2012-3873. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Emergency Contingency Fund for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Programs OFA-100.

OMB No.: 0970-0366.

Description

On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which establishes the Emergency Contingency Fund for State TANF Programs (Emergency Fund) as section 403(c) of the Social Security Act (the Act). This legislation provides up to $5 billion to help States, Territories, and Tribes in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY 2010 that have an increase in assistance caseloads and basic assistance expenditures, or in expenditures related to short-term benefits or subsidized employment. The Recovery Act made additional changes to TANF extending supplemental grants through FY 2010, expanding flexibility in the use of TANF funds carried over from one fiscal year to the next, and adding a hold-harmless provision to the caseload reduction credit for States and Territories serving more TANF families.

The Emergency Fund is intended to build upon and renew the principles of work and responsibility that underlie successful welfare reform initiatives. The Emergency Fund provides resources to States, Territories, and Tribes to support work and families during this difficult economic period.

On July 20, 2009 we issued a Program Instruction accompanied by the Emergency Fund Request Form (OFA-100), and instructions for jurisdictions to complete the OFA-100 to apply for emergency funds.

Failure to collect this data would compromise ACF's ability to monitor caseload and expenditure data that must increase in order for jurisdictions to receive awards under the Emergency Fund.

Documentation maintenance on financial reporting for the Emergency Fund is governed by 45 CFR 92.20 and 45 CFR 92.42.

ACF is planning to extend the information collection with the adjustment to the Estimated Annual Burden shown in the table below. Based on our projections for a lower Estimated Annual Burden, we have revised the Number of Responses per Respondent to 1 from its previous number of 5. Because the Number of Responses per Respondent has been revised, the Estimated Total Burden Hours is now 2,232, down from its previous number of 11,160.

Respondents

State, Territory, and Tribal agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program that are applying for the Emergency Fund.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
TANF Emergency Fund Request Form, OFA-100	93	1	24	2,232

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,232.

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.