[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48914-48918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18885]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records Notice

AGENCY: Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and the Office of Planning, 
Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), ACF, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 
(5 U.S.C. 552a), the Office of Family Assistance and the Office of 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), are publishing a notice of a new system of records 
entitled TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Data System. 
The collection of the data elements for this system is authorized by 
title IV-A of the Social

[[Page 48915]]

Security Act (Act) (42 U.S.C. 601-619). The TANF Data System includes 
the data elements on individual TANF recipients that States report 
under sections 403 and 411 of the Act.
    Information in the TANF Data System is used for three major 
purposes: (1) To determine whether States are meeting certain 
requirements prescribed by the Act; (2) to report to Congress on the 
TANF program; and (3) to compute the scores and rank States on their 
performance in assisting TANF recipients to obtain and retain 
employment in connection with the award of High Performance Bonus 
funds.

DATES: We invite interested parties to submit comments on this notice 
within August 26, 2002. Pursuant to paragraph 4c of Appendix I to 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-130, Federal 
Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals, we 
have sent copies of this notice as required by 5 U.S.C. 552(a) to the 
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the U.S. 
Senate, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The new system of records is 
proposed to be established effective September 2, 2002, unless ACF 
receives comments that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Please address comments to: Sean D. Hurley, Director, 
Division of TANF Data Collection and Analysis, Office of Planning, 
Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, 
Department of Health and Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW.; 
Suite 706, Washington, DC 20447, Phone: 202-401-9297, Fax: 202-205-
3598, E-mail: [email protected].
    Comments received will be available for public inspection at the 
address specified above from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean D. Hurley, Director, Division of 
Data Collection and Analysis, at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 
program under title IV-A of the Act became effective on August 22, 
1996. In order to monitor the progress of States (i.e., the 50 States, 
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam) 
implementing the TANF program, Congress specified mandatory data 
collection and reporting requirements in section 411 of the Act. This 
section also requires the Department to transmit to Congress an annual 
report on the Department's findings as to whether States are:
     Meeting the work participation rates; and,
     Increasing the employment and earnings of needy families, 
increasing child support collections, and decreasing out-of-wedlock 
pregnancies and child poverty.
    The annual report must also describe:
     The demographic and financial characteristics of families 
applying for, receiving, and becoming ineligible for TANF;
     The characteristics of State TANF programs; and,
     The trends in employment and earnings of needy families 
with minor children living at home.
    In addition to the foregoing requirements, the statute also allows 
(but does not require) States to compete for an award of High-
Performance Bonus funds. These funds are awarded to applicant States 
which successfully assist TANF recipients in obtaining and retaining 
employment.
    Until the regulations for the TANF program and the High Performance 
Bonus system were finalized, including the data collection 
requirements, States were required to meet minimal reporting 
requirements under the Emergency TANF Data Report, which did not 
include any individual identifiers.
    Final rules published on April 12, 1999, expanded TANF data 
collection and reporting requirements. These requirements, published at 
45 CFR part 265, required States to report specific individual 
identifiers, including the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of TANF 
recipients collected pursuant to section 1137 of the Act. States are 
required to collect the prescribed data elements monthly and report the 
data quarterly to ACF. States may report these data elements on the 
entire universe of families that receive assistance in a reporting 
month or for a representative sample of recipients. Approximately 30 
States currently report universe data.
    Final rules regarding the award of TANF High Performance Bonus 
(HPB) funds were published on August 30, 2000 and amended on December 
4, 2000 and May 10, 2001. These rules, which are found at 45 CFR part 
270, specify the data and other information which States must report in 
order to compete for bonus awards.
    Consistent with the requirements noted above, the Office of Family 
Assistance and the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation propose 
to establish a new system of records: The TANF Data System (TDS). In 
addition, since States that wish to compete on the four work measures 
in the HPB system in FY 2002 or later are required to provide the 
Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of all adult recipients in each fiscal 
quarter, such SSNs will also be included in the TDS. These SSNs are 
used to obtain information on the employment and earnings of TANF 
recipients by matching them with the National Directory of New Hires 
(NDNH) data set maintained by the Office of Child Support Enforcement 
(OCSE), ACF.
    The records in this system will be maintained in a secure manner 
compatible with their content and use. Approved users will be required 
to adhere to the provisions of the Privacy Act. The System Manager will 
control access to the data.

