[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65360-65361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17723]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Submission for OMB Review; 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 background
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
registry background checks; and explore any resulting within- or
across-state/territory equity implications.
DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. The Office of
Management and Budget (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]. All emailed 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 registry 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 registry background checks to inform child
care employment eligibility decisions, requirements for the use of CAN
registry 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 for 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/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 also be informative to federal lawmakers.
CCDF lead agency staff that participate in this information
collection will be asked to complete a voluntary, one-time web-based
survey. The survey 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.
Respondents: Each state, territory, and the District of Columbia
will be invited to complete one web-based 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, CCDF Lead Agencies may have multiple
staff members work together to complete the survey. For burden
estimates, we are assuming up to 3 respondents may work on the survey
[[Page 65361]]
per state/territory (up to 168 total individuals). Only one survey will
be submitted for each state/territory.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Number of
Number of responses per
respondents respondent Avg. burden per Total/annual
Instrument (total over (total over response (in burden (in
request request hours) hours)
period) period)
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Instrument 1: CCDF Lead Agency Survey....... 168 1 * 0.75 126
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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.
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 HHS 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 C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-17723 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-23-P