[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2444-2445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00440]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: TANF Quarterly Financial Report ACF-196R
    OMB No.: New Collection
    Description: This information collection is authorized under 
Section 411(a)(3) of the Social Security Act. This request is for 
approval to create the ACF-196R form for quarterly financial reporting 
under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 
Implementation of these changes will entail new costs to ACF, and thus, 
final adoption will depend upon funding availability. States 
participating in the TANF program are required by statute to report 
financial data on a quarterly basis. The form meets the legal standard 
and provides essential data on the use of federal TANF funds. Failure 
to collect the data would seriously compromise ACF's ability to monitor 
program expenditures, estimate funding needs, and to prepare budget 
submissions and annual reports required by Congress. Financial 
reporting under the TANF program is governed by 45 CFR Part 265.
    Approval of the ACF-196R would result in two basic changes to TANF 
quarterly financial reports. The first is to require respondents to 
allocate annual expenditures among an expanded list of categories on 
the ACF-196R; these categories better reflect the wide range of 
activities on which states are expending TANF funds. The second change 
is to the accounting method used to report expenditures made in a 
fiscal year and monitor cumulative expenditures by grant year award. 
Specifically, effective FY 2015, with each open grant year award, 
respondents will be required to report actual expenditures made in a 
fiscal year rather than updating cumulative totals, using the ACF-196R. 
If a respondent needs to adjust an expenditure reported in a prior 
year, it will revise the report for the fiscal year in which that 
expenditure occurred, rather than the current year's report.
    We will maintain the ACF-196 form (Approved OMB No 0970-0247), only 
for revisions to historical data. Specifically, if a respondent needs 
to adjust or correct an expenditure submitted in a fiscal year prior to 
FY 2015, the respondent will revise the ACF-196 pertaining to the 
relevant

[[Page 2445]]

grant year for expenditures cumulative through FY 2014. Thus, the 
reporting burden associated with the ACF-196 is greatly reduced.
    ACF revised the proposed ACF-196R form and instructions published 
in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013, based on comments 
received. We added to the list of general instructions, and revised 
some expenditure categories and related definitions, resulting in 
greater clarity or eased reporting. We also expanded our discussion of 
adjustments and revisions to prior data to provide examples and address 
concerns over how TANF financial reporting relates to the accounting 
method states use to track their expenditures. Finally, we increased 
the estimated burden hours necessary to complete quarterly reports 
based on feedback from states.
    Respondents: State agencies administering the TANF program

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                  Number of      Average burden
                 Instrument                      Number of      responses per      hours per       Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent        response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACF-196R....................................              51                4               32             6528
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6528
    Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained 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. All 
requests should be identified by the title of the information 
collection. Email address: [email protected]. Interested 
parties can also access copies of the proposed collection of 
information (instructions and forms) by accessing the Information 
Memorandum TANF-ACF-IM-2014-01 on the Policy page of the OFA Web site, 
available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/programs/tanf/policy.
    OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the 
collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of 
this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best 
assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of 
publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office 
of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Email: [email protected], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for 
Children and Families.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-00440 Filed 1-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P