06-4635. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Title: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.

OMB No.: 0980-0229.

Description: The Child Abuse and Neglect Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) as amended requires States “to annually work with the Secretary to provide to the maximum extent practical, a report” that includes 12 data items listed in the statute. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), administered by the Children's Bureau, meets this reporting requirement. In addition, the amendments of 1988 require that the data system “shall be universal and case specific and integrated with other case-based foster care and adoption data collected by the Secretary.” There are two data components, the Detailed Case Data Component (DCDC), which includes the case-level data submitted through the Child File and some aggregated data submitted through the Agency File, and the Summary Data component (SC), which is used by States that cannot submit case-level data. No changes are being requested. The Summary Data Component will be phased out over the next few years as the number of States that can complete the Child File increases.

Respondents: State Child Welfare Agencies.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
DCDC (includes the Child File and the Agency File)	49	1	108.6	5,321
Summary Data Component	3	1	32	96
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours				5,417

Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained 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. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. E-mail address: [e-mail].

OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Attn: Desk Officer for ACF, E-mail address: [e-mail].

Dated: May 11, 2006.

Robert Sargis,

Reports Clearance Officer.