[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10096-10098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05114]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Community Living
[OMB # 0985-New]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Public Comment Request; One Protection and Advocacy Annual
Program Performance Report
AGENCY: Administration for Community Living (ACL), HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living is announcing that the
proposed collection of information listed above has been submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This 30-Day notice
collects comments on the information collection
[[Page 10097]]
requirements related to the proposed new data collection (ICR New).
DATES: Submit written comments on the collection of information by
April 18, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the collection of information by:
(a) Email to: [email protected], Attn: OMB Desk Officer
for ACL;
(b) fax to 202.395.5806, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for ACL; or
(c) by mail to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
OMB, New Executive Office Bldg., 725 17th St. NW, Rm. 10235,
Washington, DC 20503, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for ACL.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ophelia McLain, Administration for
Community Living, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities, Office of Program Support, 330 C Street SW, Washington,
DC 20201, (202) 795-7401 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, ACL has
submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for
review and clearance. ACL is publishing a notice of the proposed
collection of information set forth in this document.
This proposed new data collection will replace four existing
Protection and Advocacy Program Performance Reports and other
revisions.
The four annual reports include the following: (1) Developmental
Disabilities Protection and Advocacy Systems Program Performance Report
(0985-0027), (2) Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology
(PAAT) Program Performance Report (0985-0046); (3) Protection and
Advocacy Voting Access Annual Report (Help America Vote Act) (HAVA)
(0985-0028); and (4) Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury
(PATBI) Program Performance Report (0985-0058).
State Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems in each State and
Territory provide individual legal advocacy, systemic advocacy,
monitoring and investigations to protect and advance the rights of
people with developmental disabilities, using funding administered by
the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
(AIDD), Administration on Disabilities, Administration for Community
Living, HHS. To meet statutory reporting requirements, P&As have used
four separate forms for submitting annual reports. It is proposed that
the four forms be combined by creating the One Protection and Advocacy
Annual Program Performance Report form. Once the four program
performance reports are combined, the current OMB approval numbers for
each report will be retired, and a new approval number will be created
for the One Protection and Advocacy Program Performance Report. Each
P&A system currently submits four separate reports to AIDD--one report
for each of the funding sources listed below. By combining the forms,
P&As will have a reduced burden because they will be submitting only
one report annually. Duplicative background and other data that appear
in multiple reports will only need to be entered once.
This also will promote accuracy and consistency because this data
will not need to be entered multiple times. The authority for each
report is as follows:
The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 15044: Federal statute and regulation require
each P&A to annually prepare a report that describes the activities and
accomplishments of the system during the preceding fiscal year and a
Statement of Goals and Priorities for each coming fiscal year.
P&As are required to annually report on ``the activities,
accomplishments, and expenditures of the system during the preceding
fiscal year, including a description of the system's goals, the extent
to which the goals were achieved, barriers to their achievement, the
process used to obtain public input, the nature of such input, and how
such input was used.''
The Children's Health Act of 2000, 42 U.S.C. Section 300d-
53(h), requires the P&A System in each State to annually prepare and
submit to the Secretary a report that includes documentation of the
progress they have made in serving individuals with traumatic brain
injury.
The Assistive Technology Act of 1998, Section 5, as
amended, Public Law 108-36, (AT Act), requires the P&A System in each
State to annually prepare and submit to the Secretary a report that
includes documentation of the progress they have made in--
1. conducting consumer-responsive activities, including activities
that will lead to increased access for individuals with disabilities to
funding for assistive technology devices and assistive technology
services;
2. engaging in informal advocacy to assist in securing assistive
technology and assistive technology services for individuals with
disabilities;
3. engaging in formal representation for individuals with
disabilities to secure systems change, and in advocacy activities to
secure assistive technology and assistive technology services for
individuals with disabilities;
4. developing and implementing strategies to enhance the long-term
abilities of individuals with disabilities and their family members,
guardians, advocates, and authorized representatives to advocate the
provision of assistive technology devices and assistive technology
services to which the individuals with disabilities are entitled under
law other than this Act; and
5. coordinating activities with protection and advocacy services
funded through sources other than this title, and coordinating
activities with the capacity building and advocacy activities carried
out by the lead agency.
The Help America Vote Act, Public Law 107-252, Title II,
Subtitle D, Section 291, (42 U.S.C. 15461), requires each grantee to
annually submit a narrative report describing the work performed with
the funds authorized under 42 U.S.C. 15461 of the Help America Vote Act
of 2002.
The combined form will also allow federal reviewers to analyze
patterns more readily between goals, priority setting, and program
performance. The annual program performance report (PPR) is reviewed by
federal staff for compliance and outcomes. Information in the PPRs is
analyzed to create a national profile of programmatic compliance,
outcomes, and goals and priorities for P&A Systems for tracking
accomplishments against these goals and priorities and to determine
areas needing technical assistance, including compliance with Federal
requirements.
Information collected in the unified report will inform AIDD of
trends in P&A advocacy, collaboration with other Federally-funded
entities, and identify best practices for efficient use of federal
funds.
Comments in Response to the 60 Day Federal Register Notice
A 60-day comment period was provided. The solicitation of comments
for the proposed information collection was published in the Federal
Register, Vol. 83, No. 198 (Friday, October 12, 2018).
Five comments were received during the public comment period. Three
addressed AIDD's and the Secretary's monitoring role of the P&As.
They were not relevant to this request for comment. One commenter
suggested AIDD collect information on employees with disabilities in
the proposed section on ``Consumer Involvement in Governance.'' As
consumer involvement in all levels of P&A activity is important, AIDD
adopts that suggestion
[[Page 10098]]
for the revised form. One commenter suggested that we change the list
of AT devices. After consideration of the comment, AIDD will modify the
list of AT devices while retaining the majority of the original
categories. One commenter suggested we delay the data collection for
one year to allow grantees time to prepare. While this may be optimal,
two other tools are expiring in 2019. Therefore, AIDD will proceed with
using this data collection in 2019.
Issues of the scope, content, availability of data, format, and
clarity of instructions for the One PPR have been discussed with all of
the P&A systems through focus groups, work groups, and in conferences
organized on behalf of Administration on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). The
format is based on the efforts of these focus groups, work groups, and
conferences.
The proposed form(s) may be found on the ACL website at: https://www.acl.gov/about-acl/public-input.
Estimated Program Burden
The annual burden on this form is estimated as 7,296 annual burden
hours.
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Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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One Protection and Advocacy Annual Program 57 1 128 7,296
Performance Report.........................
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Dated: March 13, 2019.
Lance Robertson,
Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2019-05114 Filed 3-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P