[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 9943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3873]



[[Page 9943]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Emergency Contingency Fund for Temporary Assistance for 
Needy Families (TANF) Programs OFA-100.
    OMB No.: 0970-0366.

Description

    On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which establishes the 
Emergency Contingency Fund for State TANF Programs (Emergency Fund) as 
section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act). This legislation 
provides up to $5 billion to help States, Territories, and Tribes in 
fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY 2010 that have an increase in assistance 
caseloads and basic assistance expenditures, or in expenditures related 
to short-term benefits or subsidized employment. The Recovery Act made 
additional changes to TANF extending supplemental grants through FY 
2010, expanding flexibility in the use of TANF funds carried over from 
one fiscal year to the next, and adding a hold-harmless provision to 
the caseload reduction credit for States and Territories serving more 
TANF families.
    The Emergency Fund is intended to build upon and renew the 
principles of work and responsibility that underlie successful welfare 
reform initiatives. The Emergency Fund provides resources to States, 
Territories, and Tribes to support work and families during this 
difficult economic period.
    On July 20, 2009 we issued a Program Instruction accompanied by the 
Emergency Fund Request Form (OFA-100), and instructions for 
jurisdictions to complete the OFA-100 to apply for emergency funds.
    Failure to collect this data would compromise ACF's ability to 
monitor caseload and expenditure data that must increase in order for 
jurisdictions to receive awards under the Emergency Fund.
    Documentation maintenance on financial reporting for the Emergency 
Fund is governed by 45 CFR 92.20 and 45 CFR 92.42.
    ACF is planning to extend the information collection with the 
adjustment to the Estimated Annual Burden shown in the table below. 
Based on our projections for a lower Estimated Annual Burden, we have 
revised the Number of Responses per Respondent to 1 from its previous 
number of 5. Because the Number of Responses per Respondent has been 
revised, the Estimated Total Burden Hours is now 2,232, down from its 
previous number of 11,160.

Respondents

    State, Territory, and Tribal agencies administering the Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program that are applying for the 
Emergency Fund.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per   burden hours    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TANF Emergency Fund Request Form, OFA-100.......              93               1              24           2,232
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,232.
    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 comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-3873 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P