Children and Families Administration 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2) notice is hereby given that the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities will hold its quarterly meeting by telephone conference call. The conference call will be open to the public to listen, with call-ins limited to the number of telephone lines available. Individuals who plan to call in and need special assistance, such as TTY, assistive listening devices, or materials in alternative format, should inform Ericka Alston, Executive Assistant, President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Telephone202-619-0634, Fax202-205-9519, E-mail: ealston@acf.hhs.gov, no later than December 6, 2006. Efforts will be made to meet special requests received after that date, but availability of special needs accommodations to respond to these requests cannot be guaranteed. Agenda: Committee members will hear from Ms. Madeleine Will, Vice President of Public Policy and Director of the National Policy Center at the National Down Syndrome Society. Ms. Will will speak about her personal and professional perspective on the barriers facing people with intellectual disabilities throughout the lifespan, and how the Committee can work in conjunction with President Bush's New Freedom Initiative to tear down those barriers. The Committee will also hear from Mr. Mark Gross, designated representative of the Ex officio member from the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Mr. Gross will brief the Committee on the programs and services in the Justice Department for people with intellectual disabilities. The Committee will then hear reports from the various subcommittees regarding their current projects and goals.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, by authority of 42 U.S.C. 9836A, section 641A(b) of the Head Start Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), has formed the Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational Performance Measures (the Committee). The Committee is governed by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2). The function of the Committee is to help assess the progress of HHS in developing and implementing educational measures in the Head Start Program. This includes the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS). The Committee is to provide recommendations for integrating NRS with other ongoing assessments of the effectiveness of the program. The Committee will make recommendations as to how NRS and other assessment data can be included in the broader Head Start measurement efforts found in the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), the National Head Start Impact Study, Head Start's Performance-Based Outcome System, and the ongoing evaluation of the Early Head Start program.

The Administration for Children and Families proposes to regulate the cost allocation methodology to be used in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The proposed rule would require States to use the ``benefiting program'' cost allocation methodology required by OMB Circular A-87 (2 CFR Part 225) and previously required under HHS' Office of Grants and Acquisition Management (OGAM) Action Transmittal (AT) 98-2.

These proposed regulations would revise Federal requirements for establishing and enforcing medical support obligations in child support enforcement program cases receiving services under title IV-D of the Social Security Act (the Act). The proposed changes would: require that all support orders in the IV-D program address medical support; redefine reasonable-cost health insurance; require health insurance to be accessible, as defined by the State; and make conforming changes to the Federal substantial-compliance audit and State self-assessment requirements.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation will award grant funds without competition to the Institute for American Values. This grant is being awarded for an unsolicited proposal entitled, ``Gendered Parenting and Its Implications for Child Well-Being and Couple Relationships,'' that conforms to the applicable program objectives, is within the legislative authorities and proposes activities that may be lawfully supported through grant mechanisms. The study is unique and relevant to ACF's interest in increasing child well-being and supporting healthy marriage. The resulting products can be expected to benefit policymakers and others interested in family policy. The Institute for American Values is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization conducting interdisciplinary research concerning issues of civil society. The grant will support an 18-month project at a cost of $96,000 in Federal support. The project is also being supported through non- Federal funding sources.

The Children's Bureau solicited comments from the public on the Proposed Research Priorities for Fiscal Years 2006-2008 in Volume 71, Number 23 of the Federal Register on February 3, 2006. Comments were due by April 4, 2006. All comments received by the deadline were reviewed and given consideration in the preparation of this notice.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to add regulations at 45 CFR part 1356 to require States to collect and report data to ACF on youth who are receiving independent living services and the outcomes of certain youth who are in foster care or who age out of foster care. This proposed rule implements the data collection requirements of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-169) as incorporated into the Social Security Act at section 477.

