[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67693-67696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24421]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of 
Authority

AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has 
reorganized the Office of Administration (OA). This reorganization 
creates a new Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). It will 
transfer the administration of the Public Assistance Reporting 
Information System (PARIS) and the coordination of Multi-Program 
Advance Planning Document (APD) approvals from the Office of Planning, 
Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) to the new CTO.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Goldhaber, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Administration, Office of Administration, 330 C St. SW, 
Washington, DC 20201, (202) 795-7790.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice amends Part K of the Statement 
of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority of the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF), as follows: Chapter KP, Office of the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration (ODASA), as last amended 
at 83 FR 43585 through 43586 (July 17, 2020) and Chapter KM, OPRE, as 
last amended 81 FR 41308 through 41310 (June 24, 2016).
    I. Under Chapter KP, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Administration, delete section KP.10 Organization in its entirety and 
replace with the following:
    KP.10 Organization. The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Administration is headed by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Administration (DASA) who reports to the Assistant Secretary for 
Children and Families. The office is organized as follows:

 Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration 
(KPA)
 Office of Transformation, Business, and Management (KPA)
 Office of Grants Policy (KPC)
 Office of Grants Management (KPG)
 Office of Diversity Management and Equal Employment 
Opportunity (KPH)
 Office of the Chief Technology Officer (KPI)
 Office of Government Contracting Services (KPA)

    II. Under Chapter KP, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Administration, delete section KP.20 Functions in its entirety and 
replace with the following:

KP.20 Functions

    A. The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration 
(ODASA) directs and coordinates all administrative activities for the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The DASA serves as 
ACF's Chief Financial Officer; Chief Grants Management Officer; Federal 
Manager's Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) Management Control Officer; 
Deputy Ethics Counselor; Personnel Security Representative; and Reports 
Clearance Officer. The DASA serves as the ACF liaison to the Office of 
the General Counsel and, as appropriate, initiates action in securing 
resolution of legal matters relating to management of the agency and 
represents the Assistant Secretary on all administrative litigation 
matters. The DASA represents the Assistant Secretary in HHS and with 
other federal agencies and task forces in defining objectives and 
priorities, and in coordinating activities associated with federal 
reform initiatives. ODASA provides leadership of assigned ACF special 
initiatives arising from Departmental, federal, and non-federal 
directives to improve service delivery to customers. The DASA provides 
day-to-day executive leadership and direction to the Office of the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary (ODAS), Office of Grants Policy (OGP), 
Office of Grants Management (OGM), Office of Diversity Management and 
Equal Employment Opportunity (ODME), Office of the Chief Information 
Officer (OCIO), and the Office of Government Contracting Services 
(OGCS). The ODASA consists of the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Administration, who provides executive leadership and direction to 
the Office of Transformation, Business, and Management, and the Chief 
of Staff.
    B. The Office of Transformation, Business, and Management (TBM) 
directs and coordinates administrative activities for ACF and the 
ODASA, as well as provides leadership of special initiatives to improve 
service delivery to customers. The Office supports the DASA in 
fulfilling ACF's Chief Financial Officer and FMFIA Management Control 
Officer responsibilities and conducts Enterprise Risk Management and 
Program Integrity activities across ACF. The Office provides cross-
cutting services to support ACF's human capital management, including 
organizational and employee development activities; facility, safety, 
security, and emergency management activities; and activities to 
support the DASA's role as Deputy Ethics Counselor. TBM carries out 
cross-cutting activities to improve ACF service delivery, including 
business process engineering and data analytics. The Office manages 
operations for the ODASA, including human capital management, travel 
management, management operations, and administration and budget 
functions.
    C. The Office of Grants Policy (OGP) provides agency-wide guidance 
to program and regional office staff on grant related issues, including 
developing and interpreting grants policy, coordinating strategic 
grants planning, facilitating policy advisory groups, and ensuring 
consistent grant program announcements. The Office prepares, 
coordinates, and disseminates action transmittals, information 
memoranda, and other policy guidance on grants management issues; 
provides grants administration technical assistance to ACF staff; and 
directs and/or coordinates management initiatives to improve financial 
administration of ACF mandatory and discretionary grant programs. OGP 
develops and administers grants management training for ACF program and 
grants staff and administers grants management certification for ACF 
grants staff. The Office serves as the centralized receipt point for 
grant applications, performs initial application qualification reviews, 
provides standard guidance and training to ACF staff on recruiting 
grant reviewers and conducting grant panel reviews, and oversees 
logistical support for program-led objective reviews.
    D. The Office of Grants Management (OGM), led by the Associate 
Deputy

