[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 48 (Friday, March 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14015-14016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05194]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Plan for Foster Care 
and Adoption Assistance--Title IV-E (OMB #0970-0433)

AGENCY: Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, 
HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Children's Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is 
requesting a 3-year extension of the Plan for Foster Care and Adoption 
Assistance--Title IV-E, (OMB#: 0970-0433, expiration 11/30/2022). This 
plan also incorporates the plan requirements for the optional 
Guardianship Assistance Program, the Title IV-E prevention services 
plan and the Title IV-E Kinship Navigator program. There are no changes 
requested to the form.

DATES: Comments due within 60 days of publication. In compliance with 
the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is 
soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information 
collection described above.

ADDRESSES: You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of 
information and submit comments by emailing [email protected]. 
Identify all requests by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: A title IV-E plan is required by section 471, Part IV-
E of the Social Security Act (the Act) for each public child welfare 
agency requesting federal funding for foster care, adoption assistance, 
and guardianship assistance under the Act. Section 479B of the Act 
provides for an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium 
(tribe) to operate a title IV-E program in the same manner as a state 
with minimal exceptions. The tribe must have an approved Title IV-E 
Plan. The Title IV-E Plan provides assurances the programs will be 
administered in conformity with the specific requirements stipulated in 
Title IV-E. The plan must include all applicable state or tribal 
statutory, regulatory, or policy references and citations for each 
requirement as well as supporting documentation. A title IV-E agency 
may use the pre-print format prepared by CB, or a different format, on 
the condition that the format used includes all of the Title IV-E Plan 
requirements.
    Title IV-E of the Act was amended by Public Law 115-123, which 
included the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). FFPSA 
authorized new optional Title IV-E funding for time-limited (1 year) 
prevention services for mental health/substance abuse and in-home 
parent skill-based programs for (1) a child who is a candidate for 
foster care (as defined in section 475(13) of the Act), (2) pregnant/
parenting foster youth, and (3) the parents/kin caregivers of those 
children and youth (sections 471(e), 474(a)(6), and 475(13) of the 
Act). Title IV-E prevention services must be rated as promising, 
supported, or well supported in accordance with HHS criteria and be 
approved by HHS (section 471(e)(4)(C) of the Act) as part of the Title 
IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse (section 476(d)(2) of the

[[Page 14016]]

Act). A state or tribal Title IV-E agency electing to participate in 
the program must submit a 5-year Title IV-E Prevention Program Plan 
that meets the statutory requirements. (See Program Instructions ACYF-
CB-PI-18-09 and ACYF-CB-PI-18-10 for more information.)
    FFPSA also amended section 474(a)(7) of the Act to reimburse state 
and tribal Title IV-E agencies for a portion of the costs of operating 
kinship navigator programs that meet certain criteria. To qualify for 
funding under the Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Program, the program 
must meet the requirements of a kinship navigator program described in 
section 427(a)(1) of the Act. The Kinship Navigator Program must meet 
practice criteria of promising, supported, or well-supported in 
accordance with HHS criteria and be approved by HHS (section 
471(e)(4)(C) of the Act). To begin participation in the Title IV-E 
Kinship Navigator Program, a Title IV-E agency must submit an 
attachment to its Title IV-E plan that specifies the kinship navigator 
model it has chosen to implement and the date on which the provision of 
program services began or will begin, and provide an assurance that the 
model meets the requirements of section 427(a)(1) of the Act, as well 
as a brief narrative describing how the program will be operated. 
(Please see Program Instruction ACYF-CB-PI-18-11 for additional 
information: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/policy-guidance/pi-18-11.)
    Respondents: State and tribal Title IV- E agencies.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Annual number
                                                   Annual number   of responses       Average      Annual burden
                   Instrument                     of respondents        per        burden hours        hours
                                                                    respondent     per response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title IV-E Plan.................................              17               1              16             272
Title IV-E prevention services plan.............              12               1               5              60
Attachment to Title IV-E plan for Kinship                     15               1               1              15
 Navigator Program..............................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 347.
    Comments: 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.
    Authority: Title IV-E of the Social Security Act as amended by 
Public Law 115- 123 enacted February 9, 2018.

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-05194 Filed 3-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P