This interim final rule implements the statutory changes enacted in the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. This legislation reauthorizes the TANF program through fiscal year (FY) 2010 with a renewed focus on work, program integrity and strengthening families through healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood. The interim final rule addresses the work and program integrity changes of the new law.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) herein announces a Program Expansion Supplement to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red Lake, Minnesota. This supplement for $136,400 will extend funding for 11 youth volunteers through the second year of the project. In FY 2005, ANA provided an urgent grant award to the Tribe to assist in mitigating the effects of the tragic events of the school shooting in March 2005 that resulted in the death of students, faculty and staff. The shooting marked the highest death toll in U.S. school shootings since the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999. Due to the devastation created by the high school shooting, ANA is providing urgent financial assistance for minor renovations to the local community centers to support positive community development; funding to hire 11 volunteers to assist youth and members of the community in coping with this event; and building support systems, which will aid in preventing future tragedies.

This notice of proposed rulemaking authorizes approval of annual waivers, under certain circumstances, from two provisions in the current Head Start transportation regulation (45 CFR part 1310): The requirement that each child be seated in a child restraint system while the vehicle is in motion, and the requirement that each bus have at least one bus monitor on board at all times. Waivers would be granted when the Head Start or Early Head Start grantee demonstrates that compliance with the requirement(s) for which the waiver is being sought will result in a significant disruption to the Head Start program or the Early Head Start program and that waiving the requirement(s) is in the best interest of the children involved. The proposed rules also would revise the definition of child restraint system in the regulation. The proposed change in the definition would remove the reference to weight which now conflicts with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The regulation also is being amended to reflect new effective dates for Sec. Sec. 1310.12(a) and 1310.22(a) on the required use of school buses or allowable alternate vehicles and the required availability of such vehicles adapted for use of children with disabilities, as the result of enactment of Section 224 of Public Law 109-149.

