[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 98 (Wednesday, May 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29196-29197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11660]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review and Child and 
Family Service Reviews; Final Rule.
    OMB No.: 0970-0214.
    Description: The following five separate activities are associated 
with this information collection: Foster Care Eligibility Review 
(foster care review) Program Improvement Plan; Child and Family 
Services Reviews (CFSR) State agency Statewide Assessment; CFSR On-site 
Review; CFSR Program Improvement Plan; and Anti-Discrimination 
Enforcement Corrective Action Plan. The collection of information for 
review of federal payments to states for foster care maintenance 
payments (45 CFR 1356.71(i)) is authorized by title IV-E of the Social 
Security Act (the Act), section 474 [42 U.S.C. 674]. The foster care 
review systematically checks title IV-E agency compliance in meeting 
title IV-E eligibility requirements; validates the accuracy of the 
agency's claims for reimbursement of title IV-E payment made on behalf 
of children in foster care; and identifies and recovers improper 
payments. The collection of information for review of state child and 
family services programs (45 CFR 1355.33(b), 1355.33(c) and 1355.35(a)) 
is to determine whether such programs are in substantial conformity 
with state plan requirements under parts B and E of the Act and is 
authorized by section 1123(a) [42 U.S.C. 1320a-1a] of the Act. The CFSR 
looks at the outcomes related to safety, permanency and well-being of 
children served by the child welfare system and at seven systemic 
factors that support the outcomes. Section 474(d) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 
674] deploys enforcement provisions (45 CFR 1355.38(b) and (c)) for the 
requirements at section 4371(a)(18) [42 U.S.C. 671], which prohibit the 
delay or denial of foster and adoptive placements based on the race, 
color, or national origin of any of the individuals involved. The 
enforcement provisions include the execution and completion of 
corrective action plans when a state is in violation of section 
471(a)(18) of the Act. The information collection is needed: (1) To 
ensure compliance with title IV-E foster care eligibility requirements; 
(2) to monitor state plan requirements under titles IV-B and IV-E of 
the Act, as required by federal statute; and (3) to enforce the title 
IV-E anti-discrimination requirements through state corrective action 
plans. The resultant information will allow ACF to determine if states 
are in compliance with state plan requirements and are achieving 
desired outcomes for children and families, help ensure that claims by 
states for title IV-E funds are made only on behalf of title IV-E 
eligible children, and require states to revise applicable statutes, 
rules, policies and procedures, and provide proper training to staff, 
through the development and implementation of corrective action plans. 
These reviews not only address compliance with eligibility requirements 
but also assist states in enhancing the capacities to serve children 
and families. In computing the number of burden hours for this 
information collection, ACF based the annual burden estimates on ACF's 
and states' experiences in conducting reviews and developing program 
improvement plans.
    Respondents: State Title IV-B and Title IV-E Agencies.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per     hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
45 CFR 1356.7 (i) Program Improvement Plan (IV-E               2               1              90             180
 review)........................................
45 CFR 1366.33 (b) Statewide Assessment (CFSR)..              13               1             120           1,560
45 CFR 1355.33 (c) On-site Review (CFSR)........              13               1           1,186          15,418
45 CFR 1355.35 (a) Program Improvement Plan                   13               1             300           3,180
 (CFSR).........................................
45 CFR 1355.38 (b) and (c) Corrective Action....               1               1             780             780
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated total annual burden hours:........  ..............  ..............  ..............          21,118
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    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.

[[Page 29197]]

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 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. 2014-11660 Filed 5-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P