Children and Families Administration October 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will be holding a one-day Tribal Consultation Session on December 6, 2005, at the Wyndham Hotel (California Grand Ball Room) in Palm Springs, California.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) created and expanded State and Federal title IV-D child support enforcement databases and significantly enhanced access to information for title IV-D child support purposes. States are moving toward integrated service delivery and developing enterprise architecture initiatives to link their program databases. This proposed rule is designed to prescribe requirements for: State Parent Locator Service responses to authorized location requests; and State IV-D agency safeguarding of confidential information and authorized disclosures of this information. This proposed rule would restrict the use of confidential data and information to child support purposes, with exceptions for certain disclosures permitted by statute.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), herein announces the awarding of twenty- eight urgent grant awards in order to enable seventeen Mentoring Children of Prisoner Programs and eleven Training and Technical Assistance providers to respond immediately to hurricane disaster evacuee needs in their States and local communities. The effects of Hurricane Katrina have disrupted the ability of the children whose parents are incarcerated to receive mentoring services due to their forced relocation throughout the nation. As a result, FYSB's network of mentoring grantees and training and technical assistance providers are uniquely positioned to respond to the increase in the numbers of children of incarcerated parents arriving in their new communities. The following agencies are receiving grant funds for a twelve month project period: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Heart, Macon, Georgia, in the amount of $95,000; State of Alabama Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, Montgomery, Alabama, in the amount of $50,000; YMCA of Greater Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, in the amount of $50,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, in the amount of $95,000; Family and Children's Agency, Inc., Norwalk, Connecticut, in the amount of $21,350; America on Track of Santa Ana, California in the amount of $95,000; Volunteers in Prevention, Probation and Prisons, Detroit, Michigan, in the amount of $95,000; Centerforce, Inc. of San Rafael, California in the amount of $63,170; Big Brothers Big sisters of Boone County, Columbia, Missouri, in the amount of $95,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, in the amount of $95,000; Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education, Providence, Rhode Island, in the amount of $13,900; Mississippi Gulf Coast YMCA, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, in the amount of $99,553; Families Under Urban and Social Attacks, Houston, Texas, in the amount of $56,250; Big Buddy Program, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the amount of $90,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, in the amount of $95,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, in the amount of $95,000; Pima Prevention Partnership, Tucson, Arizona, in the amount of $33,936; The University of Oklahoma National Resource Center for Youth Services, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the amount of $700,000; Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth and Family Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the amount of $100,000; Youth Network Council, Chicago, Illinois, in the amount of $100,000; Southeastern Network of Youth and Family Services, Bonita Springs, Florida, in the amount of $100,000; Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, New York, New York, in the amount of $100,000; Northwest Network of Runaway and Youth Services, Seattle, Washington, in the amount of $100,000; Western States Youth Services Network, Petaluma, California, in the amount of $100,000; New England Network for Child, Youth and Family Services, Burlington, Vermont, in the amount of $100,000; Southwest Network of Youth Services, Austin, Texas, in the amount of $100,000; Mountain Plains Network for Youth, Bismarck, North Dakota, in the amount of $100,000; MINK Network of Runaway and Homeless Youth Services, Lenexa, Kansas, in the amount of $65,000. The seventeen Mentoring Children of Prisoners Programs will be responsible for reconnecting or establishing new mentoring relationships with evacuated children of incarcerated persons in their new communities. In addition to the seventeen Mentoring Children of Prisoners Programs being funded, the Family and Youth Services Bureau is funding eleven Training and Technical Assistance providers that will provide specialized technical assistance to the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program grantees in their respective regions. The eleven Training and Technical Assistance Providers are well positioned to assist the seventeen Mentoring Children of Prisoners Programs in identifying children of incarcerated persons who are new to a community, developing a plan to provide them with mentoring support and coordinating services with other programs, Federal staff and their contractors.

Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (the Act) as amended by 42 U.S.C. 2991b-1, ANA herein describes its proposed interpretive rules, general statement of policy and rules of agency procedure or practice in relation to the Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS), Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (hereinafter referred to as Native Language), Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (hereinafter referred to as Environmental) and Environmental Mitigation (hereinafter referred to as Mitigation) programs and any Special Initiatives. Under the statute, ANA is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules, statements of general policy and rules of agency procedure or practice and to give notice of the final adoption of such changes at least thirty (30) days before the changes become effective. The notice also provides additional information about ANA's plan for administering the programs.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families herein announces an urgent grant award to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) to provide technical assistance to reestablish the operations of the resource and referral agencies in Mississippi and Louisiana whose operations have been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. This grant will help to re-establish child care referral services so that families along the Gulf Coast can find child care. This grant will also support local and Statewide inventories of child care need and availability. The amount of the proposed grant to NACCRRA is $99,500 in FY 2005 child care funds. The duration of the grant is 12 months.