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

This interim final rule with comment (IFC) adds new provisions to the Head Start Program Performance Standards to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Head Start programs. This IFC requires effective upon publication, universal masking for all individuals two years of age and older, with some noted exceptions, and all Head Start staff, contractors whose activities involve contact with or providing direct services to children and families, and volunteers working in classrooms or directly with children to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by January 31, 2022.

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's Form 1: Demographic and Service Utilization Data (OMB #0970-0389; expiration 6/30/2022). There are minor updates to the existing Form 1.

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 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 and organizational revisions, for an additional three years. The IRG contains state and tribal child support information that assists state and tribal child support enforcement (CSE) agencies administering their respective programs. The current OMB approval expires on January 31, 2022.

The ACF, ORR, Division of Refugee Services (DRS) announces the intent to award a supplement in the amount of up to $1,500,000 to Upwardly Global in New York, NY. The purpose of this award is to enable the recipient to provide program services to Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders and humanitarian parolees currently housed on U.S. military installations awaiting resettlement. Upwardly Global will provide on-base services for four months, and then continue to provide remote support to eligible Afghan entrants at resettlement sites throughout the U.S.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requests a 3-year extension of the State Self-Assessment Review and Report with minor revisions. The information collected in the report assists state child support agencies and OCSE in determining whether the agencies meet federal child support performance requirements. The current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval expires on April 30, 2022.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting public comment on the following forms: OCSE-34 ``Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Collection Report'' and OCSE-396 ``Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Financial Report.'' These forms are currently approved under the ACF Generic Clearance for Financial Reports (OMB #0970-0510; expiration June 30, 2024). There are no changes requested to the forms, but the instructions have been updated to address comments received in response to a notice published in the Federal Register and update burden hours.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), proposes interview data collection activities for the Success Sequence Interviews study.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), is requesting a 3-year extension of the Request for Certification of Adult Victims of Human Trafficking (RFC) form (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #: 0970-0454, expiration 2/ 28/22). Minor revisions have been made to the form, including the addition of a few fields that will enable OTIP to be more responsive to congressional inquiries, federal reporting requirements, and the needs of victims.

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 a data collection activity as part of the Integrating Financial Capability and Employment Services Project. The objective of this project is to better understand financial capability interventions offered in the context of delivering employment and training services for low-income adults. This descriptive study intends to use this information to build more evidence about the extent, forms, and practices of incorporating financial capability interventions into organizations delivering employment and training services for low-income adult populations, and to help establish a basis for future research and evaluation in this area. This project will focus on organizations delivering employment and training services that also offer financial capability services to low-income adults.

The Office of Child Care (OCC) is requesting a 1-year extension of the form ACF-218: Quality Progress Report (QPR) (OMB #0970-0517, expiration 9/30/2021). There are minor changes requested to the form related to COVID-19 pandemic supplemental funding increases.

The Office of Community Services, 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 comment on the proposed collection. The proposed forms are necessary to provide data to the Administration and Congress in its oversight of recipients' performance in administering the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) program. The information collection is essential to the mission of the agency for this emergency assistance effort and the use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to disrupt and prevent the collection of information.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on state child support program operations, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) proposes to modify the Paternity Establishment Percentage (PEP) from the 90 percent performance threshold to 50 percent for Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2020 and 2021 in order for a state to avoid a financial penalty. OCSE also proposes to provide that adverse findings of data reliability audits of a state's paternity establishment data will not result in a financial penalty.

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.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the form ACF-118A: Child Care and Development Fund for Tribes (OMB #0970-0198, expiration 06/30/2022) for FFY 2023-2025. There are changes requested to the form to improve formatting, and clarify and streamline questions. ACF is also requesting public comment on revising the thresholds used to determine tribes with small, medium, and large allocations.

This rule adopts as final the provision to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) to establish parameters by which ACF may make designation renewal determinations during a federally declared major disaster, emergency, or public health emergency (PHE) and in the absence of all normally required data.

The ACF, OHSEPR announces the intent to award four single- source grants in the amount of up to $300,000 to the following recipients: United Way Worldwide, Alexandria, VA; National Association of Social Workers, Washington, DC; American Public Human Services Association, Arlington, VA; and National Association of County Human Services Administrators, Washington, DC. The purpose of these awards is to facilitate the coordination of human services to U.S. Citizens and their dependents evacuating to the United States from Afghanistan. These organizations are key players in the leadership, coordination, or direct provision of human services after an emergency and have direct access to their constituencies and networks. U.S. citizens and their dependents (repatriates) eligible for temporary assistance under the U.S. Repatriation Program can receive up to 90 days of temporary assistance which includes transportation, food, medical care, cash assistance, temporary lodging, and case management. These awards will ensure appropriate training and technical assistance, coordination, and subject matter expertise as repatriates connect to human services entities.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on revisions to an approved information collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to process release of UC from ORR custody and provide services after release.

This is a primary data collection request for the Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start (New Collection). 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 Phases of data collection using surveys and qualitative interviews.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is inviting public comments on revisions to an approved information collection. The request consists of several forms that allow the Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program to monitor care provider facility compliance with federal laws and regulations, legal agreements, and ORR policies and procedures; and perform other administrative tasks.

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.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing a new data collection activity as part of the Understanding the Value of Centralized Services study. The objective of this descriptive study is to understand the advantages, disadvantages, and costs of centralizing social services for individuals and families with low incomes.

The Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Office of Family Assistance 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 includes a reporting form and associated instructions for financial information to be completed by grant recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Pandemic Emergency Assistance Funding authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (HHS/ACF/ OPRE), is providing notice of a re-established matching program between the Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center (DoD/DMDC) and State Public Assistance Agencies (SPAAs), ``Verification of Continued Eligibility for Benefits Through the Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) Program.'' HHS/ACF/OPRE facilitates the matching program.

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 monitor its care provider facilities for compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, licensing and accreditation standards, ORR policies and procedures, and child welfare standards. These information collections were originally approved under emergency approval for 6 months. This request is to continue data collection.