[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 210 (Monday, November 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63400-63401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24348]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect.
    OMB No.: 0970-0276.
    Description: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
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. NIS-1, mandated under 
Public Law (Pub. L.) 93-247 (1974), was conducted in 1979 and 1980 and 
reported in 1981. The NIS-2, mandated under (Pub. L. 98-457 (1984), was 
conducted in 1986 and 1987, and reported in 1988. NIS-3, mandated under 
both the Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption, and Family Services Act of 
1988 (Pub. L.) 100-294)

[[Page 63401]]

and the Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Adoption and Family Services 
Act of 1992 (Pub. L.) 102-295, conducted between 1993 and 1995, and 
reported in 1996. NIS-4, mandated by the Keeping Children and Families 
Safe Act of 2003 (Pub. L.) 108-36), will be reported in 2006.
    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 
assumptions, 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 
encounter them during the normal course of their work in a wide range 
of agencies in representative communities. Sentinels are asked to 
remain on the lookout for children whom they believe are maltreated 
during the study reference period and to provide information about 
these children. Children identified by sentinels and those children 
whose 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 that 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 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, 2005 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 reference period. In preparation for the study, letters will 
be sent to the directors of the selected agencies asking them to permit 
their agencies to participant in NIS-4, and describing the general 
nature of the data collection effort. HHS will issue a 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
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per   burden hours    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response        hours
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Letter to CPS Agencies..........................             120               1             .20              24
Letter to Sentinel Agencies.....................           1,600               1             .20             320
                                                          12,000               1             .20           2,400
                                                 -----------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours.............  ..............  ..............             .20           2,744
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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 
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: October 26, 2004.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-24348 Filed 10-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M