[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 207 (Thursday, October 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65194-65195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26314]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects:
Title: Child Care and Development Fund Financial Report (ACF 696)
for States and Territories
OMB No.: 0970-0163
Description: States and Territories use the Financial Report Form
ACF-696 to report Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) expenditures.
Authority to collect and report this information is found in section
658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, as
revised. In addition to the Program Reporting Requirements set forth in
45 CFR part 98, subpart H, the regulations at 45 CFR 98.65(g) and
98.67(c)(1) authorize the Secretary to require financial reports as
necessary.
The form provides specific data regarding claims and provides a
mechanism for States to request Child Care grant awards and to certify
the availability of State matching funds. Failure to collect this data
would seriously compromise ACF's ability to monitor Child Care and
Development Fund expenditures. This information is also used to
estimate outlays and may be used to prepare ACF budget submissions to
Congress.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, (Pub. L.
111-5) provides an additional $2 billion for the Child Care and
Development Fund to help States, Territories, and Tribes provide child
care assistance to low income working families. CCDF Program
Instruction (CCDF-ACF-PI-2009-03) provided guidance on ARRA spending
requirements.
Section 1512 of the ARRA legislation requires recipients to report
quarterly spending and performance data on the public Web site,
``Recovery.gov''. Federal agencies are required to collect ARRA
expenditure data and performance data and these data must be clearly
distinguishable from the regular CCDF (non-ARRA) funds. To ensure
transparency and accountability, the ARRA authorizes Federal agencies
and grantees to track and report separately on expenditures from funds
made available by the stimulus bill. Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) guidance implementing the
[[Page 65195]]
ARRA legislation indicates that agencies requiring additional
information for oversight should rely on existing authorities and
reflect these requirements in their award terms and conditions as
necessary, following existing procedures. Therefore, to capture ARRA
expenditures, the ACF-696 has been modified (by the addition of a
column) for reporting ARRA expenditure data. In addition, a new data
element will ask States and Territories to estimate the number of child
service months funded with ARRA dollars. The collection will not
duplicate other information.
Respondents: States and Territories.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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ACF-696..................................... 56 4 5 1,120
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,120.
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 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. 2012-26314 Filed 10-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P