E9-12104. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Tribal TANF Financial Report (ACF-196T).

OMB No.: 0970-0345.

Description: Tribes use Form ACF-196T to report expenditures for the Tribal TANF grant. Authority to collect and report this information is found in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), Public Law 104-193. Tribal entities with approved Tribal plans for implementation of the TANF program are required by Section 412(h) of the Social Security Act to report financial data. Form ACF-196T provides for the collection of data regarding Federal expenditures. Failure to collect this data would seriously compromise the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) ability to monitor expenditures. This information is also used to estimate outlays and may be used to prepare ACF budget submissions to Congress. Financial management of the program would be seriously compromised if the expenditure data were not collected.

45 CFR part 286 subpart E requires the strictest controls on funding requirements, which necessities review of documentation in support of Tribal expenditures for reimbursement. Comments received from previous efforts to implement a similar Tribal TANF report Form ACF-196T were used to guide ACF in the development of the product presented with this submittal.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, Public Law 111-5 has authorized emergency TANF funds to be awarded to States, Tribes, and Territories who meet certain eligibility requirements written in the legislation. TANF Policy Announcement TANF-ACF-PA-2009-01 provides additional guidance on eligibility requirements. Recipients of ARRA funds are to report spending and performance data to Federal agencies quarterly for posting on the public Web site, “Recovery.gov.” Federal agencies are required to collect ARRA expenditures data and the data must be clearly distinguishable from the regular TANF (non-ARRA) funds. Therefore, in order to meet this data collection requirement, the ACF-196T has been modified with the addition of two line items and a column to report ARRA expenditures. The collection and posting of this data is to allow the public to see where their tax dollars are spent.

Respondents: All Tribal TANF Agencies.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per Response	Total burden hours
ACF-196T	56	4	8	1,792

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,792.

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: May 20, 2009.

Janean Chambers,

Reports Clearance Officer.