Administration for Children and Families 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Children's Bureau (CB), the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a three-year extension of the data information collection for the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) that was implemented as part of the AFCARS final rule published in May 2020 (85 FR 28410). There are no proposed changes to the data information collection published as the regulation in May 2020. The estimated time per response related to record keeping has been revised since the previous published notice (88 FR 16449) due to feedback from the State and Tribal reporting agencies.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has reorganized the Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD), the Office of Head Start (OHS), and the Office of Child Care (OCC).

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting from the Office of Management and Budget to extend approval of the Federal Case Registry (FCR) for an additional three years. The current approval expires November 30, 2023. OCSE is proposing minor changes to punctuation, formatting, grammar, clarity, and spacing to enable easier completion of the form.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is requesting a 3- year extension with revisions of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) Program Application and Withdrawal of Application or Declination of Placement Form (OMB #0970-0550, expiration 08/31/2023). Proposed revisions include additional instructions, a small number of new questions, dropping a few questions, and rephrasing existing questions.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to collect information to examine a promising strategy to support the child care and early education (CCEE) workforce in Colorado as part of the Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project. This project aims to build evidence about workforce development strategies designed to promote, retain, and advance the CCEE workforce by improving the economic well-being of CCEE workers.

The Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) requests Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an overarching generic clearance to collect data on programs serving youth transitioning out of foster care as part of the Chafee Strengthening Outcomes for Transition to Adulthood (Chafee SOTA) Project. The generic mechanism will allow ACF to conduct rapid-cycle evaluations that would not otherwise be feasible under the timelines associated with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of the data collections submitted under the generic will be to inform ACF programming by building the evidence about what works to improve outcomes for the target population and to identify innovative learning methods that address common evaluation challenges.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration, both of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data as part of the elementary school phase of the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE). MIHOPE is a longitudinal study of the effects of Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV)-funded home visiting on child and family outcomes. The purpose of the MIHOPE Long-Term Follow-Up, Third grade (MIHOPE-3G) data collection, which will focus on children when they are in approximately third grade, is to assess the long-term effects of MIECHV-funded home visiting on families and children when participating children are in elementary school.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is requesting a 3-year extension of the forms OCSE-21- U4: Transmittal and Notice of Approval of State Plan Material for: Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, and OCSE-100: State Plan (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0017, expiration July 31, 2023). No changes are proposed.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to renew the collection of expenditure estimate forms for the tribal child support enforcement program through an optional financial reporting form, Tribal Budget and Narrative Justification Template (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #: 0970- 0548; expiration date June 30, 2023). No changes are proposed.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the form ACF-123: Guidance for the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0157, expiration date: August 31, 2023). There are minor clarifying changes requested to the guidance.

OCSE proposes to eliminate the non-Federal share of program expenditures requirement for Tribal child support enforcement programs including the 90/10 and 80/20 cost sharing rates. Based upon the experiences of and consultations with Tribes and Tribal organizations, we have determined that the non-Federal share requirement limits growth, causes disruptions, and creates instability.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to collect data for the Procedures for Requests from Tribal Lead Agencies to use Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Funds for Construction or Major Renovation of Child Care Facilities. This information collection was previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Office of Child Care is proposing to reinstate the information collection with changes.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a new information collection for the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Tribal Home Visiting Program Data Reports: Demographic and Service Utilization, Grantee Performance Measures and Quarterly Performance Reports.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to collect data for a new Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) Afghan Supplement Survey.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has added a new office, the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services, to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families and transfers the functions of the Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services to this office. Within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), it renames the Office of Management Services to the Executive Office. Within the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), it renames the Division for Optimal Adolescent Development to the Division of Positive Youth Development and renames the Division of Evaluation, Data, and Policy to the Division of Data, Performance, and Policy. It also creates an Office of Budget in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) plans to submit a generic information collection (GenIC) request under the umbrella generic: Generic Clearance for Financial Reports used for ACF Mandatory Grant Programs (0970-0510). This request is to include instructions for ORR Refugee Support Services grant recipients to provide supplemental financial information when submitting the already required Federal Financial Report (Standard Form (SF)-425), which is approved under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number 4040-0014.

The Children's Bureau, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is requesting a three-year extension of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) collection (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0424, expiration August 31, 2023). There are no changes requested to this data collection.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to collect information to support state planning, training, and exercise activities and training and technical assistance for the United States (U.S.) Repatriation Program through six new forms in addition to the currently approved forms.

The Family and Youth Services Bureau's (FYSB) Runaway and Homeless Youth Division has a legislative requirement to fund a National Communication System, which is currently operated by the National Runaway Safeline (NRS). The NRS provides information, referral services, crisis intervention, and prevention resources to vulnerable youth at risk of running away and/or becoming homeless and their families or legal guardians at no cost. When necessary, the NRS refers runaway and homeless youth to shelters, counseling, medical assistance, and other vital services. The NRS collects information from all contacts with youth and adults connecting with the NRS (i.e., parents, family members, legal guardians, service providers) on a voluntary basis to inform crisis services and develop an annual report on the information collected during calls, chats, emails, and forum posts from young people who reached out to the NRS's crisis services.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) intends to request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an extension of approval for an umbrella generic clearance for information collections related to ACF program office monitoring activities. ACF programs promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. The Generic for ACF Program Monitoring Activities allows ACF program offices to collect standardized information from recipients that receive federal funds to ensure oversight, evaluation, support purposes, and stewardship of federal funds. There are no changes proposed to the terms of the generic. Burden estimates have been updated.

This final rule provides a process for ANA grant recipients to request a waiver for part or all of their non-Federal cost share or match (NFS) during a budget period due to emergency circumstances.

ACF is proposing to revise the definition of ``foster family home'' to allow each title IV-E agency to adopt foster family home licensing or approval standards for foster family homes of individuals related to a child by blood, marriage, or adoption and other individuals who have an emotionally significant relationship with the child, including fictive kin, (referred herein as ``relative(s) and kin(ship)'') that differ from non-relative foster family homes agency standards. In this context, a ``non-relative'' foster family home means a home of an unrelated individual who is not kin or fictive kin. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) would allow a title IV-E agency to claim title IV-E federal financial participation (FFP) for the cost of foster care maintenance payments (FCMP) on behalf of an otherwise eligible child who is placed in a relative or kinship licensed or approved foster family home when the agency uses different licensing or approval standards for relative or kinship foster family homes and non- relative foster family homes. In addition, the NPRM would amend the requirement that title IV-E agencies review the amount of FCMPs to also assure that the agency provides a licensed or approved relative and kinship foster family home the same amount of FCMP that would have been made if the child was placed in a non-related foster family home.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting approval of the ACF Congressionally Directed Community ProjectsUniversal Project Description (CDCP-UPD). This new information collection is proposed to collect information from recipients of ACF Congressionally Directed funds. Congressional Directive is an authorization act or appropriations act that requires ACF to make an award(s) to a named recipient(s) for a particular program, project, activity, or geographic area(s).

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend approval of the Income Withholding for Support Order (IWO), with minor changes, for an additional 3 years. The current OMB approval expires September 30, 2023.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is requesting a 3-year extension of the forms OCSE-21- U4: Transmittal and Notice of Approval of State Plan Material for: Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, and OCSE-100: State Plan (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) # 0970-0017, expiration July 31, 2023). No changes are proposed.