) for child welfare 
services. This requirement was intended to limit direct funding to ITOs 
that had established the need for child welfare services and had taken 
advantage of the opportunity for direct management and operation of a 
tribal child welfare services program. Under this approach, direct 
grants would be added to existing ongoing Indian child welfare programs 
operated by the tribal organizations. The title IV-B funds were 
intended to be linked to the other major Federal Indian social services 
program to support Indian self-determination, and complement the 
provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-608). 
This was considered important by the Department because title IV-B 
funds alone are insufficient for an ITO to establish and operate a 
basic child welfare services program.
    We believe that the requirement that ITOs must contract, or receive 
a grant, for child welfare services under Pub. L. 93-638 in order to be 
eligible for direct funding under title IV-B is no longer necessary. In 
recent years, Federal social service funding under the Indian Child 
Welfare Act (ICWA) has increased significantly. In fiscal year 1994, 
530 tribes are expected to receive $22,905,000 under ICWA. We are aware 
that there are ITOs which do not receive Indian Self-Determination Act 
funding although they are operating child welfare services programs 
utilizing ICWA funding, and others which could choose to begin to 
provide child welfare services.

III. Discussion of Proposed Amendment to 45 CFR 1357.40

    The Department is proposing to revise paragraph (a) to eliminate 
the Indian Self-Determination Act eligibility requirement. Paragraph 
(a), as revised, states that ``any ITO that meets the definitions in 
section 428(c) of the Act, or any consortium or other group of eligible 
tribal organizations authorized by the membership of the tribes to act 
for them is eligible to apply for direct funding if the Indian tribe, 
consortium or group has a plan for child welfare services provided by 
the ITO that is jointly developed by the ITO and the Department''.
    In determining the amount of direct funding available to an ITO 
eligible under the existing regulation, the Secretary currently applies 
a formula similar to the one used to calculate the title IV-B 
allotments of the territories. This formula takes into consideration 
the Indian tribe's resident population under 21 and its per capita 
income.
    The current formula for calculating an ITO's allotment results in 
an amount which bears the same ratio to the total State's title IV-B 
allotment as the product of 1.4 times the proportion of the Indian 
tribe's resident population under age 21 to the State's total 
population under age 21. The 1.4 multiplication factor has not resulted 
in grant amounts large enough to make it worthwhile for many tribes to 
apply for title IV-B. By June 1993, only 24 tribes were receiving 
direct title IV-B grants totaling $549,340. The average grant available 
to specified ITOs was $22,889, and grants ranged from a high of 
$166,468 to a low of $648.
    The Department plans to change the multiplication factor to 3.0 for 
fiscal year 1995 in order to improve the quality of Indian child 
welfare nationally. For comparison purposes, using the fiscal year 1993 
figures given above, this would have raised the average amount 
available to the specified ITO's to $45,778, and grants would have 
ranged from a high of $332,936 to a low of $1,296.
    Paragraph (g)(6) contains the Department's formula for the 
calculation of ITO allotments. The multiplication factor will be 
adjusted in future years based on the Department's experience, if 
necessary, in order to achieve the purposes of the Act. Any decision to 
change the multiplication factor will be promulgated through the 
issuance of an Information Memorandum under the ACYF policy issuance 
system.

IV. Impact Analysis

Executive Order 12866

    Executive Order 12866 requires that regulations be reviewed to 
ensure that they are consistent with the priorities and principles set 
forth in the Executive Order. The Department has determined that the 
regulations are consistent with these priorities and principles. This 
NPRM will not result in more costs because the increased funding to 
Indian tribes and ITOs will come from the change in the allotment 
formula.

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980

    Consistent with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 
Ch. 5), the Department tries to anticipate and reduce the impact of 
rules and paperwork requirements on small businesses. For each rule 
with a ``significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities'' an analysis is prepared describing the rule's impact on 
small entities. Small entities are defined in the Act to include small 
businesses and small non-profit organizations. This regulation would 
affect States and Indian tribes, which are not ``small entities'' 
within the meaning of the Act. For these reasons, the Secretary 
certifies that this rule will not have a significant impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. 96-511, all 
Departments are required to submit to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval any reporting or recordkeeping 
requirements in a proposed or final rule. This NPRM contains no 
reporting or recordkeeping requirements. Therefore no submission to OMB 
is required.

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1357

    Adoption and foster care, Child welfare, Child welfare services, 
State plan, Indians, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 93.645, Child 
Welfare Services--State Grants)

    Dated: September 2, 1994.
Mary Jo Bane,
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

    Approved: October 7, 1994.
Donna E. Shalala,
Secretary.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 45 CFR 1357.40 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 1357--REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO TITLE IV-B

    1. The authority statement for Part 1357 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 620; 42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 1302.

    2. Section 1357.40 is amended by revising paragraph (a) and by 
adding paragraph (g)(6) to read as follows:


Sec. 1357.40  Direct payments to Indian Tribal Organizations (title IV-
B, subpart 1, child welfare services).

    (a) Who may apply for direct funding? Any Indian Tribal 
Organization (ITO) that meets the definitions in section 428(c) of the 
Act, or any consortium or other group of eligible tribal organizations 
authorized by the membership of the tribes to act for them, is eligible 
to apply for direct funding if the ITO, consortium or group has a plan 
for child welfare services that is jointly developed by the ITO and the 
Department.
* * * * *
    (g) Grants: General.
* * * * *
    (6) In order to determine the amount of Federal funds available for 
a direct grant to an eligible ITO, the Department shall first divide 
the State's title IV-B allotment by the number of children in the 
State, then multiply the resulting amount by a multiplication factor 
determined by the Secretary, and then multiply that amount by the 
number of Indian children in the ITO population. The multiplication 
factor will be set at a level designed to achieve the purposes of the 
Act and revised as appropriate.

[FR Doc. 94-25941 Filed 10-19-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M