[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 147 (Monday, August 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46146-46147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17453]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Agency Recordkeeping/Reporting Requirements Under Emergency 
Review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

    Title: Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect 
(NIS-4).
    OMB No.: New Request.
    Description: The Department of Health and Human Services intends to 
issue letters to recruit agencies for participation in the next 
National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS). This will be 
the fourth cycle of this periodic study. The NIS-1, mandated under 
Public Law (Pub. L.) 93-247 (1974), was conducted in 1979 and 1980 and 
reported in 1981. The NIS-2 was mandated under Pub. L. 98-457 (1984), 
conducted in 1986 and 1987, and reported in 1988. The NIS-3 was 
mandated under both the Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption and Family 
Services Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-294) and the Child Abuse, Domestic 
Violence, Adoption and Family Services Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-295), 
conducted between 1993 and 1995, and published in 1996. The NIS-4 is 
mandated by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 
108-36).
    The NIS is unique in that it goes beyond the abused and neglected 
children who come to the attention of the Child Protective Services 
(CPS) system. In contrast to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data 
Systems (NCANDS), which rely solely on reported cases, the NIS design 
assumes that reported children represent only a portion of the children 
who actually are maltreated. Following the implications of its 
assumption, the NIS estimates the scope of the maltreated child 
population by combining information about reported cases with data on 
maltreated children identified by professionals (called ``sentinels'') 
who encountered them during the normal course of their work in a wide 
range of agencies in representative communities. These professionals 
are asked to remain on the lookout for children they believe are

[[Page 46147]]

maltreated during the study reference period and to provide information 
about those children. Children identified by sentinels and those who 
alleged maltreatment is investigated by CPS during the same period are 
evaluated against standardized definitions and only children who meet 
the study standards are used to develop the study estimates. The study 
estimates are couched in terms of numbers of maltreated children, with 
data unduplicated so a given child is counted only once. 
Confidentiality of all participants is carefully protected.
    A nationally representative sample of 120 counties will be selected 
and all local child protective service (CPS) agencies serving the 
selected counties will be identified. Plans will be developed to obtain 
data on cases investigated during the study reference period, September 
4 to December 3, 2005. Sentinels in the selected counties will be 
identified through samples of agencies in 11 categories: county 
juvenile probation departments, sheriff (and/or state police) 
departments, public health departments, public housing departments, 
municipal police departments, hospitals, schools, day care centers, 
social service agencies, mental health agencies, and shelters for 
battered women or runaway/homeless youth. A total of approximately 
1,600 sentinel agencies will be sampled. Plans will be developed to 
identify staff in these agencies who have direct contact with children 
to serve as sentinels during the study by submitting data on maltreated 
children they encounter during the study referenced period. in 
preparation for the study, letters will be sent to the directors of the 
selected agencies asking them to permit their agencies to participate 
in the NIS-4, and describing the general nature of the data collection 
effort. DHHS will issue subsequent notice of proposed data collection 
for this study after data collection plans are developed.
    Respondents:

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                               Number of    Average
                                                                  Number of    responses    burden       Total
                           Instrument                            respondents      per      hours per    burden
                                                                              respondent   response      hours
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Letters to CPS Agencies........................................          120           1         .20          24
Letter to Sentinel Agencies....................................         1600           1         .20         320
Letter to Sentinels............................................        12000           1         .20        2400
                                                                --------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:.......................  ...........  ..........         .20        2744
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    Additional Information: ACF is requesting that OMB grant a 180 day 
approval for this information collection under procedures for emergency 
processing by August 15, 2004. A copy of this information collection, 
with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling 
the Administration for Children and Families, Mary Bruce Webb at (202) 
205-8628. In addition, a request may be made by sending an e-mail 
request to: [email protected].
    Comments and questions about the information collection described 
above should be directed to the following address by August 15, 2004: 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer 
for ACF, Office of Management and Budget, Paper Reduction Project, 725 
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503. E-mail address: Katherine --
T.--Astrich@omb. eop. gov.

    Dated: July 26, 2004.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-17453 Filed 7-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M