Request for Public Comment: 60-Day Proposed Information Collection: Addendum to Declaration for Federal Employment, Child Care and Indian Child Care Worker Positions (OMB No. 0917-0028)

AGENCY:

Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments; request for extension of approval.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Indian Health Service (IHS) invites the general public to take this opportunity to comment on the information collection titled, “Addendum to Declaration for Federal Employment, Child Care and Indian Child Care Worker Positions,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 0917-0028. A copy of the supporting statement is available at www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID: IHS_FRDOC_0001).

DATES:

February 11, 2022. Your comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having full effect if received within 60 days of the date of this publication.

For Comments: Submit comments to Sharon Duran by one of the following methods:

• Email: Sharon.Duran@ihs.gov.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be made available to the public by publishing them in the 30-day Federal Register notice for this information collection. For this reason, please do not include information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If comments are submitted via email, the email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information, please contact Evonne Bennett, Information Collection Clearance Officer at: Evonne.Bennett@ihs.gov or 301-443-4750.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This previously approved information collection project was last published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2018, and allowed 30 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. This notice announces our intent to submit this collection, which expires February 28, 2022, to OMB for approval of an extension, and to solicit comments on specific aspects for the proposed information collection.

Title: Addendum to Declaration for Federal Employment, Child Care and Indian Child Care Worker Positions (OMB No. 0917-0028). Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, without revision, of currently approved information collection, 0917-0028, Addendum to Declaration for Federal Employment, Child Care and Indian Child Care Worker Positions. There are no program changes or adjustments in burden hours. Form(s): Addendum to Declaration for Federal Employment, Child Care and Indian Child Care Worker Positions. Need and Use of Information Collection: This is a request for approval of the collection of information as required by section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act, Public Law 101-630 [104 stat. 4544, 25 U.S.C. 3201-3210]; 34 U.S.C. 20351; and 42 CFR part 136, subpart K.

The IHS is required to compile a list of all authorized positions within the IHS where the duties and responsibilities involve regular contact with, or control over, Indian children; and to conduct an investigation of the character of each individual who is employed, or is being considered for employment, in a position having regular contact with, or control over, Indian children. 25 U.S.C. 3207(a)(1) and (2). Section 3207(a)(3) of Title 25 requires regulations prescribing the minimum standards of character for individuals appointed to positions involving regular contact with, or control over, Indian children, and section 3207(b) provides that such standards shall ensure that no such individuals have been found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, any felonious offense, or any two or more misdemeanor offenses, under Federal, State, or Tribal law involving crimes of violence; sexual assault, molestation, exploitation, contact or prostitution; crimes against persons; or offenses committed against children.

In addition, 34 U.S.C. 20351 (formerly codified at 42 U.S.C. 13041, which was transferred to 34 U.S.C. 20351) requires each agency of the Federal Government, and every facility operated by the Federal Government (or operated under contract with the Federal Government), that hires (or contracts for hire) individuals involved with the provision of child care services to children under the age of 18 to assure that all existing and newly hired employees undergo a criminal history background check. The background investigation is to be initiated through the personnel program of the applicable Federal agency. This section requires employment applications for individuals who are seeking work for an agency of the Federal Government, or for a facility or program operated by (or through contract with) the Federal Government, in positions involved with the provision of child care services to children under the age of 18, to contain a question asking whether the individual has ever been arrested for or charged with a crime involving a child, and if so, requiring a description of the disposition of the arrest or charge.

Affected Public: Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: Individuals.

The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, Average burden hour per response, and Total annual burden hour(s).

There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance Costs to report.

Requests for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are invited on one or more of the following points:

(a) Whether the information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency function;

(b) whether the agency processes the information collected in a useful and timely fashion;

(c) the accuracy of the public burden estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual respondents to provide the requested information);

(d) whether the methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates are logical;

(e) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and

(f) ways to minimize the public burden through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.