[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8115-8116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2463]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Social Services Block Grant Post-Expenditure Report.
    OMB No.: New.
    Description:
    Purpose: In order to improve the quality of data on the utilization 
of SSBG funds a revised reporting form needs to be developed with 
instructions that will eliminate confusion and reporting 
inconsistencies that have resulted from the current form. As a block 
grant, SSBG provides the States with a flexible source of funds for 
social service needs. Accurate accounting of how these funds are used 
and whom they serve is critical to ensure that necessary and sufficient 
funding continues to be allocated. For this reason, the following 
changes are being proposed to the current form:
    1. The codes that indicated whether expenditures were actual or 
estimates are omitted on the revised form. These codes have not been 
filled in consistently and have been of little analytical value.
    2. The codes that indicated whether recipients were duplicated or 
unduplicated are omitted on the revised form. These codes have not been 
filled in consistently and have been of little analytical value.
    3. Columns containing SSBG cost per adult and SSBG cost per child 
are omitted. SSBG cost per recipient can be calculated using the number 
of recipients and amount of expenditures reported.
    4. Items 30 a,b,c and d (transfers in, transfers out, carry forward 
and carry over) are omitted on the revised form. Information about how 
much of allocated funds were spent will be reported on the Form 269a 
(OMB No. 0348-0036). Information about funds transferred into SSBG is 
in a separate expenditures column.
    5. On the revised form, expenditures of SSBG funds is divided into 
two subcolumns--SSBG Allocation and Funds Transferred into SSBG. This 
provides more information about how transferred funds was used than the 
previous form which had only a place for Transfers In. States are 
instructed to note at the bottom from which block grant these funds 
were transferred.
    6. A column is added for Expenditures of All other Federal, State 
and Local Funds. The addition of this column, with accompanying 
instructions, will make more clear that States are to report all 
sources of funds for services supported by SSBG.

[[Page 8116]]

    7. The column for Adults is divided into two age groups. Adults are 
counted as either ``Adults Age 59 or younger'' or ``Adults Age 60 or 
older''. A column for total adults is also included, which can be used 
by States who do not know the age breakout of the adult recipients. 
This more detailed reporting of Adults will allow considerably greater 
detailed analyses of the use of SSBG for specific services.
    8. The order of two services, special services for youth at risk 
and special services for the disabled, has been changed from the 
previous version of the post-expenditure report form so that services 
are in the correct alphabetical order.
    The Social Services Block Grant program (SSBG) provides funds to 
assist States in delivering social services directed towards the need 
of children and adults in the State. Funds are allocated to the States 
in proportion to their populations. States, including the District of 
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, 
and American Samoa have substantial discretion in their use of funds 
and may determine what services will be provided, who will be eligible, 
and how funds are distributed among the various services. State or 
local SSBG agencies (i.e., county, city, regional offices) may provide 
the services or may purchase them from qualified agencies, 
organizations or individuals. States report as recipients of SSBG-
funded services any individuals who receive a service funded at least 
partially by SSBG.
    States are required to report their annual SSBG expenditures on a 
standard post-expenditure report, which includes a yearly total of 
adults and children served and annual expenditures in each of 29 
service categories. Reporting requirements for SSBG were originally 
described in the Federal Register, Volume 58, Number 218, on Monday 
November 15, 1993. The annual report is to be submitted within six 
months of the end of the period covered by the report, and must address 
(1) the number of individuals (as well as number of children and number 
of adults) who receive services paid for in whole or in part with 
federal funds under the Social Services Block Grant; (2) the amount of 
Social Services Block Grant funds spent in providing each service; (3) 
the total amount of federal, state and local funds spent in providing 
each service, including Social Services Block Grant funds; and (4) the 
method(s) by which each service is provided, showing separately the 
services provided by public agencies, private agencies.
    Information collected on the post-expenditure report is analyzed 
and described in an annual report on SSBG expenditures and recipients 
produced by the Office of Community Services. The information contained 
in this report is used to establish how SSBG funding is used for the 
provision of services in each State to each of many specific 
populations of needy individuals.
    Respondents: This report is completed once annually by a 
representative of the agency that administers the Social Services Block 
Grant at the State level in each State, the District of Columbia and 
the Territories.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                  Number of      Average burden
                 Instrument                     Number of       responses per      hours per       Total burden
                                               respondents       respondent         response          hours
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Post-Expenditure Report....................              56                 1              110             6160
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:...  ...............  ................  ...............            6160
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    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(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 
Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 
20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. 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: January 24, 2001.
Bob Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-2463 Filed 1-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M