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Assistant Secretary for Grants, supports the DASA in fulfilling ACF's 
Chief Grants Management Officer Responsibilities. The Office serves as 
the principal office within ACF for ensuring the business and financial 
responsibilities of grants administration are carried out. OGM provides 
direct administration and management of ACF discretionary, formula, 
entitlement, and block grants; directs all grants and cooperative 
agreements awarded by ACF and ensures compliance with applicable 
statutes, regulations, and policies; and performs audit resolutions. 
The Office provides leadership and technical guidance to ACF program 
and regional offices on grant operations and grants management issues. 
OGM interprets and implements financial policies, regulations, 
legislation, and appropriations law, and secures resolution of legal 
matters relating to grants administration and management. The Office 
coordinates with OGP on crosscutting issues. OGM provides agency-wide 
leadership and guidance to program officials and staff on grants 
management related issues, including assisting in developing, 
implementing, and evaluating program plans, strategies, regulations, 
program announcements, guidelines, and procedures applicable to ACF 
discretionary, formula, entitlement, and block grant programs. The 
Office provides oversight and direction in the establishment of 
appropriate state and grantee allocations. OGM is responsible for 
directing the receipt and review of all competitive grant applications; 
developing proposals and/or coordinating management initiatives to 
improve the efficiency of both the financial administration and 
awarding of ACF discretionary, formula, entitlement, and block grant 
programs; and developing procedures for the monitoring and review of 
ACF grant programs. The Office serves as the lead for ACF in 
coordination and liaison with the Department, regional offices, and 
other federal agencies on grants administration and management.
    E. The Office of Government Contracting Services (OGCS) serves as 
ACF's centralized contracting office. OGCS analyzes ACF's mission needs 
to determine how best to utilize procured services to achieve the 
agency's strategic goals. The Office prepares annual acquisition 
strategies and specific acquisition plans, conducts market research, 
prepares documentation, and provides centralized coordination and 
review to support ACF contract awards. OGCS manages ACF's acquisition 
certification training programs and serves as the central point of 
contact for the ACF acquisition workforce. OGCS develops guidance and 
procedures and ensures compliance with applicable regulations, rules, 
and policies.
    F. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) serves to 
provide leadership and strategic direction on technology and innovation 
delivery at ACF as well as directly oversees ACF Office of the Chief 
Information Officer to align ACF's forward-leaning technology with its 
data and technology services. CTO is comprised of the Digital Service 
at ACF division, the administration of the PARIS, the coordination of 
Multi-Program APD approvals, and the ACF OCIO.
    Digital Service at ACF works to transform and improve the U.S. 
human services ecosystem by modernizing information technology systems, 
improving the design and delivery of human services, and delivering 
value to the government stakeholders, human service providers, 
grantees, and consumers of ACF's services.
    The mission of OCIO is to obtain, procure, or develop cost 
effective and efficient information technology (IT) solutions that 
enable ACF's staff and grantees to successfully fulfill programmatic 
missions that result in the realization of the ACF vision. The OCIO 
implements IT strategies, policies, and governance frameworks to 
improve the efficiency and performance of ACF's IT systems that support 
ACF business processes in a manner that balances risk and cost with 
required outcomes, while ensuring compliance with all federal statutes 
and regulations. OCIO has ACF-wide responsibility for the direction and 
development of ACF's IT acquisition strategy, planning analysis and 
approval, management of IT investments both pre-award and post-award, 
and leadership of key technology initiatives. The OCIO provides 
oversight and guidance on the use of business process reengineering, 
performance measurement, and continuous process improvement in the 
development, operation, and application of information systems and 
infrastructure. The OCIO manages cross-organizational stakeholder 
relations to maintain a flexible and adaptive IT posture that supports 
a resilient risk management approach to IT security and privacy. The 
OCIO creates policies to provide improved management of information 
resources and technology to more efficiently and effectively service 
ACF's internal and external clients and ACF employees. The OCIO will 
identify the appropriate continuing education for staff in the domain 
of records management, IT security and privacy, and incident response 
protocols.
    III. Under Chapter KM, OPRE, delete in its entirety and replace 
with the following: KM.00 MISSION. OPRE is the principal advisor to the 
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on improving the 
effectiveness and efficiency of programs designed to make measurable 
improvements in the economic and social well-being of children and 
families. OPRE provides guidance, analysis, technical assistance, and 
oversight to ACF programs and across programs in the agency on 
strategic planning aimed at measurable results; performance measurement 
and management; research and evaluation methodologies; demonstration 
testing and model development; statistical policy and program analysis; 
synthesis and dissemination of research, evaluation, and demonstration 
findings; data science; data governance; data use, re-use, and 
integration; data ethics; data sharing, privacy, and confidentiality; 
and application of emerging technologies to improve the effectiveness 
of programs and service delivery.
    OPRE, through the Division of Economic Independence, the Division 
of Child and Family Development, the Division of Family Strengthening, 
and the Division of Data and Improvement, oversees and manages the 
research and evaluation programs under sections 413, 429, 511, 1110, 
and 2008 of the Social Security Act and section 649 of the Head Start 
Act, as well as other research, evaluation, data, and improvement 
activities authorized by Congress and related to ACF programs and the 
populations they serve. These activities include priority setting and 
analysis; managing and coordinating major cross-cutting, leading-edge 
studies, and special initiatives; and collaborating with federal 
partners, states, communities, foundations, professional organizations, 
and others to promote the safety, well-being, and development of 
children, families, and communities; parental responsibility; 
employment; and economic independence.
    OPRE also provides coordination and leadership in implementing the 
Government Performance and Results Act, Modernization Act, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, the Information Quality Act, and the 
Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and provides expert 
advice on matters related to data use and reuse, privacy and 
confidentiality, and the sharing of information. The Office coordinates 
mandated OMB information collection

