[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13129-13131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5251]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
    OMB No: 0980-0229.
    Description: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families in 
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established the 
National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) to respond to the 
1988 and 1992 amendments (Pub. L. 100-294 and Pub. L. 102-295) to the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.), 
which called for the creation of a coordinated national data collection 
and analysis program, both universal and case specific in scope, to 
examine standardized data on false, unfounded, or unsubstantiated 
reports.
    In 1996, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was amended 
by Public Law 104-235 to require that any State receiving the Basic 
State Grant work with the Secretary of the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) to provide specific data on child maltreatment, to 
the extent practicable. These provisions were retained in the 2010 
reauthorization of CAPTA (Pub. L. 113-320).
    Each State to which a grant is made under this section shall 
annually work with the Secretary to provide, to the maximum extent 
practicable, a report that includes the following:
    1. The number of children who were reported to the State during the 
year as victims of child abuse or neglect.
    2. Of the number of children described in paragraph (1), the number 
with respect to whom such reports were--
     A. substantiated;
     B. unsubstantiated; or
     C. determined to be false.
    3. Of the number of children described in paragraph (2)--
     A. the number that did not receive services during the year under 
the State program funded under this section or an equivalent State 
program;
     B. the number that received services during the year under the 
State program funded under this section or an equivalent State program; 
and
     C. the number that were removed from their families during the 
year by disposition of the case.
    4. The number of families that received preventive services, 
including use of differential response, from the State during the year.
    5. The number of deaths in the State during the year resulting from 
child abuse or neglect.
    6. Of the number of children described in paragraph (5), the number 
of such children who were in foster care.
    7.A. The number of child protective service personnel responsible 
for the--
     i. intake of reports filed in the previous year;
     ii. screening of such reports;
     iii. assessment of such reports; and
     iv. investigation of such reports.
    B. The average caseload for the workers described in subparagraph 
(A).
    8. The agency response time with respect to each such report with 
respect to initial investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect.
    9. The response time with respect to the provision of services to 
families and children where an allegation of child abuse or neglect has 
been made.
    10. For child protective service personnel responsible for intake, 
screening, assessment, and investigation of child abuse and neglect 
reports in the State--

[[Page 13130]]

     A. information on the education, qualifications, and training 
requirements established by the State for child protective service 
professionals, including for entry and advancement in the profession, 
including advancement to supervisory positions;
     B. data of the education, qualifications, and training of such 
personnel;
     C. demographic information of the child protective service 
personnel; and
     D. information on caseload or workload requirements for such 
personnel, including requirements for average number and maximum number 
of cases per child protective service worker and supervisor.
    11. The number of children reunited with their families or 
receiving family preservation services that, within five years, result 
in subsequent substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect, 
including the death of the child.
    12. The number of children for whom individuals were appointed by 
the court to represent the best interests of such children and the 
average number of out of court contacts between such individuals and 
children.
    13. The annual report containing the summary of activities of the 
citizen review panels of the State required by subsection (c)(6).
    14. The number of children under the care of the State child 
protection system who are transferred into the custody of the State 
juvenile justice system.
    15. The number of children referred to a child protective services 
system under subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii).
    16. The number of children determined to be eligible for referral, 
and the number of children referred, under subsection (b)(2)(B)(xxi), 
to agencies providing early intervention services under part C of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).
    The Children's Bureau proposes to continue collecting the NCANDS 
data through the two files of the Detailed Case Data Component, the 
Child File (the case-level component of NCANDS) and the Agency File 
(additional aggregate data, which cannot be collected at the case 
level). Technical assistance will be provided so that all States may 
provide the Child File and Agency File data to NCANDS.
    The Children's Bureau proposes to modify the Child File by adding 
five new fields.
     Field 147, Report Time: The Report Time field will collect 
the hour and minutes when the report was received. Currently NCANDS 
collects only the date when the report was received. Adding the time 
field will allow for a more accurate computation of the time between 
receipt of the report and the start of the investigation or other 
response.
     Field 148, Investigation Start Time: The Investigation 
Start Time field will collect the hour and minutes when the 
investigation or other response was initiated. Currently NCANDS 
collects only the date the investigation or other response was started. 
Adding the time field will allow for a more accurate computation of the 
time between receipt of the report and the start of the investigation 
or other response.
     Field 149, Maltreatment Death Date: The Maltreatment Death 
Date field will collect the date when a child who died of child abuse 
or neglect died. Currently NCANDS only collects that the child was 
determined to have died due to maltreatment, but does not collect the 
date. Since determinations of cause of death can take several months, 
adding the date of death will allow for more accurate counts of deaths 
that occurred during the reporting period in addition to the ability to 
count those for which the finding was established during the reporting 
period.
     Field 150, Near Fatality: The Near Fatality field will 
establish a flag as to whether the State has determined that the child 
was so severely injured that it should be classified as a near 
fatality. A focus on near fatalities is evident in CAPTA (Sec.106 
(b)(2)(B)(x)) and the counts of such cases will be useful in 
establishing prevention activities.
     Field 151, Foster Care Discharge Date: The Foster Care 
Discharge Date field will collect the date of discharge, if discharge 
has occurred, for each child who has the Removal Date field. Currently 
NCANDS collects only the start of foster care but does not collect the 
end of foster care, when a child is returned home or has another 
permanent outcome. Adding this field will allow a more accurate 
computation of the number of children who were maltreated in foster 
care.
    The reauthorization of CAPTA specifies for two counts, ``The number 
of children determined to be eligible for referral, and the number of 
children referred, under subsection (b)(2)(B)(xxi), to agencies 
providing early intervention services under part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).'' (Sec. 
106(d)(16)).
    The children under subsection (b)(2)(B)(xxi) are defined as, ``* * 
* a child under the age of 3 who is involved in a substantiated case of 
child abuse or neglect [referred] to early intervention services funded 
under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).''
    The Children's Bureau proposes to modify the Agency File by adding 
two new fields.
     Field 5.1, Number of Children Eligible for Referral to 
Agencies Providing Early Intervention Services Under Part C of the 
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: This field will collect 
the number of children who are considered by the State to be eligible 
for referral to Part C agencies.
     Field 5.2, Number of Children Referred to Agencies 
Providing Early Intervention Services Under Part C of the Individuals 
With Disabilities Education Act: This field will collect the number of 
children who were actually referred to Part C agencies.
    The information collected by NCANDS will be used to better 
understand the experiences of children and families served by State and 
local child protective services agencies and to guide policy and 
program development at the national and local levels. Data collected 
through the NCANDS will also be used to support HHS with responding to 
the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA); 
reporting to Congress on States' performance on national child welfare 
outcomes; and monitoring States through the CFSRs.
    Respondents: State governments, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per     hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Case Data Component Child File and                   52               1             121           6,292
 Agency File....................................
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[[Page 13131]]

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6,292.
    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 may 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. Email 
address: [email protected]. All requests should be identified 
by the title of the information collection activity--National Child 
Abuse and Neglect Data System.
    The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) The proposed 
change to the two data collection instruments--the Child File and the 
Agency File; (b) 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; (c) the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) 
the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information; and (e) 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.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-5251 Filed 3-2-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P