On February 9, 2005, the Office of Community Services (OCS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published an announcement seeking applications for the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program. This program provides grant support for Individual Development Account (IDA) projects administered by government agencies and non-profit organizations. This Notice amends the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 application due date. This Notice announces a change in the final FY 2006 application due date from June 15, 2006 to July 18, 2006. This Notice also announces two conference call series. The first series will provide an overview of the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program, including application procedures and requirements. The second series will provide an orientation to administering effective Individual Development Account (IDA) projects with support from the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program. The Program Announcement for the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program is a standing announcement. It is effective until canceled or changed by the Office of Community Services (OCS). Applicants may submit applications at any time throughout the year. (Any changes to application due dates in successive years will be announced through publication of a Notice in the Federal Register, on the ACF Grant Opportunities Web page at https://www.acf. hhs.gov/grants/ index.html, and on https://www.Grants.gov.) OCS will review and make funding decisions about applications in three separate funding cycles annually. For FY 2006, the due dates are: November 1, 2005; March 15, 2006; and July 18, 2006. For example, starting in mid-March, OCS reviews all applications submitted November 2 through March 15. Starting in mid- July, OCS reviews all applications submitted March 16 through July 18. And, starting in early November, OCS reviews all applications submitted July 19 through November 1. Unsuccessful applicants may submit a new application in any succeeding application period. (1) Under the Executive Summary section of the original Program Announcement, please delete the following: The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services (OCS) will accept applications for financial assistance to establish and administer Assets for Independence (AFI) Projects. These projects assist low-income people in becoming economically self- sufficient. They do so by teaching project participants about economic and consumer issues and enabling them to establish matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA) in order to save for a first home, a business, or higher education. Grantees must participate in an on going national evaluation of the impact of AFI Projects and IDAs. This is a standing announcement. It is effective until canceled or changed by the Office of Community Services. Applicants may submit applications at any time throughout the year. OCS will review and make funding decisions about applicants submitted by any of three due dates: March 15, June 15 and November 1. (If a date falls on a weekend, the due date will be the following Monday.) For example, starting in mid- March annually, OCS will review all applications submitted November 2 through March 15. Starting in early June, OCS will review all applications submitted March 16 through June 15. And, starting in early November, OCS will review all applications submitted June 16 through November 1. Unsuccessful applicants may submit a new application in any succeeding application period. Please replace the deleted paragraphs under the Executive Summary section of the original Program Announcement with the following: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will accept applications for financial assistance to establish and administer Assets for Independence (AFI) Projects. These projects assist people with low incomes to become economically self-sufficient. They do so by teaching project participants about economic and consumer issues and enabling them to establish matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA) in order to save for a first home, a business, or higher education. Grantees must participate in an on going national evaluation of the impact of AFI Projects and IDAs. This is a standing announcement. It is effective until canceled or changed by the Office of Community Services. Applicants may submit applications at any time throughout the year. OCS will review and make funding decisions about applicants submitted by any of three due dates in FY 2006: November 1, 2005; March 15, 2006; and July 18, 2006. Unsuccessful applicants may submit a new application in any succeeding application cycle. (2) Under Priority Area 1, Section I. Funding Opportunity Description of the original Program Announcement please delete the following: The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services (OCS) will accept applications for financial assistance to establish and administer Assets for Independence (AFI) Projects. These projects assist low-income people in becoming economically self- sufficient. They do so by teaching project participants about economic and consumer issues and enabling them to establish matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA) in order to save for a first home, a business or higher education. Grantees must participate in an ongoing national evaluation of the impact of AFI Projects and IDAs. This is a standing announcement. It is effective until canceled or changed by the Office of Community Services. Applicants may submit applications at any time throughout the year. OCS will review and make funding decisions about applicants submitted by any of three due dates: March 15, June 15, and November 1. (If a date falls on a weekend, the due date will be the following Monday.) For example, starting in mid- March annually, OCS will review all applications submitted November 2 through March 15. Starting in early June, OCS will review all applications submitted March 16 through June 15. And, starting in early November, OCS will review all applications submitted June 16 through November 1. Unsuccessful applicants may submit a new application in any succeeding application period. Please replace the deleted paragraphs under Priority Area 1, Section I. Funding Opportunity Description with the following: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will accept applications for financial assistance to establish and administer Assets for Independence (AFI) Projects. These projects assist people with low incomes to become economically self-sufficient. They do so by teaching project participants about economic and consumer issues and enabling them to establish matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDA) in order to save for a first home, a business, or higher education. Grantees must participate in an on going national evaluation of the impact of AFI Projects and IDAs. This is a standing announcement. It is effective until canceled or changed by the Office of Community Services. Applicants may submit applications at any time throughout the year. OCS will review and make funding decisions about applicants submitted by any of three due dates in FY 2006: November 1, 2005; March 15, 2006; and July 18, 2006. Unsuccessful applicants may submit a new application in any succeeding application cycle. (3) Please insert the following in Section VIII. Other: The Office of Community Services announces Two Informational Conference Call Series: The Office of Community Services, through its Assets for Independence Resource Center, will sponsor a series of Overview Conference Calls featuring general information about the program and the application requirements and procedures. These calls will be held on May 9, May 16, and May 23, 2006 at 2-3:30 p.m., eastern daylight time. The Resource Center will also host a series of Orientation Conference Calls with information and tips on administering effective Individual Development Account projects supported by the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program. These calls are scheduled for May 11, May 17, May 18, May 25, June 1, June 7 and June 8, 2006. Each of the calls will be held from 2-3:30 p.m., eastern daylight time. The Resource Center may also schedule additional calls. Please go to the OCS Asset Building Web site at https://www. acf.hhs.gov/asset building for a schedule of calls and other details. The Web site also includes dial-in numbers and pre-registration information. Participants are strongly encouraged to pre-register, as the number of lines is limited. The Resource Center will provide background information to all individuals who pre-register. All information in this Notice of amendment is accurate and replaces information specified in the February 9, 2005 Notice, the Notice of correction published on June 10, 2005, and the notice of amendment published on November 17, 2005. Announcement Availability: The Assets for Independence Demonstration Program announcement and all application materials are available at https://www.Grants.gov. Standard forms and certifications may also be found at https://www. acf.hhs.gov/programs/ ofs/forms.htm. Finally, the OCS Asset Building Web site at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ assetbuilding provides extensive information about the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program and the application process. The page includes links to all required forms, a guidebook for developing an AFI Project, and information on applying for an AFI grant.

