Administration for Children and Families – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is a primary data collection request for the Follow-up Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (Follow-up SCOPE), a follow-up to the previously approved Study of Coaching Practices in Early Care and Education Settings (SCOPE) survey (OMB #0970-0515). The study aims to examine, using surveys and qualitative interviews, the practice and processes of coaching and professional development in supporting early care and education (ECE) settings in their provision of care for preschool children and their families as COVID-19 has progressed. The study will focus on both centers and family child care (FCC) homes that serve low-income children, with a primary target of settings that serve children supported by Child Care and Development Fund subsidies or a Head Start grant.

The Office of Community Services (OCS) requests a three-year extension of the forms Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) State Plan, CSBG Eligible Entity Master List, and the American Customer Survey Index (ACSI) (OMB #0970-0382, expiration 6/30/2021). There are minimal changes requested to the State Plan and the Master List. No changes are proposed to the ACSI.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval to collect information for the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships Sustainability Study.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to conduct data collection activities for the Engaging Fathers and Paternal Relatives: A Continuous Quality Improvement Approach in the Child Welfare System (Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare [FCL]) Project. This evaluation is a descriptive study of child welfare agencies' use of a continuous quality improvement process called the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) to implement strategies to improve father and paternal relative engagement in the child welfare system. The project is designed to examine the use of the BSC methodology to strengthen fathers' and paternal relatives' engagement with children involved in child welfare and to add to the evidence base on engagement strategies for fathers and paternal relatives in child welfare.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing a new information collection activity to assess the impact and implementation of LifeSet, a program that provides services and supports to young adults ages 17 to 21 with previous child welfare involvement. Data collection efforts will include accessing administrative data from the child welfare agency, program, and other private and governmental databases; surveys of young adults (participants and those receiving services as usual); interviews and focus groups with program and child welfare agency administrators and staff; interviews and focus groups with young adult program participants; and interviews with other program stakeholders.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval for an extension with no changes to a one-time study to examine familial outcomes 8 years or more after a child's adoption from the child welfare system. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of instability events that occur in families who have adopted children who have exited the foster care system. The second objective is to understand risk and protective factors associated with post adoption instability. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval expires September 30, 2021, and this request is to extend approval to allow for the completion of data collection.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) is requesting a three-year extension of the form: Request for Assistance (RFA) for Child Victims of Human Trafficking (OMB #0970-0362, expiration 07/31/2021). Minor revisions have been made to the form, including the addition of a few fields that will enable the OTIP Child Protection Specialist team to better understand the child's specific needs, connect the child to appropriate services, and help ensure the safety of the child.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the form ACF-696T: Child Care and Development Fund Annual Financial Report. This form is currently approved under the ACF Generic Clearance for Financial Reports (OMB #0970-0510; expiration May 31, 2021), and ACF is proposing to reinstate the previous OMB number under which this form had been approved. There are no changes requested to the form.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is requesting a 3-year extension of the ACF form ORR-0135 State Plan for Grants to States for Refugee Resettlement (OMB #0970-0351, expiration 3/31/2021). ORR is proposing changes to the form.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau has a legislative requirement to collect and maintain client statistical records on the numbers and the characteristics of runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of family separation, who receive shelter and supportive services through the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) Program funding. RHY data collection is integrated with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

The Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data for an evaluation of the services provided to child welfare jurisdictions and Court Improvement Programs (CIP) by the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative. This study uses instruments that build on previously approved OMB instruments, including satisfaction surveys, assessment tools, interview protocols, and service-specific feedback forms (OMB #0970-0484, expiration 11/30/ 22; OMB #0970-0494, expiration 2/28/23).

