[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2444-2445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00440]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Title: TANF Quarterly Financial Report ACF-196R
OMB No.: New Collection
Description: This information collection is authorized under
Section 411(a)(3) of the Social Security Act. This request is for
approval to create the ACF-196R form for quarterly financial reporting
under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
Implementation of these changes will entail new costs to ACF, and thus,
final adoption will depend upon funding availability. States
participating in the TANF program are required by statute to report
financial data on a quarterly basis. The form meets the legal standard
and provides essential data on the use of federal TANF funds. Failure
to collect the data would seriously compromise ACF's ability to monitor
program expenditures, estimate funding needs, and to prepare budget
submissions and annual reports required by Congress. Financial
reporting under the TANF program is governed by 45 CFR Part 265.
Approval of the ACF-196R would result in two basic changes to TANF
quarterly financial reports. The first is to require respondents to
allocate annual expenditures among an expanded list of categories on
the ACF-196R; these categories better reflect the wide range of
activities on which states are expending TANF funds. The second change
is to the accounting method used to report expenditures made in a
fiscal year and monitor cumulative expenditures by grant year award.
Specifically, effective FY 2015, with each open grant year award,
respondents will be required to report actual expenditures made in a
fiscal year rather than updating cumulative totals, using the ACF-196R.
If a respondent needs to adjust an expenditure reported in a prior
year, it will revise the report for the fiscal year in which that
expenditure occurred, rather than the current year's report.
We will maintain the ACF-196 form (Approved OMB No 0970-0247), only
for revisions to historical data. Specifically, if a respondent needs
to adjust or correct an expenditure submitted in a fiscal year prior to
FY 2015, the respondent will revise the ACF-196 pertaining to the
relevant
[[Page 2445]]
grant year for expenditures cumulative through FY 2014. Thus, the
reporting burden associated with the ACF-196 is greatly reduced.
ACF revised the proposed ACF-196R form and instructions published
in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013, based on comments
received. We added to the list of general instructions, and revised
some expenditure categories and related definitions, resulting in
greater clarity or eased reporting. We also expanded our discussion of
adjustments and revisions to prior data to provide examples and address
concerns over how TANF financial reporting relates to the accounting
method states use to track their expenditures. Finally, we increased
the estimated burden hours necessary to complete quarterly reports
based on feedback from states.
Respondents: State agencies administering the TANF program
Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACF-196R.................................... 51 4 32 6528
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6528
Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be
obtained 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. All
requests should be identified by the title of the information
collection. Email address: [email protected]. Interested
parties can also access copies of the proposed collection of
information (instructions and forms) by accessing the Information
Memorandum TANF-ACF-IM-2014-01 on the Policy page of the OFA Web site,
available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/programs/tanf/policy.
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, Email: [email protected], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for
Children and Families.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-00440 Filed 1-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P