Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; State Court Improvement Program

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 required 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 for federal fiscal year 2017.

Following the publication of the first Federal Register notice, the Children's Bureau engaged in a number of outreach activities to seek additional input from grantees and experts in the field on how best to reduce grantee burden, ensure that the reporting process was useful to grantees, and maximize the ability to evaluate the program overall. These efforts have resulted in the decision to require one annual submission, as opposed to two submissions.

The annual submission will include: (1) A self-assessment, and (2) a strategic plan. The self-assessment requires the grantees to identify the topical work areas of the last year, identify strengths, challenges and need for technical assistance. The self-assessment has been designed with user/grantee input with the intention of minimizing burden and maximizing usefulness of the process and product to the grantee. The strategic plan identifies projects and activities and intended results for the coming year. The strategic plan was also developed with grantee input. A full application will be due once every five years. The full application will require a five year strategic plan, letters of commitment from the highest court of appeal and state title IV-E/IV-B agency, a budget narrative, and a list of all statewide task force members.

Taken together, the changes reduce the overall burden hours from years past and those anticipated in the previous Federal Register notice by approximately 50%.

Respondents: Highest State Court.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4476.

Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20201. Attention Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. Email address: infocollection@acf.hhs.gov.

OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning 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. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Email: OIRA_SUBMISSION@OMB.EOP.GOV, Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and Families.