[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1494-1495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-215]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)--Reporting Improper 
Payments--Instructions for States.
    OMB No.: 0970-0323.
    Description: Section 2 of the Improper Payments Act of 2002 
provides for estimates and reports of improper payments by Federal 
agencies. Subpart K of 45 CFR part 98 will require States to prepare 
and submit a report of errors occurring in the administration of CCDF 
grant funds once every three years.
    The Office of Child Care (OCC) is completing the second 3-year 
cycle of case record reviews to meet the requirements for reporting 
under IPIA. The OCC has conducted ongoing evaluation of the case record 
review process to determine if ``improper authorizations for payment'' 
remained a suitable proxy for actual ``improper payments.'' It is OCC's 
determination that in some cases authorizations for payment represented 
the same figure as actual payments; in other cases authorizations for 
payment has represented a figure as much as 20% higher than actual 
payments. Many States reported errors found during the desk audit 
review process that were due to missing or insufficient documentation 
or other misapplication of policy, but found that families were 
determined to be eligible for services and that the actual payment 
authorized was correct. Other States reported regulatory barriers in 
State law which prohibits recovery of over-authorization or over-
payment as the result of agency error. As such, this information 
collection will provide a methodology revision that will assess errors 
in eligibility determinations that will compare the amount authorized 
for payment with the actual payment.
    Respondents: State grantees, the District of Columbia, and Puerto 
Rico.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                        Number of    responses  per   burden hours    Total burden
                                                    respondents      respondent    per response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sampling Decisions and Fieldwork Preparation                  17               1             106            1802
 Plan...........................................
Record Review Worksheet.........................              17             276            6.33       29,700.36
State Improper Authorizations for Payment Report              17               1             639          10,863
Corrective Action Plan..........................               8               1             156            1248
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 43,613.36.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 506(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 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. Email 
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 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

[[Page 1495]]

comments and suggestions submitted within 60 days of this publication.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-215 Filed 1-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P