Administration for Children and Families June 28, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an Operating Division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces the opportunity for public comment on our plan to implement required electronic submission of State plans, which includes applications as applicable; and programmatic and financial reporting forms, for mandatory grant programs. In accordance with the e- Government initiatives mandated by the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, ACF officially acknowledges that electronically generated and/or stored documents are recognized equivalents of an official paper grant file. Recognizing the equivalency of such documents eliminates duplicative effort and administrative burden for Federal grant applicants, recipients, and the awarding agency, by facilitating the submission and storage of official grant files. ACF has previously afforded recipients of mandatory State grant programs the option of submitting State plans, and programmatic and financial reporting forms, in both electronic and paper formats. This notice announces that recipients of mandatory State grant programs will now be required to submit State plans, and programmatic and financial reporting forms, electronically. The electronic portal used to support this effort is the ACF On-Line Data Collection (OLDC) system, which is available to State applicants and grantees at https:// extranet.acf.hhs.gov/oldcdocs/materials.html.