2012-215. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)—Reporting Improper Payments—Instructions for States.

OMB No.: 0970-0323.

Description: Section 2 of the Improper Payments Act of 2002 provides for estimates and reports of improper payments by Federal agencies. Subpart K of 45 CFR part 98 will require States to prepare and submit a report of errors occurring in the administration of CCDF grant funds once every three years.

The Office of Child Care (OCC) is completing the second 3-year cycle of case record reviews to meet the requirements for reporting under IPIA. The OCC has conducted ongoing evaluation of the case record review process to determine if “improper authorizations for payment” remained a suitable proxy for actual “improper payments.” It is OCC's determination that in some cases authorizations for payment represented the same figure as actual payments; in other cases authorizations for payment has represented a figure as much as 20% higher than actual payments. Many States reported errors found during the desk audit review process that were due to missing or insufficient documentation or other misapplication of policy, but found that families were determined to be eligible for services and that the actual payment authorized was correct. Other States reported regulatory barriers in State law which prohibits recovery of over-authorization or over-payment as the result of agency error. As such, this information collection will provide a methodology revision that will assess errors in eligibility determinations that will compare the amount authorized for payment with the actual payment.

Respondents: State grantees, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Sampling Decisions and Fieldwork Preparation Plan	17	1	106	1802
Record Review Worksheet	17	276	6.33	29,700.36
State Improper Authorizations for Payment Report	17	1	639	10,863
Corrective Action Plan	8	1	156	1248

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 43,613.36.

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: [e-mail]. 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.