    Dated: June 19, 2002.
Andrew S. Bush,
Director, Office of Family Assistance.
    Dated: June 18, 2002.
Howard Rolston,
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.
09-90-0151

System Name:
    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data System, 
Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and 
Human Services.

Security Classification:
    None.

System Location:
    The TANF data are reported by the individual States for each 
(Federal) fiscal quarter. (The term State is used in this notice to 
refer to the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the jurisdictions 
of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam). States (CIT) of the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) located at Building 12A, Bethesda, 
MD 20892. The State data are pooled to create a national database for 
each quarter, which is also kept in the computer system of CIT. The 
whole system is maintained under the technical and management control 
of: (1) The Office of Information Systems, Office of Administration, 
Administration for Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 
Washington, DC 20447; and (2) the Office of Planning, Research, and 
Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447.

[[Page 48916]]

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    The TANF Data System (TDS) contains information on: (1) Members of 
families (as defined by regulation at 45 CFR 265.2) who received 
assistance under the TANF program in any month, and (2) members of 
families (as defined by regulation at 45 CFR 265.2) in which an 
individual was assisted by a Separate State Program (SSP) which is not 
subject to Federal work or time limit requirements but for which 
expenditures are or will be claimed by the State to satisfy TANF 
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements.

Categories of Records in the System:
    There are three distinct groups of data in the TDS: family-level 
data; adult-level or minor-child-head-of-household data; and child 
data.
    Family level data maintained in the TDS may include the following 
items of information on every family that received assistance during 
one or more months: State Federal Information Processing Standard 
(FIPS) code; Region code; county FIPS code; report year and month; 
stratum code; case identification number (assigned by the State); Zip 
code; funding stream; disposition status; new applicant status; number 
of family members; type of family for work participation; receipt of 
subsidized housing; receipt of medical assistance; receipt of food 
stamp assistance; amount of food stamp assistance; receipt of 
subsidized child care; amount of subsidized child care; amount of child 
support; amount of family's cash resources; cash, or cash equivalent, 
amount of assistance and number of months of that assistance; TANF 
child care (amount, number of children covered, and number of months of 
assistance); transportation assistance (amount and number of months of 
assistance); transitional services (amount and number of months of 
assistance); other assistance (amount and number of months of 
assistance); amount of reductions in assistance; reason for assistance 
reductions (sanctions, recoupment of prior over payment, and other); 
waiver evaluation experimental and control group status; exemption 
status from the federal time-limit provisions; and new child-only-
family status.
    Adult-level or minor child-head-of-household data maintained in the 
TDS may include: case identification number (same as the family's 
identification number); report year and month, State FIPS code; family 
affiliation; non-custodial parent indicator; date of birth; SSN; race 
and ethnicity; gender; receipt of disability benefits; marital status; 
relationship to head of household; parent-with-minor-child-in-the-
family status; needs of a pregnant woman; education level; citizenship; 
cooperation with child support; number of months countable towards 
Federal time-limit; number of countable months remaining under State's 
time-limit; exemption status of the reporting month from the State's 
time-limit; employment status; work participation status; unsubsidized 
employment hours; subsidized private and public sector employment 
hours; work experience hours; on-the-job training hours; job search and 
job readiness assistance hours; community service program hours; 
vocational educational training hours; hours of job skills training 
directly related to employment; hours of education directly related to 
employment for individuals with no high school diploma or certificate 
of high school equivalency; hours of satisfactory school attendance for 
individuals with no high school diploma or certificate of high school 
equivalency; hours of providing child care services to an individual 
who is participating in a community service program; hours of 
additional work activities permitted under a Waiver demonstration; 
hours of other work activities; required hours of work under a Waiver 
demonstration; amount of earned income; and amount of unearned income 
(earned income tax credit, Social Security benefit, Supplemental 
Security Income (SSI), worker's compensation, and other unearned 
income).
    Child data (i.e., data pertaining to every child in a recipient 
TANF family) may include: case identification number (same as the 
family's identification number); State FIPS code; report year and 
month; family affiliation; date of birth; SSN; race and ethnicity; 
gender; receipt of disability benefits; relationship to head of 
household; parent-with-minor-child-in-the-family status; education 
level; citizenship; amount of unearned income (SSI and other).

