Request for Public Comment and Consultation Meetings on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), 43187-43188 [2010-18042]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
• Administration for Children and Families
• Children and Families Administration

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 141 (Friday, July 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43187-43188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18042]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Request for Public Comment and Consultation Meetings on the 
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for 
Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 
Children's Bureau.

ACTION: Request for Public Comment and Consultation Meetings on the 
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).

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SUMMARY: Section 479 of the Social Security Act (the Act) requires that 
the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) develop and write 
regulations to implement a system for the collection by title IV-E 
agencies of data relating to adoption and foster care. The resultant 
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) has 
been operating since 1994 and is administered by the Children's Bureau 
(CB) in ACF. AFCARS collects case level information on all children in 
foster care for whom the title IV-E agency has responsibility for 
placement and care and on children adopted under the auspices of the 
title IV-E agency. We issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on 
January 11, 2008 (73 FR 2082) that proposed to amend the AFCARS 
regulations at 45 CFR 1355.40 and the appendices to part 1355 [https://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E7-24860.htm]. The proposal would modify 
the requirements for title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to 
ACF on children in out-of-home care and in subsidized adoption or 
guardianship arrangements with the title IV-E agency. Due to the 
enactment of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing 
Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-351) and the substantial changes it 
introduced in title IV-E, we intend to issue a new AFCARS NPRM. To 
inform development of the new NPRM we request that interested parties 
comment on the questions below.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section below on or before October 21, 2010. Please see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional details on consultation 
meetings.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit written comments by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: CBComments@acf.hhs.gov. Please include ``Comments 
on AFCARS Federal Register Notice'' in the subject line of the message.
     Mail or Courier Delivery: Jan Rothstein, Division of 
Policy, Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and 
Families, Administration for Children and Families, 1250 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20024.
    Instructions: Please be aware that mail sent to us may take an 
additional 3-4 days to process due to changes in mail handling 
resulting from the anthrax crisis of October 2001. If you choose to use 
an express, overnight, or other special delivery method, please ensure 
first that they are able to deliver to the above address. We urge you 
to submit comments electronically to ensure they are received in a 
timely manner. All comments received will be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov including any personal information provided. 
Comments provided to us during a meeting or in writing in response to 
this Federal Register notice will receive equal consideration by ACF.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jan Rothstein, Children's Bureau, 1250 
Maryland Ave., SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20024; (202) 401-5073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please respond to any or all of the 
questions below. It would be helpful if your comment identifies the 
question to which you are responding. If you have additional comments, 
please identify them by citing to 45 CFR part 1355 or the 2008 NPRM, as 
applicable.

Reporting Population

    Fostering Connections provides Tribes with the option to operate a 
foster care, adoption assistance and, at tribal option, a kinship 
guardianship assistance program under title IV-E of the Social Security 
Act (the Act). The Secretary is to apply title IV-E of the Act to 
Tribes operating the program directly in the same manner as to States 
except where directed by law. Further, Tribes continue to have the 
ability to enter into title IV-E agreements with States to operate part 
of the program on behalf of Indian children.
    1. How should data collection and reporting requirements in AFCARS 
change for State and Tribal title IV-E agencies, if at all, to provide 
a comprehensive national picture of children in foster care and those 
adopted with the involvement of a title IV-E agency?
    In the 2008 NPRM, we proposed expanding the reporting populations 
to include children placed in the child welfare agency's responsibility 
for placement and care wherever they are placed and to include children 
in subsidized guardianships. We believed this information would 
facilitate a greater understanding of a child's entire out-of-home care 
experience, which in turn affects the foster care experience and 
permanency outcomes.
    2. Under what circumstances should a child be included in the 
AFCARS reporting population for foster care, adoption or guardianship?
     What are the barriers to obtaining information on all 
children in a child welfare agency's placement and care responsibility?
     What information should an agency collect on children in 
its placement and care responsibility who are placed in detention, 
psychiatric facilities and other settings other than foster family 
homes, group homes and child care institutions?
     What information do agencies currently collect on children 
in finalized adoptions and guardianships?

Federal Oversight Activities

    The Children's Bureau uses AFCARS data to support a number of our 
oversight activities in relation to the title IV-B and IV-E plans, 
including the Child and Family Services Reviews.
    3. What case level data on foster care, adoption and guardianship 
is important for agencies to collect and report to ACF on an ongoing 
basis that can inform future Federal monitoring activities,

[[Page 43188]]

such as the Child and Family Services Reviews?
     Is there data related to safety, permanency and well-being 
that is essential to monitoring activities that is not collected 
currently?

