Children and Families Administration July 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 479 of the Social Security Act (the Act) requires that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) develop and write regulations to implement a system for the collection by title IV-E agencies of data relating to adoption and foster care. The resultant Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) has been operating since 1994 and is administered by the Children's Bureau (CB) in ACF. AFCARS collects case level information on all children in foster care for whom the title IV-E agency has responsibility for placement and care and on children adopted under the auspices of the title IV-E agency. We issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on January 11, 2008 (73 FR 2082) that proposed to amend the AFCARS regulations at 45 CFR 1355.40 and the appendices to part 1355 [https:// edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E7-24860.htm]. The proposal would modify the requirements for title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to ACF on children in out-of-home care and in subsidized adoption or guardianship arrangements with the title IV-E agency. Due to the enactment of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-351) and the substantial changes it introduced in title IV-E, we intend to issue a new AFCARS NPRM. To inform development of the new NPRM we request that interested parties comment on the questions below.

The Health Resources and Services Administration and Administration for Children and Families, HHS, solicit comments by August 17, 2010 on proposed criteria for evidence of effectiveness of home visiting program models for pregnant women, expectant fathers, and primary caregivers of children birth through kindergarten entry. Final criteria for evidence of effectiveness will be included in the program announcement inviting eligible entities to apply for funding under the Affordable Care Act Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

This notice announces that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Native Americans (ANA) has awarded five single-source urgent grants to fund projects that are designed to mitigate the impact of the devastation caused by the tsunami that seriously damaged American Samoa on September 29, 2009. As a result of the devastating tsunami, 32 people were killed and 277 homes, schools, businesses, and transportation systems were destroyed. The event left the people of American Samoa traumatized and in need of assistance to re-start their lives. ACF/ANA is providing urgent financial assistance to four non-profit organizations and one local government agency to