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

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval to continue to collect descriptive information for the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2022 (Baby FACES 2022). This information collection is to provide nationally representative data on Early Head Start (EHS) programs, centers, classrooms, staff, and families to guide program planning, technical assistance, and research. This data collection will complete the previously approved second round of data collection originally planned to take place in 2020 (OMB 0970-0354). The work began in early 2020 but had to be postponed after only 3 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No changes are proposed to the currently approved information collection materials.

The Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is requesting clearance for the proposed new collection titled ``UC Program Budget Workbook'' to streamline budget details and justifications of applicants to funding opportunities.

The Administration for Children and Families is proposing revisions to an approved information collection Child Care Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions (OMB #0970-0323, expiration 10/ 31/2021). There are minor changes requested to the form.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing to collect data on different approaches that Head Start programs use for the recruitment, selection, enrollment, and retention (RSER) of families facing adversities and the community organizations with which it partners to support these activities. This study aims to present an internally valid description of RSER approaches used by six purposively selected programs, not to promote statistical generalization to different sites or service populations.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to continue to collect information that will allow the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to provide legal services to UC. These information collections were originally approved under emergency approval for 6 months. This request is to continue data collection. This is a time sensitive request because all of these forms are already in use and must continue to be in use in order for the UC Program to meet its statutory obligations.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data for a new wave of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) as well as a follow-up to a special data collection fielded in the fall of 2021.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) seeks approval for a revision to an existing information collection, requesting Refugee Support Services (RSS) grantees and RSS Set Aside grantees to provide the agency name, city, state, website, and funding amount for each contracted sub-grantee. Additionally, ORR seeks approval to have the option to make this information public. This would enhance the accessibility of refugee service provider information to eligible clients in support of the service referral responsibilities of the State Refugee Coordinators. Similar information for ORR's discretionary grants is currently made public.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, that a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States (the Committee) will be held on September 8 and 9, 2021. The purpose of the meeting is for the Committee to begin reviewing responses to the Committee's State Self-Assessment Survey and develop a framework for the Committee's final report. The members of the Committee request comments from the public to inform their ongoing work and final report. Please submit your comments to NAC@nhttac.org with the subject ``NAC Comments'' as soon as possible and before September 6, 2021.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval to conduct semi-structured, qualitative interviews with Head Start staff (grantee administrators, managers/coordinators, center directors, teachers, staff), parents, affiliated community providers, and partner Local Education Agency (LEA) staff (administrators, elementary school principals, staff, and kindergarten teachers) at six sites. A comparative case study design will explore varying strategies and approaches to supporting children's transitions from Head Start to kindergarten.

The Children's Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is requesting an extension with minor changes to the approved information collection: The Cost Study of Trauma-Specific Evidence-Based Programs used in the Regional Partnership Grants (RPG) Program. This data collection request was previously approved and scheduled for spring 2021 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection is now feasible but will extend beyond the current expiration date of November 30, 2021, so an extension is needed. Additionally, since approval, minor changes were made to the instruments to include a question in the time log to ask about virtual service delivery since the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in grantees offering virtual services.

The Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is proposing to collect data for a new evaluation of a trauma-informed care program that will include a small randomized controlled trial across 10 sites within Head Start Region V. The goals of the project are to identify the implementation supports and methods needed to enable teachers to effectively implement Trauma-Informed Care in early care and education programs, and to evaluate its outcomes. Information collected will be used to inform ongoing training and technical assistance (TTA) work provided by the Head Start Centers, particularly decisions regarding allocation of TTA resources. More generally, results may inform OHS guidance around social-emotional programming.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to continue use of a coronavirus (COVID- 19) screening tool for unaccompanied children (UC) program staff and visitors at ORR care provider facilities.

Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended, ANA is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules and general statements of policy and to give notice of the proposed changes no less than 30 days before such changes become effective. On February 19, 2021, ANA published a Notice of Public Comment (NOPC) in the Federal Register regarding its proposed interpretive rules and general statements of policy relative to its six FY 2021 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs): Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NR-1907); Native American Language Preservation and MaintenanceEsther Martinez Immersion (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NB-1958); Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NL-1924); Social and Economic Development Strategies (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NA-1906); Social and Economic Development StrategiesAlaska (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NK-1902); and Social and Economic StrategiesGrowing Organizations (HHS-2021-ACF- ANA-NN-1918). This Notice of Issuance responds to the public comments received from the NOPC.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the Intergovernmental Reference Guide (IRG), with content revisions, for an additional three years. The IRG contains state and tribal child support information that assists child support enforcement (CSE) agencies in the administration of their respective programs. The current OMB approval expires on January 31, 2022.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the ``Child Support Portal Registration,'' with revisions, for an additional three years. OCSE's Child Support Portal (``Portal'') contains applications to assist state child support agencies with administering their programs. Authorized Portal users must register with OCSE to access Portal applications and provide OCSE with certain preferences. The current OMB approval expires on February 28, 2022.

This is a new request for data collection for the Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start. The study aims to provide a nationally representative picture of the Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) Disability Services Coordinator (DSC) workforce, as well as services provided to children with disabilities and their families within these programs and how EHS/HS collaborates with services in the community, including health providers, Local Education Agencies, and Part C. This is the first study of the HS/EHS DSC workforce and will contain three waves of data collection using surveys and qualitative interviews.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting approval for a new information collection: National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) Performance Indicators.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), plans to request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an extension to complete data collection for a two-wave COVID-19 Follow-up data collection currently underway as part of the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). The objective of the NSECE COVID-19 Follow-up is to document the nation's current supply of early care and education services (that is, home-based providers, center-based providers, and the center-based provider workforce). There are no changes proposed.

ACF, ORR, announces the issuance of one OPDIV-Initiated Supplement to BCFS HHS, San Antonio, Texas in the amount of up to $475,868,102. ORR has been identifying additional capacity to provide shelter for potential increases in apprehensions of UAC at the Southwest Border. Planning for increased shelter capacity is a prudent step to ensure that ORR is able to meet its responsibility, by law, to provide shelter for UAC referred to its care by the Department of Homeland Security. To ensure sufficient capacity to provide shelter to UAC referred to HHS, ORR is requesting that BCFS HHS continue the use of up to 1008 hard-sided beds at Carrizo Springs, Texas.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval to collect new information to use in testing measures of the implementation and costs of high-quality early care and education as part of the project, Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High-Quality Early Care and Education (ECE-ICHQ). The study received approval for a field test to validate and improve the psychometric properties of these measures in November 2019. This request is to add a measure to the approved field test to help further assess the associations between measures of implementation, cost, and quality.

The Office of Community Services (OCS) requests a three-year extension of the forms Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) State Plan, CSBG Eligible Entity Master List, and the American Customer Survey Index (ACSI) (OMB #0970-0382, expiration 6/30/2021). There are minimal changes requested to the State Plan and the Master List. No changes are proposed to the ACSI.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC) is requesting a 3-year extension of the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program: Guidance for Submitting an Annual Report to the Secretary (OMB #0970- 0409; expiration 9/30/2021). There are minor updates to the annual guidance which reflects a change in timing for the due date of the final report.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the ``State SNAP Agency NDNH Matching Program Performance Report,'' with minor revisions, for an additional three years. State agencies administering their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provide the annual performance report to OCSE in accordance with the computer matching agreement between state SNAP agencies and OCSE. The current OMB approval expires on February 28, 2022.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing a new information collection to assess the implementation of Project Connect, a comprehensive home visitation intervention that provides home-based services and treatment to child welfare-involved, substance-affected families with children and adolescents ages 0 to 17.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) seeks approval for a revision to an existing information collection, requesting Refugee Support Services (RSS) grantees and RSS Set Aside grantees to provide the agency name, city, state, website, and funding amount for each contracted sub-grantee. Additionally, ORR seeks approval to have the option to make this information public. This would enhance the accessibility of refugee service provider information to eligible clients in support of the service referral responsibilities of the State Refugee Coordinators. Similar information for ORR's discretionary grants is currently made public.