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing a new information collection to assess the implementation of Project Connect, a comprehensive home visitation intervention that provides home-based services and treatment to child welfare-involved, substance-affected families with children and adolescents ages 0 to 17.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to collect data on the challenges and unique opportunities of administering human services programs in rural contexts. Case studies of 12 communities, in combination with analysis of administrative data and qualitative comparative analysis of the qualitative data, will provide ACF with a rich description of human services programs in rural contexts and provide ACF opportunities for strengthening human services programs' capacity to promote the economic and social wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities in rural contexts.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the forms: OCSE-34 ``Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Collection Report,'' and OCSE-396 ``Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Financial Report.'' These forms are currently approved under the ACF Generic Clearance for Financial Reports (OMB #0970-0510; expiration May 31, 2021), and ACF is proposing to reinstate the previous OMB number under which these forms had been approved (OMB #0970-0181). There are no changes requested to the forms, but the instructions have been updated for clarity and to update the current fee amounts.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Administration for Children and Families, is requesting a 3-year extension of the form ACF-4125: Annual Report on Children in Foster Homes and Children in Families Receiving Payment in Excess of the Poverty Income Level from a State Program Funded Under Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act (OMB #0970-0004, expiration 3/21/2021). There are no changes requested to the form.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a revision to the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) Post- Expenditure Report, Pre-Expenditure Report, and Intended Use Plan (OMB #0970-0234, previously titled, ``Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) Post-Expenditure Report''). ACF is proposing to expand the information collection to include the collection of states' Intended Use Plans and retitle the information collection to clarify the role of the Pre- Expenditure Report.

This is a primary data collection request for the Infant and Toddler Teacher and Caregiver Competencies (ITTCC) study to examine, using qualitative case studies, different approaches to implementing competency frameworks and assessing competencies of teachers and caregivers of infants and toddlers who work in group early care and education (ECE) settings (centers and family child care homes). Each case study will focus on a specific competency framework used by states, institutions of higher education, professional organizations, or ECE programs. This study aims to present an internally valid description of the implementation of competency frameworks and assessment of competencies for up to seven purposively selected cases, not to promote statistical generalization to different sites or service populations.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has had administrative responsibility for federal funding of programs that strengthen families through healthy marriage and relationship education and responsible fatherhood programming since 2006, through the Healthy Marriage (HM) and Responsible Fatherhood (RF) Grant Programs. ACF required the 2015 cohort of HMRF granteeswhich received 5-year grants in September 2015to collect and report performance measures about program operations, services, and clients served (OMB #0970-0460). A performance measures data collection system called nFORM (Information, Family Outcomes, Reporting, and Management) was implemented with the 2015 cohort to improve the efficiency of data collection and reporting and the quality of data. This system allows for streamlined and standardized submission of grantee performance data through regular progress reports and supports grantee-led and federal research projects. ACF will continue performance measure and other data collection activities for the HMRF grant program with a new cohort of grantees who received 5-year awards in September 2020. ACF is requesting comment on a new data collection to support these activities with the 2020 HMRF grantee cohort. ACF has made changes to the previous cohort's data collection instruments and performance reports for use in the new cohort. This new grantee cohort is expected to begin collecting performance measure data and reporting to ACF in April 2021.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on revisions to an approved information collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program to process release of UAC from ORR custody and provide services after release.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is requesting a 1-year extension of the form ORR-1, Cash and Medical Assistance (CMA) Program Estimates (OMB #0970-0030, expiration 2/28/2021). There are no changes requested to the form or instructions.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comment on the proposed collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program to provide legal services to UAC.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on the proposed collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program to monitor its care provider facilities for compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, licensing and accreditation standards, ORR policies and procedures, and child welfare standards.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires agencies to publish plans to conduct periodic reviews of certain of their regulations. Multiple Executive Orders also require agencies to submit plans for periodic reviews of certain regulations. To further comply with the RFA and Executive Orders, and to ensure the Department's regulations have appropriate impacts, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) issues this final rule amending its regulations to set expiration dates for the Department's regulations (subject to certain exceptions), unless the Department periodically assesses the regulations to determine if they are subject to the RFA, and if they are, performs a review that satisfies the criteria in the RFA.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the form ACF-696T: Child Care and Development Fund Annual Financial Report. This form is currently approved under the ACF Generic Clearance for Financial Reports (OMB #0970-0510; expiration May 31, 2021), and ACF is proposing to reinstate the previous OMB number under which this form had been approved. There are no changes requested to the form.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on the proposed collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program to provide mental health care services to UAC.