2022-26953. Submission for OMB Review; Provision of Child Support Services in IV-D Cases Under the Hague Child Support Convention

AGENCY:

Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Request for public comments.

SUMMARY:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting a three-year extension with proposed revisions to the Hague Child Support Forms (OMB #0970-0488, expiration February 28, 2023). There are two new forms being incorporated.

DATES:

Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a decision about 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.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. You can also obtain copies of the proposed collection of information by emailing [e-mail]. Identify all emailed requests by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description: On January 1, 2017, the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance entered into force for the United States. This multilateral Convention contains groundbreaking provisions that, on a worldwide scale, establish uniform, simple, fast, and inexpensive procedures for the processing of international child support cases. Under the Convention, U.S. states process child support cases with other countries that have ratified the Convention under the requirements of the Convention and Article 7 of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA 2008). In order to comply with the Convention, the U.S. implements the Convention's case processing forms. Newly incorporated into this information collection are two additional forms, Request for Specific Measures and Request for Specific Measures—Response, which were approved in June 2022 for use under the Convention. The other forms remain unchanged.

State and federal law require states to use federally approved case processing forms. Section 311(b) of UIFSA 2008, which has been enacted by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, requires states to use forms mandated by federal law. 45 CFR 303.7 also requires child support programs to use federally approved forms in intergovernmental IV-D cases unless a country has provided alternative forms as a part of its chapter in a Caseworker's Guide to Processing Cases with Foreign Reciprocating Countries.

Respondents: State agencies administering a child support program under title IV-D of the Social Security Act.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Total number of respondents	Total number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Annual burden hours
Annex I: Transmittal form under Article 12(2)	54	41	1	2,214
Annex II: Acknowledgment form under Article 12(3)	54	81	.5	2,187
Annex A: Application for Recognition and Enforcement, including restricted information on the applicant	54	16	.5	432
Annex A: Abstract of Decision	54	4	1	216
Annex A: Statement of Enforceability of Decision	54	16	0.17	147
Annex A: Statement of Proper Notice	54	4	.5	108
Annex A: Status of Application Report—Article 12	54	34	.33	606
Annex B: Application for Enforcement of a Decision Made or Recognized in the Requested State, including restricted information on the applicant	54	17	.5	459
Annex B: Status of Application Report—Article 12	54	33	.33	588
Annex C: Application for Establishment of a Decision, including restricted information on the Applicant	54	4	.5	108
Annex C: Status of Application Report—Article 12	54	8	.33	143
Annex D: Application for Modification of a Decision, including Restricted Information on the Applicant	54	4	.5	108
Annex D: Status of Application Report—Article 12	54	8	.33	143
Annex E: Financial Circumstances Form	54	41	2	4,428
Annex F: Request for Specific Measures—Article 7(1)	54	2	.17	18
Annex F: Request for Specific Measures—Response—Article 7(1)	54	8	.17	73

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,978.

Authority:42 U.S.C. 654(20) and 666(f).

Mary B. Jones,

ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.