2010-26560. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Affordable Care Act Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Needs Assessment and Plan for Responding to Identified Needs.

OMB No.: New Collection.

Description: Section 511(h)(2)(A) of Title V of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 2951 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-148, Affordable Care Act or ACA), authorizes the Secretary of HHS to award grants to Indian Tribes (or a consortium of Indian Tribes), Tribal Organizations, or Urban Indian Organizations to conduct an early childhood home visiting program. The legislation sets aside 3 percent of the total ACA Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program appropriation (authorized in Section 511(j)) for grants to Tribal entities and requires that the Tribal grants, to the greatest extent practicable, be consistent with the requirements of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program grants to States and territories (authorized in Section 511(c)), and include conducting a needs assessment and establishing benchmarks.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care, in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, recently awarded grants for the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (Tribal Home Visiting). The Tribal Home Visiting grant awards will support 5-year cooperative agreements to conduct community needs assessments, plan for and implement high-quality, culturally-relevant, evidence-based home visiting programs in at-risk Tribal communities, and participate in research and evaluation activities to build the knowledge base on home visiting among Native populations.

In Phase 1 (Year 1) of the cooperative agreement, grantees must (1) conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment and (2) develop a plan and begin to build capacity to respond to identified needs. Grantees will be expected to submit the needs assessment and plan for responding to identified needs through an evidence-based home visiting program within 10 months of the Year 1 award date. Grantees may engage in needs assessment, planning, and capacity-building activities during Phase 1, but will not fully implement their plan and/or begin serving children and families through high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs. Pending successful Phase 1 activities and submission (within 10 months of Year 1 award date) of a non-competing continuation application that includes a needs assessment and approvable plan for responding to identified needs, funds will be provided for Phase 2 (Implementation Phase, Years 2-5).

Respondents: Affordable Care Act Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Year 1 Grantees.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Affordable Care Act Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Needs Assessment and Plan for Responding to Identified Needs	18	1	100	1,800

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,800.

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 Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. E-mail 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 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.

Dated: October 18, 2010.

Robert Sargis,

Reports Clearance Officer.