[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30225-30226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10652]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; 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.

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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 30 days of publication. 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. You can 
also obtain copies of the proposed collection of information by 
emailing [email protected]. Identify all emailed

[[Page 30226]]

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 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
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                                                  Annual  number  Annual  number      Average
                   Instrument                           of         of  responses   burden hours    Annual burden
                                                    respondents   per respondent   per response        hours
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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..............................
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 347.
    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. 2022-10652 Filed 5-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P