Children and Families Administration 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to Section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended, the Administration for Native Americans is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice, and to give notice of the final adoption of such changes at least 30 days before the changes become effective. In accordance with notice requirements of NAPA, ANA herein describes its proposed interpretive rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency procedure or practice as they relate to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) for the following programs: Social and Economic Development Strategies (hereinafter referred to as SEDS), Social and Economic Development StrategiesSpecial Initiative (hereinafter referred to as SEDS-SI), Native Language Preservation and Maintenance (hereinafter referred to as Language Preservation), Native Language Preservation and MaintenanceEsther Martinez Initiative (hereinafter referred to as Language-EMI), and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (hereinafter referred to as ERE). This notice also provides additional information about ANA's plan for administering the programs.

This notice announces the award of an expansion supplement grant to one grantee under the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)/ Family Violence Prevention and Services Program. The expansion supplement award is made to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Harrisburg, PA, a technical assistance provider, to support their capacity to provide technical support and training to State and local domestic violence advocates and social service agencies. These efforts will allow FYSB to support collaborative work to enhance the capacity of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and other Federal programs to provide assistance to eligible victims of domestic violence.

The Office of Community Services (OCS) announces the award of a $500,000 single source program expansion supplement to the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP), located in Washington, DC, to support performance training and technical assistance on data collection, analysis and dissemination issues faced by state community services programs within the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Network; develop performance based reporting tools for ARRA CSBG funded activities; develop and maintain a catalog of innovative programs and practices related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The project activities are designed to support and strengthen the ability of the CSBG Network to comply with and carry out CSBG activities funded by ARRA. The training projects and resources developed under the award will include analysis and explanation of the practical impact of ARRA for States and CSBG-eligible entities so that they can work more effectively to reach the ARRA goals and document how they have in fact reached those goals and used the ARRA funds.

Pursuant to the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134, Notice is hereby given of one-day Tribal Consultation Sessions to be held between the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start leadership and the leadership of Tribal governments operating Head Start (including Early Head Start) programs. The purpose of the Consultation Sessions is to discuss ways to better meet the needs of Indian, including Alaska Native, children and their families, taking into consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start services in their geographic locations [42 U.S.C. 9835, Section 640(l)(4)].

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2009, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Review,'' this action delays until December 30, 2010, the effective date of the final rule entitled ``State Parent Locator Service; Safeguarding Child Support Information,'' published in the Federal Register on September 26, 2008 (73 FR 56422). The delay in effective date is necessary to give Department officials the opportunity for further review of the issues of law and policy raised by this rule.

This funding will support the expansion of shelter/foster care program bed capacity to meet the additional number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) referrals from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other Federal agencies resulting from the recent passage of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008. Many provisions in the TVPRA will dramatically affect the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) UAC program's capacity to provide placement, custodial and residential shelter care services. ORR expects an additional 6,800 referrals annually from DHS.

Notice is hereby given that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will award a non-competitive successor grant to Neighborhood Assets, a non-profit organization located in Spokane, Washington. The Assets for Independence program supports grantees that provide low-income individuals and families with access to special matched savings accounts called individual development accounts (IDAs) and other asset- building tools such as financial literacy education and coaching and training on money management and consumer issues. The award will enable the Neighborhood Assets to implement an Assets for Independence project serving low-income families in Spokane, Washington. This action is taken as the original grantee, Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, has relinquished the grant.

This announcement governs the proposed award of formula grants under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to Native American Tribes (including Alaska Native Villages) and Tribal organizations. The purpose of these grants is to assist Tribes 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 (42 U.S.C. 10401).

Pursuant to the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134, notice is hereby given of one-day Tribal Consultation Sessions to be held between the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start leadership and the leadership of Tribal governments operating Head Start (including Early Head Start) programs. The purpose of the Consultation Sessions is to discuss ways to better meet the needs of Indian, including Alaska Native, children and their families, taking into consideration funding allocations, distribution formulas, and other issues affecting the delivery of Head Start services in their geographic locations [42 U.S.C. 9835, Section 640(l)(4)].

Effective October 1, 2009, Public Law 110-351 provides Indian Tribes with the option to operate a foster care, adoption assistance and, at Tribal option, a kinship guardianship assistance program under title IV-E of the Social Security Act (the Act). The Federal government would share in the costs of Tribes operating an ACF-approved title IV-E program. Public Law 110-351 requires that ACF develop interim final rules after consulting with Tribes and affected States on the implementation of the Tribal plan requirements in section 479B of the Act and other amendments made by the Tribal provisions in section 301 of Public Law 110-351. The law requires that such regulations include: (1) Procedures to ensure that a transfer of State responsibility for the placement and care of a child under a State title IV-E plan to a Tribal title IV-E plan occurs in a manner that does not affect the child's eligibility for title IV-E or title XIX Medicaid and such services or payments; and, (2) the in-kind expenditures from third- party sources permitted for the Tribal share of administration and training expenditures under title IV-E. This notice is designed to provide a written opportunity for comment to all interested persons, and specifically the affected States and to notify Tribal leaders of in-person opportunities to consult with the Children's Bureau on the development of these regulations.

In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2009, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Review,'' published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2009, the Department is seeking public comment on a contemplated delay of 60 days in the effective date of the rule entitled ``State Parent Locator Service; Safeguarding Child Support Information,'' published in the Federal Register on September 26, 2008 [73 FR 56422]. That rule addresses requirements for State Parent Locator Service responses to authorized location requests, State IV-D program safeguarding of confidential information, authorized disclosures of this information, and restrictions on the use of confidential data and information for child support purposes with exceptions for certain disclosures permitted by statute. The Department is considering a temporary 60-day delay in effective date to allow Department officials the opportunity for further review and consideration of new regulations, consistent with the Chief of Staff's memorandum of January 20, 2009. The Department solicits comments specifically on the contemplated delay in effective date.