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act

    Fostering Connections created a number of new title IV-E plan 
provisions and provided Federal funds for agencies that choose to 
support older youth up to age 21 and children in guardianships.
    4. What case level data would support the monitoring of compliance 
by title IV-E agencies and outcomes for children in relation to the new 
provisions?
     Fostering Connections requires that an agency ensure that 
children receiving title IV-E are enrolled in school or have graduated, 
that an educational stability plan is in place for children in foster 
care; and, provides Federal reimbursement of some costs to transport a 
child in foster care to his/her original school. What data would be 
important to collect with regard to a child's education in relation to 
these provisions?
     Fostering Connections allows agencies to provide extended 
assistance up to age 21 for youth in foster care, and certain youth 
adopted or in guardianships when such youth reach age 18 if they 
participate in education or employment activities or are unable to do 
so. What data would be important to collect with regard to these youth 
in relation to these provisions?
     Fostering Connections requires agencies to notify 
relatives when a child is placed into foster care and offer them 
information on how they can be a placement resource for the child and 
also encourages agencies to place siblings together or facilitate 
frequent contact, unless doing so is inappropriate. What data is 
important to collect with regard to relatives and siblings in relation 
to these provisions?

Circumstances Prior to Removal

    In the 2008 NPRM, we proposed detailed data describing the members 
of the household or the facilities in which children resided prior to 
entering foster care.
    5. What data, if any, should be collected from child welfare 
agencies to provide insight into from whom, or from what environment a 
child is removed for the purposes of foster care and the circumstances 
that surround the child's removal?

Circumstances During Stay in Foster Care

    In the 2008 NPRM, we requested that agencies provide us detailed 
information on circumstances, such as lack of housing, substance abuse, 
and mental health issues, facing a child and family during several 
points during the child's stay in foster care.
    6. What data, if any, should be collected from child welfare 
agencies to provide insight into why a child remains in foster care or 
why a child's permanency plan is selected or changed?

Caseworker Visits

    The title IV-B, subpart 1 child welfare services program requires 
agencies to ensure that children are visited by caseworkers at least 
monthly and that the majority of those visits occur in the child's 
residence.
    7. What information, if any, about caseworker visits with a child 
is essential to collect?
    Please provide information on any additional factors we should 
consider in proposing revisions to AFCARS. ACF will analyze the 
comments and utilize them to determine the necessary next steps to 
improve AFCARS.
    Additional Consultation Opportunities: In addition to this 
opportunity to inform development of the new NPRM, we plan to hold four 
in-person consultations in ACF Regions VI, VII, VIII, and X and two 
webinars.
    We invite State representatives and Tribal leaders and/or their 
representatives of federally recognized Tribes to attend the in-person 
meetings or webinars to provide their input on the questions raised 
above. Teleconference lines will also be available during these in-
person sessions. Any person who would like to attend one of the 
Regional consultation sessions in-person or via phone must register at 
least one week in advance of the meeting date by contacting the 
applicable Children's Bureau (CB) Regional Program Manager. Registered 
participants for the consultation session may submit written remarks in 
advance, or present them in oral or written form at the consultation 
session. Any person who would like to participate in one of the 
webinars should register via the website for each webinar below. 
Persons may also provide written comments as noted in the ADDRESSES 
section, regardless of their participation in an in-person session or 
webinar. Finally, please note that Federal representatives attending 
the consultation sessions will not be able to respond directly during 
the session to the concerns or questions raised by participants. The 
consultation sessions and contact information are listed below:
    Webinar #1: September 8, 2010 2:30 EDT.
    Webinar #2: September 15, 2010 2:30 EDT.
    Register for the webinar of your choice by contacting the National 
Resource Center for Data and Technology at https://www.nrccwdt.org.

Region VI--October 5, 2010, 9:30-11:30 CDT

    1301 Young Street, Room 1119, Dallas, TX 75202; Contact: Janis 
Brown, CB Regional Program Manager, phone (214) 767-9648 or e-mail 
janis.brown@acf.hhs.gov.

Region VII--September 17, 2010, 9:30-11:30 CDT

    601 E 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106; Contact: Rosalyn Wilson, 
CB Regional Program Manager, phone (816) 426-3981 or e-mail 
rosalyn.wilson@acf.hhs.gov.

Region VIII--September 22, 2010, 9:30-11:30 MDT

    Byron Rogers Federal Building, 1961 Stout Street, Denver, CO 80294; 
Contact: Marilyn Kennerson, CB Regional Program Manager, phone (303) 
844-3100 or e-mail marilyn.kennerson@acf.hhs.gov.

Region X--September 23, 2010, 9:30-11:30 PDT

    2201 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121-1827; Contact: Tina Minor, CB 
Regional Program Manager, phone (206) 615-2482 or e-mail 
tina.minor@acf.hhs.gov.

    Dated: July 15, 2010.
Bryan Samuels,
Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
[FR Doc. 2010-18042 Filed 7-22-10; 8:45 am]
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