[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72601-72602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27646]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; National Human Trafficking Hotline 
(NHTH) Performance Indicators

AGENCY: Office on Trafficking in Persons, Administration for Children 
and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is 
requesting approval for a new information collection: National Human 
Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) Performance Indicators.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. The Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) must make a decision about 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.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Description: Section 107(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000, as amended at 22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(1)(B)(ii), 
authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make a 
grant for a national communication system--the NHTH--to assist victims 
of severe forms of trafficking in persons in seeking help, receiving 
referrals, and reporting potential trafficking cases.
    HHS made an award in the form of a Cooperative Agreement to a 
single, competitively selected grantee to maintain and support 
operation of the NHTH throughout the United States and U.S. 
territories. The NHTH is a toll-free hotline that operates 24 hours a 
day, every day of the year.
    The Cooperative Agreement delineates the roles and responsibilities 
for the administration of the grant program, which include:
    1. Operating the NHTH with experienced and trained anti-trafficking 
advocates;
    2. Operating the NHTH website and responding to online signals;
    3. Promoting NHTH services to increase the identification and 
protection of victims of severe forms of human trafficking;
    4. Providing timely information and service referrals to human 
trafficking victims using a trauma-informed, person-centered, 
culturally responsive, and linguistically appropriate approach;
    5. Notifying law enforcement agencies of potential cases of human 
trafficking as well as instances when a trafficking victim is in 
imminent danger; and
    6. Documenting emerging trafficking schemes to assist in the 
detection and investigation of trafficking cases.
    The NHTH grantee collects information about signalers (individuals 
who contact the hotline) and from signalers regarding potential victims 
of a severe form of trafficking in persons and human trafficking cases. 
Given the unique relationship the NHTH has to the public, OTIP is 
seeking clearance to collect information about and from these signalers 
that will be summarized and reported to OTIP by the NHTH grantee in the 
aggregate. The NHTH Performance Indicators information collection will 
provide data for OTIP to assess the extent to which the grantee meets 
required program activities to:
     Ensure potential victims of trafficking remain able to 
access assistance by constantly monitoring and mitigating factors 
impacting NHTH operations;
     Assist the grantee to assess and improve their project 
over the course of the project period;

[[Page 72602]]

     Disseminate insights related to human trafficking cases 
and trends to inform anti-trafficking strategies and policies; and
     Provide information to Congress, other federal agencies, 
stakeholders, the public, and other countries on the aggregate outputs 
and outcomes of the NHTH operations.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 
104-13) and OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, ACF published a notice 
in the Federal Register to announce the agency's intention to request 
OMB review of this information collection activity and provide a sixty-
day period for public comment (86 FR 38489). During the notice and 
comment period, one comment was received from the NHTH grantee. The 
comment did not pertain to the burden estimate for respondents 
(signalers to the NHTH), rather the burden on the recordkeeper (the 
NHTH grantee).
    To be responsive to this comment and reduce the burden on the 
recordkeeper, OTIP modified the collection to remove several of the 
data elements that were initially proposed. Where OTIP has requested 
any new data (e.g., data the grantee is not already providing to OTIP 
as a condition of award), particularly, for existing data to be further 
disaggregated, it is in the interest of allowing OTIP to:
     Monitor performance and operational issues;
     Generate more timely insights into trends related to 
victim demographics and service needs, and the impact of particular 
intra- and inter-agency efforts, messaging campaigns, trainings, and 
other anti-trafficking efforts on NHTH signals, and;
     Respond to congressional inquiries and other ad hoc 
inquiries without submitting burdensome individual requests to the 
NHTH.
    Respondents: Potential victims, representatives of governmental 
entities, law enforcement, first responders, members of the community, 
representatives of nongovernmental entities providing social, legal, or 
protective services to individuals in the United States who may have 
been subjected to severe forms of trafficking in persons utilize the 
NHTH as signalers.

                                                                 Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Total number of  Total number of   Average burden
                             Instrument                                respondents     responses per      hours per       Total burden    Annual burden
                                                                       (signalers)       respondent        response          hours            hours
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National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) Performance Indicators...         585,300                1       0.43333333          253,630           84,543
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 84,543.
    Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7105.

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-27646 Filed 12-21-21; 8:45 am]
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