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approvals and plans and includes ACF's Reports Clearance Officer.
    KM.10 Organization. OPRE is headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary, 
who reports to the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. The 
Office is organized as follows:

 Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary (KMA)
 Division of Economic Independence (KMB)
 Division of Child and Family Development (KMC)
 Division of Family Strengthening (KMD)
 Division of Data and Improvement (KME)

KM.20 Functions

    A. The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary provides direction 
and executive leadership to OPRE in administering its responsibilities. 
It serves as principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Children 
and Families on all matters pertaining to improving the effectiveness 
and efficiency of ACF programs; strategic planning; performance 
measurement and management; research, evaluation, statistical, and 
analysis methods; program and policy evaluation; research and 
demonstrations; state and local innovations and progress; synthesis and 
dissemination of research and evaluation findings; supports ACF 
programs in responsibly managing and using data to improve the 
effectiveness, equity, and efficiency of human services programs; and 
application of emerging technologies to improve the effectiveness of 
programs and service delivery. It represents the Assistant Secretary 
for Children and Families at various planning, research, evaluation, 
data, and improvement forums and carries out special Departmental and 
Administration initiatives.
    The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary manages the 
formulation and execution of budgets for OPRE programs; manages 
correspondence; coordinates the provision of staff development and 
training; provides support for OPRE's personnel administration, 
including staffing, employee and labor relations, performance 
management, and employee recognition; manages OPRE space, facilities, 
and supplies; and overseas travel, time and attendance, and other 
administrative functions for OPRE.
    B. The Division of Economic Independence, in cooperation with ACF 
income support programs and others, works with federal counterparts, 
states, community agencies, and the private sector to understand and 
overcome barriers to economic independence; promotes parental 
responsibility; and assists in improving the effectiveness of programs 
that further economic independence. The Division provides guidance, 
analysis, technical assistance, and oversight in ACF on strategic 
planning and performance measurement for economic independence; 
statistical, policy, and program analysis; surveys, research, and 
evaluation methodologies; demonstration testing and model development; 
synthesis and dissemination of research and evaluation findings; and 
application of emerging technologies to programs that promote 
employment, parental responsibility, and economic independence.
    The Division develops policy-relevant research priorities; 
conducts, manages, and coordinates major cross-program, leading-edge 
research, demonstrations, and evaluation studies; manages and conducts 
statistical, policy, and program analyses on trends in employment, 
child support payments, and other income supports; and works in 
partnership with states, communities, and the private sector to promote 
employment, parental responsibility, and family economic independence. 
Division staff also provides consultation, coordination, direction, and 
support for research and evaluation activities related to employment, 
parental responsibility, and family economic independence across ACF 
programs.
    C. The Division of Child and Family Development, in cooperation 
with ACF programs and others, works with federal counterparts, states, 
community agencies, and the private sector to improve the effectiveness 
and efficiency of programs and foster safety and sound growth and 
development of children and their families. The Division provides 
guidance, analysis, technical assistance, and oversight in ACF on 
strategic planning and performance measurement for child and family 
development; statistical, policy, and program analysis; surveys, 
research, and evaluation methodologies; demonstration testing and model 
development; synthesis and dissemination of research and evaluation 
findings; and application of emerging technologies to improve the 
effectiveness of programs and service delivery. The Division conducts, 
manages, and coordinates major cross-programs, leading-edge research, 
