[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 9943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3873]
[[Page 9943]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects
Title: Emergency Contingency Fund for Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) Programs OFA-100.
OMB No.: 0970-0366.
Description
On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which establishes the
Emergency Contingency Fund for State TANF Programs (Emergency Fund) as
section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act). This legislation
provides up to $5 billion to help States, Territories, and Tribes in
fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY 2010 that have an increase in assistance
caseloads and basic assistance expenditures, or in expenditures related
to short-term benefits or subsidized employment. The Recovery Act made
additional changes to TANF extending supplemental grants through FY
2010, expanding flexibility in the use of TANF funds carried over from
one fiscal year to the next, and adding a hold-harmless provision to
the caseload reduction credit for States and Territories serving more
TANF families.
The Emergency Fund is intended to build upon and renew the
principles of work and responsibility that underlie successful welfare
reform initiatives. The Emergency Fund provides resources to States,
Territories, and Tribes to support work and families during this
difficult economic period.
On July 20, 2009 we issued a Program Instruction accompanied by the
Emergency Fund Request Form (OFA-100), and instructions for
jurisdictions to complete the OFA-100 to apply for emergency funds.
Failure to collect this data would compromise ACF's ability to
monitor caseload and expenditure data that must increase in order for
jurisdictions to receive awards under the Emergency Fund.
Documentation maintenance on financial reporting for the Emergency
Fund is governed by 45 CFR 92.20 and 45 CFR 92.42.
ACF is planning to extend the information collection with the
adjustment to the Estimated Annual Burden shown in the table below.
Based on our projections for a lower Estimated Annual Burden, we have
revised the Number of Responses per Respondent to 1 from its previous
number of 5. Because the Number of Responses per Respondent has been
revised, the Estimated Total Burden Hours is now 2,232, down from its
previous number of 11,160.
Respondents
State, Territory, and Tribal agencies administering the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program that are applying for the
Emergency Fund.
Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average
Instrument Number of responses per burden hours Total burden
respondents respondent per response hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TANF Emergency Fund Request Form, OFA-100....... 93 1 24 2,232
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,232.
In compliance with the requirements of Section 506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW.,
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. Email
address: [email protected]. All requests should be identified
by the title of the information collection.
The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted
within 60 days of this publication.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-3873 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
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