[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1916-1917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00081]


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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. 0970-0424.
    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.

[[Page 1917]]

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--
    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.
    There are no proposed changes to the NCANDS data collection 
instruments. New fields were implemented during the previous OMB 
clearance cycle in support of the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 and 
to improve reporting on federal performance measures.
    Respondents: State governments, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  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               82            4,264
 Agency File................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,264.
    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.
    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. 2015-00081 Filed 1-13-15; 8:45 am]
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