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation will award grant funds without competition to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (National Marriage Project). This grant is being awarded for an unsolicited proposal entitled, ``Cohabitation, Marriage and Child Well-Being: A Cross-National Analysis'' that conforms to the applicable program objectives, is within the legislative authorities and proposes activities that may be lawfully supported through grant mechanisms. The study is unique, timely, and highly relevant to ACF's interest in supporting healthy marriage. A compilation and analyses of the information from developed foreign nations regarding cohabitation is likely to be informative, instructive, and beneficial to United States' policymakers and others interested in family policy. The National Marriage Project within Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, is well-positioned to conduct a comparative analysis of cohabitation across developed nations and the United States. The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University is a nonpartisan organization devoted to creating greater pubic awareness about the importance of marriage as a child-rearing institution. The grant will support a 12-month project at a cost of $86,308 in Federal support. The project is also being supported through non- Federal funding sources.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, by authority of 42 U.S.C. 9836A, section 641A(b) of the Head Start Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), has formed the Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountabilit5y and Educational Performance Measures (the Committee). The committee is governed by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2). The function of the Committee is to help assess the progress of HHS in developing and implementing educational measures in the Head Start Program. This includes the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS). The Committee is to provide recommendations for integrating NRS with other ongoing assessments of the effectiveness of the program. The Committee will make recommendations as to how NRS and other assessment data can be included in the broader Head Start measurement efforts found in the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), the National Head Start Impact Study, Head Start's Performance Based Outcome System, and the ongoing evaluation of the Early Head Start program.

This announcement governs the proposed award of mandatory grants under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to States (including Territories and Insular Areas). The purpose of these grants is to assist States in establishing, maintaining, and expanding programs and projects to prevent family violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents. This announcement sets forth the application requirements, the application process, and other administrative and fiscal requirements for grants in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006.

This notice announces the estimated median income for four- person families in each State and the District of Columbia for FFY 2007 (October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007). LIHEAP grantees may adopt the State median income estimates beginning with the date of this publication of the estimates in the Federal Register or at a later date as discussed below. This means that LIHEAP grantees could choose to implement this notice during the period between the heating and cooling seasons. However, by October 1, 2006, or by the beginning of a grantee's fiscal year, whichever is later, LIHEAP grantees using State median income estimates must adjust their income eligibility criteria to be in accord with the FFY 2007 State median income estimates. This listing of estimated State median incomes provides one of the maximum income criteria that LIHEAP grantees may use in determining a household's income eligibility for LIHEAP.

The Children's Bureau (CB) within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) announces the proposed priorities for research on the causes, prevention, assessment, identification, treatment, cultural and socio-economic distinctions, and the consequences of child abuse and neglect. Section 104(a)(4) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003, Public Law (Pub. L.). 108-36, requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish proposed priorities for research activities for public comment and to maintain an official record of such public comment. The proposed priorities are being announced for the two-year period required by CAPTA. Because the amount of Federal funds available for discretionary activities in Fiscal Years 2006-2008 is expected to be limited, respondents are encouraged to recommend how the proposed issues should be prioritized. The actual solicitation of grant applications will be posted electronically each fiscal year and will be available online through https://www.Grants.gov. Solicitations for contracts will be announced, at later dates, online at FedBizOps. (FY 05 was the last year that CB discretionary grants were published in the Federal Register.) No proposals, concept papers or other forms of application should be submitted at this time. No acknowledgement will be made of the comments submitted in response to this notice, but all comments received by the deadline will be reviewed and given thoughtful consideration in the preparation of the final funding priorities for the announcements.

Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (the Act) as amended by 42 U.S.C. 2992b-1, ANA herein describes its proposed interpretive rules and general statements of policy and rules of agency procedure or practice in relation to the Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) Special Initiative Program Announcement: Improving the Well-Being of Children/Native American Healthy Marriage Initiative (NAHMI). Under the Act, 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 rules of agency procedure or practice and give notice of the final adoption of such changes at least thirty (30) days before the changes become effective. This Notice also provides additional information about ANA's plan for administering NAHMI.