80 FR 52754 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 169 (September 1, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52754-52755]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21625]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
    OMB No.: 0970-0424.
    Description: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families in 
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established the 
National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) to respond to the 
1988 and 1992 amendments (Pub. L. 100-294 and Pub. L. 102-295) to the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.), 
which called for the creation of a coordinated national data collection 
and analysis program, both universal and case specific in scope, to 
examine standardized data on false, unfounded, or unsubstantiated 
reports.
    In 1996, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was amended 
by Public Law 104-235 to require that any state receiving the Basic 
State Grant work with the Secretary of the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) to provide specific data on child maltreatment, to 
the extent practicable. These provisions were retained and expanded 
upon in the 2010 reauthorization of CAPTA (Pub. L. 111-320).
    Each state to which a grant is made under this section shall 
annually work with the Secretary to provide, to the maximum extent 
practicable, a report that includes the following:
    1. The number of children who were reported to the state during the 
year as victims of child abuse or neglect.
    2. Of the number of children described in paragraph (1), the number 
with respect to whom such reports were--
    A. substantiated;
    B. unsubstantiated; or
    C. determined to be false.
    3. Of the number of children described in paragraph (2)--
    A. the number that did not receive services during the year under 
the state program funded under this section or an equivalent state 
program;
    B. the number that received services during the year under the 
state program funded under this section or an equivalent state program; 
and
    C. the number that were removed from their families during the year 
by disposition of the case.
    4. The number of families that received preventive services, 
including use of differential response, from the state during the year.
    5. The number of deaths in the state during the year resulting from 
child abuse or neglect.
    6. Of the number of children described in paragraph (5), the number 
of such children who were in foster care.
    7. A. The number of child protective service personnel responsible 
for the--
    i. intake of reports filed in the previous year;
    ii. screening of such reports;
    iii. assessment of such reports; and
    iv. investigation of such reports.
    B. The average caseload for the workers described in subparagraph 
(A).
    8. The agency response time with respect to each such report with 
respect to initial investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect.
    9. The response time with respect to the provision of services to 
families and children where an allegation of child abuse or neglect has 
been made.
    10. For child protective service personnel responsible for intake, 
screening, assessment, and investigation of child abuse and neglect 
reports in the state--
    A. information on the education, qualifications, and training 
requirements established by the state for child protective service 
professionals, including for entry and advancement in the profession, 
including advancement to supervisory positions;
    B. data of the education, qualifications, and training of such 
personnel;
    C. demographic information of the child protective service 
personnel; and
    D. information on caseload or workload requirements for such

[[Page 52755]]

personnel, including requirements for average number and maximum number 
of cases per child protective service worker and supervisor.
    11. The number of children reunited with their families or 
receiving family preservation services that, within five years, result 
in subsequent substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect, 
including the death of the child.
    12. The number of children for whom individuals were appointed by 
the court to represent the best interests of such children and the 
average number of out of court contacts between such individuals and 
children.
    13. The annual report containing the summary of activities of the 
citizen review panels of the state required by subsection (c)(6).
    14. The number of children under the care of the state child 
protection system who are transferred into the custody of the state 
juvenile justice system.
    15. The number of children referred to a child protective services 
system under subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii).
    16. The number of children determined to be eligible for referral, 
and the number of children referred, under subsection (b)(2)(B)(xxi), 
to agencies providing early intervention services under part C of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).
    The Children's Bureau proposes to continue collecting the NCANDS 
data through the two files of the Detailed Case Data Component, the 
Child File (the case-level component of NCANDS) and the Agency File 
(additional aggregate data, which cannot be collected at the case 
level). Technical assistance will be provided so that all states may 
provide the Child File and Agency File data to NCANDS. There are no 
proposed changes to the NCANDS data collection instruments. New fields 
were implemented during the previous OMB clearance cycle in support of 
the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 and to improve reporting on 
federal performance measures.
    Respondents: State governments, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Number of      Average burden
                 Instrument                      Number of      responses per      hours per       Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent        response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Case Data Component: Child File and              52                1               82            4,264
 Agency File................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,264.

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].

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. 2015-21625 Filed 8-31-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-01-P