Administration for Children and Families February 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Statement of organization, functions, and delegations of authority. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has reorganized the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development (ODAS-ECD) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary (OAS), the Office of Head Start (OHS), and the Office of Child Care (OCC). This reorganization will transfer reporting authority of OCC and OHS in their entirety from OAS to the ODAS-ECD. This reorganization creates within ODAS-ECD the Division of Policy and Budget; the Division of Comprehensive Services and Training and Technical Assistance; the Division of Research, Analysis, and Communications; and the Division of Interagency and Special Initiatives. Additionally, this reorganization will realign and combine several functions currently separately managed within OHS, OCC, and ODAS-ECD. The ODAS-ECD reviewed the programmatic and administrative similarities and differences between OHS and OCC and is proposing a new organizational structure that will not only retain the autonomy of the Head Start and Child Care programs and retain the best parts of how they provide services, but will also demonstrate a clear message to the field about the alignment of the Head Start and Child Care program offices, the unified focus of ensuring children receive quality services regardless of their program option, and a common message about the quality and expectations for services to children and families. Internally, the proposed reorganization will generate a more integrated alignment of standards through Head Start and Child Care programs, the development of a unified training and technical assistance system, consistent access to resources at the ACF level for both programs, and a shared use of research resources and agenda. Additionally, the proposed reorganization will result in greater collaborative efforts among both offices thereby leveraging best practices across both offices (monitoring, program outreach, content development, etc.). Moreover, both staffs will gain a broader understanding of the early childhood field and the inter-dependencies between programs. Within OHS, this reorganization eliminates the Education and Comprehensive Services Division and moves some of the functions to the newly created Division of Comprehensive Services and Training and Technical Assistance and the Division of Research, Analysis, and Communications within ODAS-ECD. It eliminates the Policy and Planning Division in OHS and moves some of those functions to the newly created Division of Policy and Budget within ODAS-ECD and to a new OHS Division of Planning, Oversight, and Policy. It eliminates the State Initiatives Division in OHS and moves some of those functions to each of the newly created Division of Interagency and Special Initiatives and the Division of Comprehensive Services and Training and Technical Assistance within ODAS-ECD. It also deletes the Grants and Contracts Division in OHS and moves the functions to two newly created and separate Divisions within OHSthe Division of Contracts and the Division of Grants. It combines the previous OHS Quality Assurance Division and OHS Policy and Planning Division to create the OHS Division of Planning, Oversight, and Policy. The OHS Program Operations Division remains the OHS Division of Program Operations. Within OCC, this reorganization eliminates the Division of Technical Assistance and moves most of its functions to the newly created Division of Comprehensive Services and Training and Technical Assistance within ODAS-ECD. It also eliminates the Division of Policy in OCC and moves some of those functions to the newly created Division of Policy and Budget within ODAS-ECD and to the new OCC Division of Planning, Data, and Policy. Within OCC, it creates a new Divisionthe Division of Oversight and Accountability. The OCC Division of Program Operations remains the Division of Program Operations. The goal of this reorganization is to more closely align early childhood programs, policies, and support functions in order to improve collaboration between OHS, OCC, and other federal agencies as appropriate. This will leverage best practices, generating more integrated and aligned standards through Head Start and Child Care, and improving access to ACF resources for OHS and OCC grantees while fully supporting the fundamental responsibility of operating Head Start and the Child Care and Development Fund to ensure the authorized purposes of each program and its funding are fully realized. This notice amends Part K of the Statement of Organization Functions, and Delegations of Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families: Chapter K, Administration for Children and Families, as last amended 77 FR 23250- 23260, April 18, 2012; Chapter KA, Office of the Assistant Secretary, as last amended 80 FR 33269-33270, June 11, 2015, and 75 FR 60471- 60473, September 30, 2010; Chapter KU, Office of Head Start (OHS), as last amended 75 FR 81280-81282, December 27, 2010; Chapter KV, Office of Child Care (OCC) as last amended 75 FR 60471-60473, September 30, 2010.