Administration for Children and Families 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to Section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended, the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice that affect programs, projects, and activities authorized under the NAPA, and to give notice of the final adoption of such changes at least 30 days before the changes become effective. In accordance with notice requirements of NAPA, ANA herein describes its proposed interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice as they relate to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) for the following programs: (1) Social and Economic Development Strategies (hereinafter referred to as SEDS), HHS-2014-ACF-ANA-NA-0776; (2) Sustainable Employment and Economic Development Strategies (hereinafter referred to as SEEDS), HHS-2014-ACF-ANA-NE-0779; (3) Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (hereinafter referred to as Language Preservation), HHS-2014-ACF-ANA-NL-0778; (4) Native Language Preservation and MaintenanceEsther Martinez Immersion (hereinafter referred to as LanguageEMI), HHS-2014-ACF-ANA-NA-0780; and (5) Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (hereinafter referred to as ERE), HHS-2014-ACF-ANA-NR-0777.

ACF and HRSA announce the renewal of the Advisory Committee on the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Evaluation to provide advice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (``the Secretary'') on the design, plan, progress, and findings of the evaluation required under the Act.

Statement of organization, functions, and delegations of authority. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has reorganized the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). This reorganization realigns the functions of the Office of Child Support Enforcement. It eliminates the Office of Automation and Program Operations and moves the functions to the Division of Federal Systems. It also eliminates the Division of Special Staffs and moves the functions to the Division of Program Innovation and the Division of Regional Operations. Additionally, it creates the Division of Regional Operations. There are several Division name changes that are as follows: The Division of Management Services to the Division of Business and Resource Management; the Division of Consumer Services to the Division of Customer Communications; the Division of Planning, Research and Evaluation to the Division of Performance and Statistical Analysis; the Division of Policy to the Division of Policy and Training; and the Division of State, Tribal and Local Assistance to the Division of Program Innovation.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) announces the award of 15 single-source program expansion supplement grants to the following 12 current grantees, for a total of $1,420,955. Two grantees are receiving multiple supplement grants: BCFS Health and Human Services, San Antonio, TX$492,123 and $313,916 totaling $806,039; and International Education Services, Los Fresnos, TX$35,433, $15,486, and $76,698 totaling $127,617.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Children's Bureau (CB), Division of Capacity Building announces the award of a single-source cooperative agreement in the amount of $1,250,000 to the American Public Human Services Association for its affiliate the Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (AAICPC), Washington, DC, for the development and implementation of an inter-jurisdictional electronic system to improve administrative efficiency in the interstate process of the ICPC. The ICPC ensures safe and suitable interstate placements for children in foster care. Award funds will support the development and implementation of a national inter-jurisdictional Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) electronic system to improve administrative efficiency in the interstate process via the ICPC. This pilot, ``Supporting Permanent Placement of Foster Care Children Through Electronic Records Exchange,'' implements real-time, on-line data exchange for States to share records and other information to support permanent placements of foster care children in homes across state lines. The Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (AAICPC) has identified current paper-based processes as causing excessive delays. Children may wait an unnecessarily long time for the paperwork for placement in a permanent home to be executed manually. The pilot will test whether an automated system reduces the time to process such cross-state exchanges to determine whether a placement is safe and suitable. The pilot evaluation will measure timeliness of communication, expeditious exchange of case documentation and similar immediate outcomes as well as utilization and adherence to streamlined ICPC processes. Additional questions, such as those related to the permanency of child placements and the associated savings, may be addressed if it is feasible to do so within the project period. Results, which will be included in a final public report, will inform further adoption of the system across states. The initial pilot will include at least 5 states and ultimately, beyond the pilot period, the system will be used by all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands (ICPC Compact Members). The system will serve and benefit children, families, the public, private and tribal child welfare agencies nationwide and other multidisciplinary groups that work in support of the and throughout the child placement continuum.