Children and Families Administration October 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Administration (OA), Office of Information Services (OIS) announces the award of $1,000,000 as a single-source expansion supplement grant to extend an award made to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Greenberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD. The grant will allow JHU, and its partner, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, to continue the development of a Human Services National Interoperable Architecture (HSNIA). Under the supplement award, JHU and its partners will develop Phase III of an architectural framework that will be used as a model to facilitate State and local agencies in information exchanges among eligibility and verification services that are developed by the HHS/ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). To address issues related to implementation of the ACA and the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, the Administration has directed Federal Agencies to begin to design and execute plans related to the legislation. JHU and its partners will create the development of a conceptual information technology architecture with ACF/Office of Information Services. The project will produce a solution that supports information exchanges and interoperability that will lead to reductions in improper payments as a preventative step in the program integrity process.

This notice announces that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) has awarded a single-source program expansion supplement grant of $159,679 for post-secondary education opportunities. The Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts in collaboration with seven ACF-ADD supported University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDDs) in Delaware, Minnesota, Hawaii, South Carolina, Tennessee [Vanderbilt], Ohio, and California along with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) has established a consortium that will conduct research, provide training and technical assistance, and disseminate information on promising practices that support individuals with developmental disabilities to increase their independence, productivity, and inclusion through access to post-secondary education. Think College's goals are to improve long- term independent living and employment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities. The consortium is acting as a national resource for knowledge, training, materials, and dissemination of information on participation in post-secondary education of individuals with developmental disabilities.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD), Office of Program Support (OPS) announces the award of a single-source grant of $620,000 to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), located in Washington, DC. The award will support a project to provide training and technical assistance (T/TA) to the designated State Councils on Developmental Disabilities (State Councils). The primary focus of the T/TA is to improve program performance, statutory compliance, and program outcomes across the network of State Councils. Toward this end, NACDD shall provide T/TA to the entities designated by ADD as State Councils. Under this project, it is expected that initiatives shall be identified and undertaken to support the improvement of State Council operations and performance.

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), announces the award of a single-source program expansion supplement grant of $311,997 to the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS) in Chicago, IL, for initiatives in the areas of quality assurance, comprehensive outreach and increased capacity through technology improvements. Through these initiatives, NRS will improve its outreach to youth through Web site enhancements such as, increased access to the ``Live Chat'' function; recruitment of additional Spanish-English bilingual volunteers; increased outreach and partnerships with local, regional and national organizations to enhance NRS' national impact in crisis intervention for youth and families. In terms of evidence-based programming, this funding will also enable NRS to conduct a study and evaluate efforts in the area of reconnecting runaway youth with their families.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an Operating Division of HHS, announces the opportunity for public comment on its initial transition plan to implement required electronic submission of Federal discretionary grant applications and official grant file documents. In accordance with e-Government initiatives mandated by the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, Public Law 106-107, ACF officially acknowledges that electronically generated and/or stored documents are recognized equivalents of an official paper grant file. Recognizing the equivalency of such documents eliminates duplicative effort and administrative burden for Federal grant applicants, recipients, and the awarding agency, by facilitating the submission and storage of official grant files. The ACF transition plan will begin with the required electronic submission of discretionary grant applications. ACF has previously afforded applicants and recipients the option of submitting Federal discretionary grant applications in both electronic and paper formats. This notice announces that during the initial transition phase and thereafter, discretionary grant applicants and recipients are now required to submit competing, and non-competing continuation, grant applications electronically. The electronic portals used to support this effort are https://www.Grants.gov and https:// www.GrantSolutions.gov.