2015-20073. Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: State Court Improvement Program.

OMB No.: 0970-0307.

Description: The Court Improvement Program (CIP) is a mandatory formula grant funded under section 438 of the Social Security Act, and most recently reauthorized under the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-34). The purpose of the CIP is to facilitate the handling of child welfare cases in the courts. All 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia receive grants under the program. The program requires two submissions annually from grantees that constitute information collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The purpose of this notice is to request an extension of the Office of Management and Budget Control Number 0907-0307 permitting continued use of the information collections requires by ACF-CB-PI-12-02. The burden estimates are provided below. The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families anticipates issuing a new Program Instruction following reauthorization of the program in federal fiscal year 2017.

Respondents: State Courts.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Application	52	1	92	4,784
Annual Reports	52	1	86	4,472

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 9,256.

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 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.