demonstration and evaluation studies; develops policy-relevant research 
priorities; and manages and conducts statistical, policy, and program 
analyses related to children and families. Division staff also provides 
consultation, coordination, direction, and support for research and 
evaluation activities related to children and families across ACF 
programs.
    D. The Division of Family Strengthening, in cooperation with ACF 
programs and others, works with federal counterparts, states, community 
agencies, and the private sector to improve the effectiveness and 
efficiency of programs; fosters the safety, positive growth and 
development of children, youth, parents, and vulnerable populations; 
and strengthens families.
    The Division provides guidance, analysis, technical assistance, and 
oversight in ACF on parent, child, youth and family development and 
dynamics; child safety; statistical, policy and program analysis; 
surveys, research, and evaluation methodologies; demonstration testing 
and model development; synthesis and dissemination of research and 
evaluation findings; and application of emerging technologies to 
improve the effectiveness of programs and service delivery.
    The Division conducts, manages, and coordinates major cross-
program, leading-edge research, demonstration, and evaluation studies; 
develops policy-relevant research priorities; and manages and conducts 
statistical, policy, and program analyses related to strengthening 
families. Division staff also provides consultation, coordination, 
direction, and support for research and evaluation activities related 
to strengthening families across ACF programs.
    E. The Division of Data and Improvement supports ACF programs in 
responsibly managing and using data to improve the effectiveness, 
equity, and efficiency of human services programs. The Division works 
with ACF programs and, in cooperation with ACF programs and others, 
works with federal counterparts, states, community agencies, and the 
private sector to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of 
programs through improved management and use of data.
    Division staff provide guidance, analysis, technical assistance, 
and oversight on strategic planning and performance measurement; data 
governance; data ethics; statistical, policy, and program analysis; 
continuous improvement; surveys, data collection, and analysis 
methodologies; application of data analyses to program operations and 
decision-making; application of emerging technologies to improve the 
effectiveness of programs and service delivery; data sharing,

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privacy, and confidentiality; and data skill development.
    The Division coordinates and provides consultation, direction, and 
support for ACF data governance activities; conducts demonstrations and 
develops tools, policies, and procedures that support the increased 
accessibility and reuse of administrative and survey data for 
statistical purposes; conducts, manages, and coordinates major cross-
program, leading-edge research, demonstration, and evaluation studies 
related to responsible data management and use; develops policy-
relevant priorities for data collection and analysis; manages and 
conducts statistical, policy, and program analyses; and provides 
consultation, coordination, direction, and support for research and 
evaluation activities related to responsible data management and use. 
The Division provides leadership and guidance to interagency work 
groups in these areas for the Department.
    IV. Continuation of Policy. Except as inconsistent with this 
reorganization, all statements of policy and interpretations with 
respect to organizational components affected by this notice within 
ACF, heretofore issued and in effect on this date of this 
reorganization are continued in full force and effect.
    V. Delegation of Authority. All delegations and redelegations of 
authority made to officials and employees of affected organizational 
components will continue in them or their successors pending further 
redelegations, provided they are consistent with this reorganization.
    VI. Funds, Personnel, and Equipment. Transfer of organizations and 
functions affected by this reorganization shall be accompanied in each 
instance by direct and support funds, positions, personnel, records, 
equipment, supplies, and other resources.
    This reorganization will be effective upon date of signature.

January Contreras,
Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families.
[FR Doc. 2022-24421 Filed 11-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P