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Legal authority for the collection and maintenance of the system is 
contained in Title IV-A of the Social Security Act (Act), 42 U.S.C. 
601-619. TANF data collection and reporting regulations are found in 45 
CFR part 265. Legal authority for the collection of information for the 
High Performance Bonus award program is found in section 403 of the 
Social Security Act and in 45 CFR part 270.

Purpose(s):
    Information in the TANF Data System is used for three major 
purposes: (1) To determine whether States are meeting certain 
requirements prescribed by the Act, including prescribed work and time-
limit requirements; (2) to compile information used to report to 
Congress on the TANF program; and, (3) to compute State scores on work 
measures and rank States on their performance in assisting TANF 
recipients to obtain and retain employment in connection with the award 
of High Performance Bonus funds.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including CAtegories 
of Users and the Purpose of Such Uses:
    Records containing data collected pursuant to section 411 of the 
Social Security Act may be disclosed :
    1. To supply raw or tabulated data without personal identifiers in 
response to specific requests from private and public entities.
    2. To supply raw (untabulated) data for research purposes in 
response to requests from researchers who have agreed in writing not to 
use such data to identify any individual whose information is included 
therein.

Disclosure to Consumer Reporting AGencies:
    None.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    States electronically transmit the TANF data for each fiscal 
quarter to a computer in the Center for Information Technology (CIT) of 
the National Institute of Health. The data sets received from the 
States in accordance with the requirements of section 411 of the Social 
Security Act and 45 CFR part 265 are pooled to create a national 
database for each fiscal quarter. The national database thus created 
for a given fiscal year is also kept in a computer disk on the 
mainframe of the CIT for up to 24 months after the end of such fiscal 
year. Afterwards, the database is copied to compact discs (CDs) and 
securely kept in ACF under lock and key or on personal computers by 
individuals whose access to the CDs has been authorized by OPRE and/or 
the ACF's Office of Information Services, Office of Administration.
    Although SSNs of adult TANF recipients collected from States which 
have chosen to compete for High-Performance bonuses are stored on the 
CIT as well, they are also provided to Office of Child Support 
Enforcement for

[[Page 48917]]

matching with records of individual employment information contained in 
the National Directory of New Hires portion of OCSE's Location and 
Collection System, No. 09-90-0074, last published at Federal Register, 
Vol. 65, No. 187, pages 57817-57820, dated September 26, 2000. 
Thereafter, match results are transmitted back to OPRE without SSNs in 
a form which is not individually identifiable and the SSNs supplied to 
perform the match are destroyed by OCSE.

Retrievability:
    The national database kept in the CIT is accessed by authorized 
users of the data following established procedures. The authorized 
users are selected individuals in the Office of Administration, ACF 
(including its contractors who may handle processing of the data and 
the creation of the national database), and selected individuals in the 
Division of Data Collection and Analysis, Office of Planning, Research, 
and Evaluation, ACF (who perform analyses of the data). The database is 
accessed and downloaded by authorized individuals to secure personal 
computers (PCs). Sharing of the data downloaded to individual PCs is 
allowed only with permission of the System Manager. Although all data 
elements in the database can be retrieved, the SSNs are not generally 
included in any retrieval, since they are not used in the routine 
analyses of the data.

