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

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.

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. The Office of Child Care is proposing to reinstate the information collection with changes.

The Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is requesting expedited review from OMB and inviting public comments on revisions to the recordkeeping requirements under Recordkeeping to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 in Head Start (OMB #: 0970-0583). A Final Rule requires grant recipients to update their program policies and procedures to include an evidence-based COVID-19 mitigation policy developed in consultation with their Health Services Advisory Committee.

The Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data for an evaluation of a set of resources that are being developed to support the identification and care of children with prenatal substance or alcohol exposure in the child welfare system.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Financial Report, Form ACF-196T (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0345, expiration April 30, 2023). ACF is proposing minor updates to the form to remove a reporting line-item reference that was associated with an expired program expenditure and minor edits to the instructions and formatting to better the presentation of the document.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the Tribal Child Support Enforcement Direct Funding Requests-45 CFR 309 (Office of Management and Budget (OMB)) #0970-0218, expiration March 31, 2023) with revisions. We are proposing to provide an optional Table of Contents and Cover Sheet for plan pages.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing to collect qualitative data to examine innovative and promising consumer education strategies that Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies are using to help families search for and select child care and early education (CCEE). This information collection aims to present an internally valid description of the experiences of up to six, purposively selected case study sites, not to promote statistical generalization to different sites or service populations.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing an extension to the data collection activities conducted for the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0545). The project is rigorously evaluating innovative interventions to promote employment and economic security among low-income individuals with complex challenges. The project includes an experimental impact study, descriptive study, and cost study. This extension will allow additional time to conduct study intake, collect data from NextGen programs and staff, and to conduct participant data collections. No changes are proposed to the data collection instruments.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting a three-year extension with proposed revisions to the Hague Child Support Forms (OMB #0970- 0488, expiration February 28, 2023). There are two new forms being incorporated.

The ACF, OCS, Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) announces that $323,063 of funds from the fiscal year (FFY) 2021 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) were reallotted to States, Territories, Tribes, and Tribal Organizations that received FFY 2022 direct LIHEAP grants.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), is proposing a new data collection activity for the Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education (HTYPE) Demonstration Grant Program Process Evaluation. The process evaluation will explore whether the program is being implemented as intended, describe the successes and barriers that have been encountered, and highlight the changes that may be needed to support program implementation.

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. A 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).

OCS, Division of Energy Assistance, is requesting a substantial change of the Household Report Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0060, expiration May 31, 2025). Grant recipients complete the Household Report on an annual basis, completing either the Long Form or the Short Form version of the report. Submission of the completed report is one requirement for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant recipients applying for Federal LIHEAP block grant funds. OCS proposes substantive changes, including the addition of reporting requirements for assisted applicants and household member demographic characteristics on the Household Report Long Form and Short Form, and the removal of reporting requirements collecting counts of applicant households by assistance type and poverty interval on the Household Report Long Form.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to extend approval of the existing overarching generic clearance for Reviewer Recruitment Forms (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0477). No changes are proposed to the terms of the overarching generic.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing additional information collection activities to assess the implementation of LifeSet, a program that provides services and supports to young adults ages 17 to 21 with previous child welfare involvement. Current data collection activities are approved under this same Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #: 0970-0577.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is providing notice of a re-established matching program between HHS/ ACF/OCSE and state agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The matching program compares state TANF agency records with new hire, quarterly wage, and unemployment insurance information maintained in the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH). The outcomes of the comparisons help state agencies to establish and verify eligibility for applicants and recipients of TANF benefits, reduce TANF benefit errors, and maintain program integrity.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a revision of the approved ACF Uniform Project Description (UPD) (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) # 0970-0139, expiration March 31, 2025).

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is proposing to collect information for The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education (TRLECE) project. This data collection aims to examine the child care and early education (CCEE) licensing system through surveys of child care licensing administrators, front-line child care licensing staff, and child care providers.

The Administration for Children and Families at HHS is requesting an extension to continue data collection for an evaluation of the initiative, Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families (also referred to as Child Welfare Community Collaborations [CWCC]). The cross-site process evaluation will provide insight to ACF about the various factors that promote or impede the implementation of child welfare community collaborations.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is requesting expedited review of an information collection request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This information collection will allow the ORR Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to enhance monitoring efforts at care provider facilities that are not licensed by the state. A separate notice will be published inviting public comments on the proposed collection.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is requesting expedited review of an information collection request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and inviting public comments on the proposed collection. This request will allow the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to expand specific policy and procedural protections to category 2 sponsors, children who wish to challenge placement in restrictive settings, and children seeking access to legal counsel.