Administration for Children and Families 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Native Americans (ANA) will host a Tribal Consultation to consult on the Community Native Language Coordination Initiative, an expansion of funding for ANA proposed in the President's fiscal year 2016 budget.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC), Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (Tribal MIECHV) Program, announces the award of single-source program expansion supplement grants to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Pablo, MT, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Siletz, OR, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Native American Health Center, Inc. in Oakland, CA, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Bayfield, WI, and Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. in Banning, CA. The Fiscal Year 2015 single-source program expansion supplement grants will support the grantees' project activities as they continue to implement their Tribal MIECHV programs and will allow for opportunities for enhanced, or expanded, service delivery.

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.

On February 9, 2015, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) regulations to modify the requirements for title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to ACF on children in out-of-home care and who were adopted or in a legal guardianship with a title IV-E subsidized adoption or guardianship agreement. However, we did not propose that title IV-E agencies report data in AFCARS on American Indian and Alaskan Native children related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). In this notice, we are announcing that we intend to publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM), which will propose that title IV-E agencies collect and report additional ICWA-related data elements in AFCARS. We will consider the public comments on that SNPRM (related to ICWA-related data elements) and the February 9, 2015 NPRM (related to all other data elements) and issue one final rule on AFCARS.

In accordance with title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673), the Children's Bureau (CB) announces the opportunity for public comment on our suspension and termination policies for the title IV-E adoption assistance program, articulated in the Child Welfare Policy Manual. We similarly announce the opportunity to provide public comment about any other policy areas of concern relating to the title IV-E adoption assistance program.

The Administration for Children and Families is removing the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) regulations in their entirety. These regulations no longer apply to the CAPTA programs they were originally designed to implement because of major legislative changes to CAPTA since the regulations were issued.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), Division of Adolescent Development and Support (DADS), announces the award of a single-source grant in the amount of $144,000 to Compass Family and Community Services of Youngstown, OH, under the Basic Center Program.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) announces the award of an emergency single- source grant in the amount of $804,075 to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) in Arlington, VA, to support resettlement services to Iranian refugee parolees.

This FOA governs the proposed award of formula grants under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to Native American tribes (including Alaska Native villages) and tribal organizations. The purpose of these grants is to: (1) Assist tribes in efforts to increase public awareness about, and primary and secondary prevention of, family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence; and (2) assist tribes in efforts to provide immediate shelter and supportive services for victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence, and their dependents (42 U.S.C. 10401, et. seq.). This FOA announces formula awards and is not open for competition.

The Administration for Children and Families published a document in the Federal Register of February 17, 2015, concerning a request for comments on a proposed information collection. The document contained an incorrect citation.

Pursuant to the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134, notice is hereby given of one 1-day Tribal Consultation Session to be held between the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start leadership and the leadership of Tribal Governments operating Head Start (including Early Head Start) programs. The purpose of this Consultation Session is to discuss ways to better meet the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native children and their families, taking into consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start services in their geographic locations [42 U.S.C. 9835, Section 640(l)(4)].

This rule will ensure the neediest children and families in our country benefit from Head Start services first.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to amend the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) regulations. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) builds on an earlier proposed rule, published January 11, 2008 that addressed the requirements for State title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to ACF on children who are in out-of-home care and in subsidized adoption or guardianship arrangements with the State and AFCARS penalty requirements of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. This NPRM proposes many of the same changes and additions as the earlier NPRM and includes several new modifications to address changes made by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, such as collecting and reporting data related to the title IV-E guardianship assistance program, sibling placement, the extension of title IV-E assistance to children age 18 or older, educational stability plans and transition plans for children in foster care and the inclusion of Tribal title IV-E agencies. Additionally, modifications were made to address new requirements in the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, which was enacted on September 29, 2014 to include information on: Victims of sex trafficking, children in foster care who are pregnant or parenting, and children in non-foster family settings.