[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 235 (Friday, December 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74175-74176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28736]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[OMB No.: 0970-0353]
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Title: Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) Program Data Collection.
Description: On September 30, 2007, the Administration for Children
and Families (ACF), Children's Bureau, awarded multi-year grants to 53
regional partnership grantees (RPGs) to improve the safety, permanency
and well-being of children affected by methamphetamine or other
substance abuse who have been removed or are at risk of removal from
their homes. The Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006, the
authorizing legislation for the RPG program, required that a set of
performance indicators be established to periodically assess the
grantees' progress on achieving outcomes. The legislation mandated that
these performance indicators be developed through a consultative
process involving ACF, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), and representatives of the State or Tribal
agencies who are members of the regional partnerships.
The final set of RPG performance indicators was approved by ACF and
disseminated to the funded grantees in January 2008. It includes a
total of 23 indicators across four outcome domains: child/youth (9
indicators), adult (7 indicators), family/relationship (5 indicators),
and regional partnership/service capacity (2 indicators). It also
includes a core set of child and adult demographic elements that will
provide important context needed to properly analyze, explain and
understand the outcomes. No other national data collection measures
these critical child, adult, family, and RPG outcomes specifically for
these children and families. The data also will have significant
implications for policy and program development for child well-being
programs nationwide.
To minimize reporting burden, many of the data elements are already
being collected by counties and States in order to report Federally
mandated data for the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting
System (AFCARS), the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) and the National
Outcome Measures (NOMs); in addition, all States voluntarily submit
data for the Federal National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
(NCANDS). Therefore, most
[[Page 74176]]
child welfare data elements included in the RPG performance measures
can be found in a State's automated case management system, which is
often a Federally funded Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information
System (SACWIS). If the State elects to implement a SACWIS, the system
is expected to be a comprehensive automated case management tool that
meets the needs of all staff involved in foster care and adoption case
management. A SACWIS is required to support reporting of data to AFCARS
semi-annually, and annually to NCANDS. AFCARS reports information on
all children in foster care, while NCANDS reports information on State
child maltreatment reports. TEDS admission and discharge data are
collected by State substance abuse agencies according to their own
information systems for monitoring substance abuse treatment admissions
and transmitted monthly or quarterly to the SAMHSA contractor.
As a result of prior Federal government reporting requirements,
States are already collecting several data elements needed by the RPGs.
The RPGs can download information from these existing systems to obtain
data to monitor their program outcomes, thereby reducing the amount of
primary data collection needed.
Beginning in year two, grantees will submit a data file with their
required indicator data, according to their final set of indicators,
every six months.
Respondents: RPG Grantees.
Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State, local, or Tribal Government.............. 31 2 175.50 10,881
Private Sector.................................. 22 2 175.50 7,722
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,603.
Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be
obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families,
Office of Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant
Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance
Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of the
information collection. E-mail address: infocollection@acf.hhs.gov.
OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the
collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of
this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best
assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of
publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office
of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Fax: 202-395-
6974, Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and
Families.
Dated: December 1, 2008.
Janean Chambers,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-28736 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]
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