2011-31872. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: ORR—2 Quarterly Report on Expenditures and Obligations.

OMB No.: New Collection.

Description: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reimburses, to the extent of available appropriations, certain non-federal costs for the provision of cash and medical assistance to refugees, along with allowable expenses for the administration the refugee resettlement program at the State level. States (and Wilson/Fish projects; i.e., alternative projects for the administration of the refugee resettlement program) currently submit the SF-425 Federal Financial Report, which provides aggregate expenditure and obligation data. This proposed new data collection would replace the current requirement for the SF-425 with a report form that would collect the same expenditures and obligations data separately for each of the four CMA program components: refugee cash assistance, refugee medical assistance, cash and medical assistance administration, and services for unaccompanied minors. This breakdown of financial status data will allow ORR to track program expenditures in greater detail to anticipate any funding issues and to meet the requirements of ORR regulations at CFR 400.211 to collect these data for use in estimating future costs of the refugee resettlement program. ORR must implement the methodology at CFR 400.211 each year after receipt of its annual appropriation to ensure that appropriated funds will be adequate for reimbursement to States of the costs for assistance provided to entering refugees. The estimating methodology prescribed in the regulations requires the use of actual past costs by program component. In the event that the methodology indicates that appropriated funds are inadequate, ORR must take steps to reduce federal expenses, such as by limiting the number of months of eligibility for Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee Medical Assistance. This proposed single-page financial report will allow ORR to collect the necessary data to ensure that funds are adequate for the projected need and thereby meet the requirements of both the Refugee Act and ORR regulations, as well as provide the data currently required in aggregate by the SF-425.

Respondents: State governments, Wilson/Fish Alternative Projects.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
ORR Financial Status Report	58	4	0.50	116

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 116

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.