[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55460-55461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17435]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Child Abuse and Neglect 
Background Checks for Child Care and Early Education Project (New 
Collection)

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing an 
information collection activity for the Child Abuse and Neglect 
Background Checks for Child Care and Early Education (CAN Checks for 
CCEE) Project. The goal of the project is to better understand how 
states and territories use findings from CAN registry checks, as 
required by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 
(CCDBG), to make child care employment eligibility determinations. The 
study will also be used to understand state and territory variation, 
facilitators, and challenges in implementing CAN registries; and any 
resulting within- or across-state/territory equity implications.

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]. All requests should be identified by 
the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: The proposed information collections for the CAN 
Checks for CCEE Project is designed to explore how states and 
territories implement CAN background checks for child care employment 
eligibility decisions. While the CCDBG Act of 2014 clearly describes 
procedures and exclusionary criteria pertaining to the use of criminal 
and sexual offender background checks to inform child care employment 
eligibility decisions, requirements for the use of CAN background 
checks are less clear. The findings will be of interest to ACF, and in 
particular to OPRE and the Office of Child Care, who are interested in 
the effective and equitable implementation of CAN registry background 
checks of prospective and current child care staff. Findings will also 
be of interest to Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) state/
territory lead agencies that oversee the CCDF program in their states/

[[Page 55461]]

territories and the state/territory offices that oversee early care and 
education. The results of this study also have implications for child 
care programs and staff. Further, given the U.S. Congress' interest in 
prior exploratory work on this topic, it may be informative for federal 
lawmakers, as well.
    CCDF lead agency staff and CAN registry custodians that participate 
in this information collection will be asked to complete a voluntary, 
one-time web-based survey. The survey for CCDF lead agency staff will 
focus on the practices and policies related both to in-state/territory 
and interstate CAN registry checks, including what data they request 
and receive, as well as how they use it in making child care employment 
eligibility decisions. The survey for CAN registry custodians will 
focus on the contents of CAN registries, policies around inclusion in/
expunction from the registries, and policies regarding sharing data.
    Approximately half of CCDF lead agency survey respondents (up to 
28) will be invited to participate in voluntary follow-up interviews. 
This open-ended data collection format will allow for exploration of 
key themes that emerge from the surveys; facilitators and barriers in, 
and respondent recommendations around, implementing the CAN registry 
checks; how practice may vary from policy; and, in some cases, to 
obtain answers to questions not answered in the survey.
    Respondents: Each state, territory, and the District of Columbia 
will be invited to complete two web-based surveys: one CCDF lead agency 
survey and one CAN registry custodian survey. Given that each agency 
may have multiple staff members with relevant knowledge of different 
survey topics and no one staff member may possess all of the knowledge 
to complete the survey, we are allowing for up to 3 respondents per 
state/territory for the CCDF lead agency staff and 2 respondents per 
state/territory for the CAN registry custodian surveys (up to 280 total 
individuals). Once survey administration is complete, one CCDF lead 
agency staff person from half of the states, territories, and the 
District of Columbia (up to 28) will be invited to participate in a 
follow-up interview. For the interviews, we will select a sample of 
CCDF lead agency staff that represents diversity across state and 
territory approaches toward the CAN registry background checks.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of
                                                     Number of     responses per
                                                    respondents     respondent      Avg. burden    Total/annual
                   Instrument                       (total over     (total over    per response     burden (in
                                                      request         request       (in hours)        hours)
                                                      period)         period)
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Instrument 1: CCDF Lead Agency Survey...........             168               1          * 0.75             126
Instrument 2: CAN Custodian Survey..............             112               1          * 0.75              84
Instrument 3: CCDF Lead Agency Interview........              28               1            1.50              42
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:........  ..............  ..............  ..............             252
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* Note that this is the estimated time to complete the full survey, which could be completed by one individual
  or multiple individuals. Surveys completed by multiple individuals will take less time for each individual to
  provide a response.

    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: Research funding set-aside authorized by the CCDBG Act 
of 2014 and funded by CCDF. Section 658O(a)(5) of CCDBG (as codified at 
42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) grants the Secretary of the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services the authority to reserve up to \1/2\ percent 
of the total Discretionary and Mandatory CCDF funding ``to conduct 
research and demonstration activities, as well as periodic external, 
independent evaluations of the impact of the program described by this 
subchapter on increasing access to child care services and improving 
the safety and quality of child care services, using scientifically 
valid research methodologies, and to disseminate the key findings of 
those evaluations widely and on a timely basis.''

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-17435 Filed 8-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-23-P