Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Financial Report, ACF-196T
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the Guidance for the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, Form 1...
Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION:
Request for public comments.
SUMMARY:
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the Guidance for the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, Form 123 (Office of Management and Budget (0970-0157, expiration date: August 31, 2026). While the statutory requirements remain unchanged, ACF is proposing revisions to the instructions for clarification and to ensure they are as clear and streamlined as possible. ACF estimates a 33 percent reduction in response time with the proposed revisions to the instructions.
Description:42 U.S.C. 612 (section 412 of the Social Security Act) requires each Indian tribe that elects to administer and operate a TANF program to submit a TANF Tribal Plan. This request includes the renewal of the guidance for completing the initial Tribal TANF Plan. The TANF Tribal Plan is a mandatory statement submitted to the Secretary of HHS by the Indian tribe, which consists of an outline of how the Indian Tribes TANF program will be administered and operated. It is used by the Secretary to determine whether the plan is approvable and to determine that the Indian tribe is eligible to receive a TANF assistance grant. It is also made available to the public. The instructions have been edited for clarification and general improvements for respondents, including the following types of updates:
Eliminated redundant explanations and revised text to use shorter, clearer sentences.
Streamlined content and focused on the elements tribes need to develop and submit an approvable TANF plan.
Removed or condensed material that does not directly support plan preparation.
Organized plan requirements in a clearer, checklist-like format aligned with how federal staff review plans, making it easier for tribes to identify and address required elements without cross-referencing multiple sections.
Respondents:
Indian tribes applying to operate a TANF program and to renew their Tribal Family Assistance Plan.
Annual Burden Estimates
The proposed edits are expected to result in reduced reading time, improved usability, reduced cognitive load and enhanced accessibility. Overall, the edits are expected to reduce the estimated time per response. ACF has reduced the estimated response time from 68 hours to 45.6 hours. The number of agencies has been increased to reflect current grant recipients. Overall, annual burden estimates have decreased from 1,700 hours to 1,170 hours.
Instrument
Total
number of
respondents
Annual
number of
responses per
respondent
Average
burden hours
per response
Annual
burden
hours
Guidance For the Tribal TANF Program
77
*
1/3
45.6
1,170
*
Note:
Over the 3-year approval period, ACF estimates one-third of tribes will submit a plan each year. To estimate total annual burden, we use one-third as the annual number of responses per respondent.