Safeguards:
    1. Physical security: The CIT of NIH, as a U.S. government 
facility, abides by all U.S. government policies with regard to the 
physical security of the data kept there. The CIT has the following: an 
uninterruptible power supply; climate control; a central backup and 
recovery system; a disaster recovery program; security procedures for 
data access; and normal physical and system security procedures 
(restricted physical access to computer machine rooms and output 
handling areas, which is enforced by a round-the-clock security guard 
stationed at the main entrance to the area, valid government 
identification (ID) badge or photo identification and registration with 
the security guard to obtain a temporary entry badge for a specifically 
authorized purpose, such as maintenance service or repair of equipment, 
etc.). The outputs generated at the facility are placed in locked boxes 
that can be accessed only by users knowing the correct box access code. 
To ensure physical security of data kept on tapes or other portable 
media, the CIT requires that the sponsor of an account authorize the 
removal of them from the CIT. When such items are taken out, the person 
receiving the items provides the following to the production unit staff 
of the CIT: name and signature; ID badge number; driver's license 
number and State; and organization's (which is represented by the 
person) name and phone number. Only after confirming these items of 
information by the production unit staff will the items be given to the 
person. Data older than 24 months is downloaded by authorized 
individuals to secure PCs, then copied to CDs which are then kept under 
lock and key. After copying the data to CDs, the data on the PCs are 
deleted.
    2. Authorized access: Access to the data is strictly regulated with 
passwords and other controls. Only individuals whose work 
responsibilities specifically include accessing the data system (either 
for processing or for analysis) are allowed to access these data. They 
include designated individuals (including contractors) in the Division 
of Application Development Services, Office of Information Services, 
Office of Administration, ACF (mostly for processing incoming data and 
database creation), and designated individuals in the Division of Data 
Collection and Analysis, OPRE, ACF.
    3. Procedural and technical safeguards: The individuals who are 
authorized to access the data have been adequately instructed on the 
privacy and confidentiality of the data, and they have been trained to 
handle the data in such a manner as to protect its privacy and 
confidentiality. Release of any personal identification particulars by 
these individuals is strictly forbidden, and release of even tabulated 
data is allowed only under specific authorization. Established 
clearance procedures must be observed before any release of the 
information contained in the data system.

Retention and Disposal:
    The data transmitted by a State for a fiscal quarter to the CIT's 
computer are backed up to a computer tape after the initial processing 
of the data. The backed-up version of the data is kept only for a 
period of 30 days.
    The data transmitted by the States for a fiscal quarter, after 
processing and acceptance, are pooled to create a national database for 
the quarter. The national database is stored in the CIT's computer for 
up to 24 months after the end of the fiscal year. Afterwards, the 
database is copied to a compact disc, and the original data in CIT's 
computer is scratched. The data on the compact disc is securely 
maintained by ACF for up to 20 years in order to facilitate research on 
caseload trends, changes in the characteristics of TANF recipients, or 
other pertinent research. The eventual disposal of the data will be by 
means of physical destruction of the CD's containing the data. The 
Office of Information Systems of the Office of Administration and OPRE, 
ACF, are responsible for the retention and disposal of the data system.
    The SSNs obtained for the HPB award program for a performance year, 
although initially kept in an electronic file in the CIT, are erased 
after identifying the States that merited awards for that performance 
year. The erasing of these SSN data file will be done within a year 
after the award year, which immediately follows the performance year. 
Aggregate data files based on information provided for the HPB award 
program are also erased.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    1. Director, Division of Applications Development Services, Office 
of Information Services, Office of Administration, Administration for 
Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 
20447.
    2. Director, Division of Data Collection and Analysis, Office of 
Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and 
Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447.

Notification Procedures:
    To determine if a record exists, write to either of the System 
Managers noted above. The Privacy Act provides that, except under 
certain conditions specified in the law, only the subject of the 
records may have access to them. All requests must be submitted in the 
following manner: Identify the system of records that is desired to be 
searched; have the request for search notarized certifying the identity 
of the requestor; and indicate that the requestor is aware that the 
knowing and willful request for or acquisition of Privacy Act record 
under false pretenses is a criminal offense subject to a $10,000 fine. 
The letter of request should also provide sufficient particulars to 
enable the System Manager to distinguish among records on subject 
individuals with the same name.

Record ACcess Procedures:
    Write to either of the System Managers listed above to obtain 
access to the records. Requestors should provide a detailed description 
of the record contents they are seeking.

[[Page 48918]]

Contesting Record Procedures:
    Write to either of the System Managers listed above, at the address 
noted, identifying the record and specifying the information to be 
contested and corrective action sought, together with supporting 
justification to show how the record is inaccurate, incomplete, 
untimely, or irrelevant.

Record Source Categories:
    All items of information contained in the system of records are 
obtained from the States.

System Exempted from Certain Provisions of the Act:
    None.

[FR Doc. 02-18885 Filed 7-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P