[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 99 (Monday, May 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31243-31245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10987]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; The National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System; OMB 
#0985-0054

AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is announcing an 
opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed collection of 
information listed above. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish a notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on the proposed revision of 
information collection requirements for the National Maltreatment 
Reporting System (NAMRS) OMB Control Number 0985-0054.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information must be submitted 
electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or postmarked by July 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments on the collection of information 
to Stephanie Whittier Eliason, Administration for Community Living, 
Washington, DC 20201, at [email protected]. Submit 
written comments on the collection of information to Administration for 
Community Living, Washington, DC 20201, Attention: to Stephanie 
Whittier Eliason.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Whittier Eliason, 
Administration for Community Living, Washington, DC 20201, at 
202.795.7467 and [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each 
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of 
information'' includes agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. The PRA requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day 
notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information, including each proposed extension of an existing 
collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for 
approval. To comply with this requirement, ACL is publishing a notice 
of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, ACL 
invites comments on our burden estimates or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including:
    (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of ACL's functions, including whether the 
information will have practical utility;
    (2) the accuracy of ACL's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used to determine burden estimates;
    (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.
    This data collection effort is in response to the Elder Justice Act 
of 2009, which amended Title XX of the Social Security Act [42.U.S.C. 
13976 et seq.]. These provisions require that the Secretary of HHS 
``collects and disseminates data annually relating to the abuse, 
exploitation, and neglect of elders in coordination with the Department 
of Justice'' [Sec.

[[Page 31244]]

2041(a)(1)(B)], and ``conducts research related to the provision of 
adult protective services'' [Sec. 2041(a)(1)(D)]. Furthermore, 
development of a national adult protective services (APS) system based 
upon standardized data collection and a core set of service provision 
standards and best practices was recommended by the Elder Justice 
Coordinating Council to increase federal involvement in addressing 
elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Since federal fiscal year 2016, 
NAMRS has collected descriptive and summary or de-identified case-level 
data on APS investigations. The purpose of NAMRS is to better 
understand adult maltreatment as investigated by APS programs. 
Respondents are state APS agencies and APS agencies in the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, 
and American Samoa (states, hereafter). Two agencies provide No 
personally identifiable client or perpetrator information is collected. 
Data submission is voluntary.
    NAMRS consists of three components:
    (1) Agency Component: Descriptive data on APS program agency 
information and key program policies; and
    (2) Case Component: De-identified case-level data on key aspects of 
APS investigations (e.g., clients, maltreatment types, perpetrators); 
or
    (3) Key Indicator: Summary level data on a smaller set of core 
items about APS investigations States unable to submit a case-level 
file through the Case Component submit.
    ACL provides technical assistance to states to assist in the 
preparation of their data submissions and reviews and approves 
submissions. NAMRS was granted a three-year extension through March of 
2023. To prepare for the 2023 OMB reauthorization, ACL routinely 
collects potential changes to NAMRS and held 11 public listening 
sessions during the summer of 2021 to obtain feedback from stakeholders 
on potential improvements to NAMRS.
    ACL then conducted four focus groups with state APS agencies to 
discuss potential changes to NAMRS identified in the 11 listening 
sessions. With input of the technical assistance team, ACL determined 
the proposed revisions to the information collection.
    In summary, the proposed revisions clarify definitions and 
instructions throughout, add new policy questions to the Agency 
Component to assist data users with interpreting data, add new code 
values to various Case Component and Key Indicator data elements in 
response to stakeholder input, and add one new data element to the Case 
Component. The annual recurring burden for states will increase 
slightly, and there will be one-time burden to make changes in APS 
program information systems. ACL intends to make state-specific NAMRS 
data available to researchers and other potential users through a 
request and approval process. The process will include safeguards for 
APS program confidentiality concerns.
    The proposed data collection tools may be reviewed on the ACL 
website at https://www.acl.gov/about-acl/public-input.

Estimated Program Burden

    The proposed revisions add only one new data element, make minor 
additions to the code values for a number of Key Indicator and Case 
Component data elements, and include a number of new policy questions 
in the Agency Component. For the new data element and additional code 
values, state APS programs may choose to modify their information 
management systems to collect the data and extract it for reporting. 
This will be a one-time burden. In addition, states will have an 
ongoing annual burden of preparing and submitting the data collection.
    Since initial establishment of the data collection, NAMRS reporting 
has become more efficient through state familiarity with the system and 
improvements such as a ``copy forward'' feature for Case Mapping and 
Agency Component items. For the new policy questions in the revision, 
ACL assumes it will pre-load responses for many of the questions for 
many of the states, requiring only state validation of the accuracy of 
the information and a very minimal increase in ongoing burden.
    Based on current submission and anticipated changes, ACL estimates 
59 APS programs will respond every year to the Agency Component, with 
50 states providing Case Component data and 9 states providing Key 
Indicator data. (Note: In three states,
    Based on the previous estimates of annual submission burden from 
data gathered during the pilot project, the recurring annual burden to 
submit the data consists of:
     Hours by administrative staff to respond to the Agency 
Component, and
     Hours by data staff and administrative staff to respond to 
the Key Indicator Component, or
     Hours by data staff and administrative to respond and 
jointly complete the Case Component.
    The one-time burden for the revisions will take:
     Hours for administrative to review or add additional 
information for the new policy questions.
     Hours for programming for the new Key Indicator and Case 
Component code values.
     Hours for programming for the new Case Component data 
element.
    Recurring and one-time burden estimates are shown in the following 
table.

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                                                     Number of     Responses per     Hours per     Annual burden
       Respondent/data collection activity          respondents     respondent       response        estimate
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Agency One-Time.................................              59               1            6.20          365.80
Key Indicator One-Time..........................               9               1           30.00          270.00
Case Component One-Time.........................              50               1              83        4,150.00
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    One-Time Subtotal...........................  ..............  ..............          119.20        4,785.80
Agency Component................................              59               1               4          236.00
Key Indicators Component........................               9               1              20          180.00
Case Component..................................              50               1             100        5,000.00
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Recurring Sub-total.........................  ..............  ..............             124        5,416.00
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[[Page 31245]]

    Dated: May 17, 2022.
Alison Barkoff,
Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2022-10987 Filed 5-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P