06-5178. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program Data Reporting Instructions and Requirements

OMB No.: 0970—0215.

Description: 42 U.S.C. 612 (Section 412 of the Social Security Act as amended by Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)) mandates that Federally recognized Indian Tribes with an approved Tribal TANF program collect and submit o the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services data on the recipients served by the Tribes' programs. This information includes both aggregated and disaggregated data on case characteristics and individual characteristics. In addition, Tribes that are subject to a penalty are allowed to provide reasonable cause justifications as to why a penalty should not be imposed or may develop and implement corrective compliance procedures to eliminate the source of the penalty. Finally, there is an annual report, which requires the Tribes to describe program characteristics. All of the above requirements are currently approved by OMB and the Administration for Children and Families is simply proposing to extend them without any changes.

Respondents: Indian Tribes.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Final Tribal TANF Data Report	56	4	451	101,024
Tribal TANF Annual Report	56	1	40	2,240
Tribal TANF Reasonable Cause/Corrective Action Documentation Process	56	1	60	3,360

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 106,624.

In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(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: June 1, 2006.

Robert Sargis,

Reports Clearance Officer.