Notice2024-26684
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Child Care Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions (Office of Management and Budget #0970-0323)
Primary source
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Published
November 15, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
The Administration for Children and Families is proposing revisions to an approved information collection, the Child Care Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions (OMB #0970-0323, expiration 1/31/2025). In addition to the proposed changes, we are requesting a 3-year extension.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90294-90295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26684]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Child Care Improper
Payments Data Collection Instructions (Office of Management and Budget
#0970-0323)
AGENCY: Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families is proposing
revisions to an approved information collection, the Child Care
Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions (OMB #0970-0323,
expiration 1/31/2025). In addition to the proposed changes, we are
requesting a 3-year extension.
DATES: Comments due January 14, 2025. In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting
public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection
described above.
ADDRESSES: You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of
information and submit comments by emailing <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#254c4b434a464a49494046514c4a4b654446430b4d4d560b424a53"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="066f68606965696a6a6365726f696846676560286e6e7528616970">[email protected]</span></a>.
Identify all requests by the title of the information collection.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Description: Section 2 of the Payment Integrity Information Act of
2019 (PIIA) requires Federal agencies to review their programs and
activities to identify those that may be susceptible to significant
improper payments, publish improper payment estimates for those
programs and activities, and submit a report on actions taken to reduce
improper payments. Subpart K of 45 CFR part 98 of the Child Care and
Development Fund (CCDF) requires states, the District of Columbia, and
Puerto Rico to prepare and submit a report once every 3 years with data
on the errors occurring in the administration of CCDF grant funds. The
Child Care Improper Payments Data Collection Instructions (DCI)
provides instructions and guidance to states to implement the CCDF
error rate methodology.
The Office of Child Care (OCC) is completing the sixth 3-year cycle
of case record reviews to meet the requirements for reporting under
PIIA. The current data collection forms and instructions expire on
January 31, 2025. As part of the renewal process, OCC has revised the
forms and instructions with minor changes that do not change the
methodology, but that provide additional guidance and clarification to
facilitate complete and accurate data submissions. Existing
instructions and examples were updated, expanded, or rewritten to
clarify the information requested. Several formatting changes were made
to streamline instructions. The instructions and forms were also
reviewed for alignment with the 2024 CCDF Final Rule. A description of
changes made in each section can be found in the Introduction section
of the revised DCI.
OCC is particularly interested in feedback about updates made to
the following sections:
<bullet> Burden hours: OCC proposes to revise the estimated burden
hours for the Sampling Decisions, Assurances, and Fieldwork Preparation
Plan (SDAP), the ACF-403 Record Review Worksheet (RRW), the ACF-404
State Improper Payments Report, and the ACF-405 State Improper Payments
Report Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The current burden hours have not
been revised for several years. OCC recognizes that many factors have
changed since states first began error rate reviews, including
increased use of technology by states to aid data collection and
reporting efforts, greater organizational capacity to conduct ongoing
error rate reviews, and OCC's use of data reporting systems to reduce
manual reporting burden on states.
For this reason, OCC conducted a survey in the spring of 2024 to
gather information about states' experiences
[[Page 90295]]
completing the error rate reports, including their estimated burden
hours for each report. All CCDF Lead Agencies required to submit the
error rate reports were invited to participate, and 56 percent (29 out
of 52 Lead Agencies) responded. Lead Agency respondents represented a
geographically diverse group of states with a range in size as defined
by the numbers of children and families served by CCDF. There were
expected variations in responses which may reflect differences in
states' administrative structures and complexity, staff capacity,
reporting technology, interpretation of the survey questions, and other
factors. However, even considering the range of responses and any
outliers, OCC determined that the burden hours estimates should be
lowered to reflect the survey results. In addition, to more accurately
account for the work described by survey respondents, OCC further broke
out the estimated burden hours for the RRW into the following two
parts: (1) the estimated hours needed for states to customize the
standard RRW template to reflect their state's rules, policies, and
procedures; and (2) the estimated hours needed for states to use the
customized RRW to conduct each of the 276 case reviews.
<bullet> Root Causes of Error: OCC proposes to standardize the root
causes of error in Item 19 of the ACF-404 State Improper Payment Report
by creating a drop-down list of error cause choices. Currently, Lead
Agencies enter free text to describe the causes of errors in their
Federal error rate reviews. While this approach allows flexibility at
the individual reporting level, inconsistent terminology and
descriptions across states and reporting cycles makes it difficult to
analyze, report, and track national and state-level error trends over
time. Further, the current approach can add additional burden to states
during the report review and approval process because clarifications
about error cause descriptions are often requested by Federal
reviewers. We request comment on whether standardizing error causes in
Item 19 would benefit Lead Agencies in their data analysis, ease of
report preparation, and tracking of error trends over time. We also
request comments on whether the proposed list of standardized error
causes would meet Lead Agency reporting needs, and if not, what
additional or different error causes should be included.
Respondents: CCDF grantees from states, the District of Columbia,
and Puerto Rico.
Annual Burden Estimates: Burden estimates are shown based on the
total burden over a 3-year period divided by three to show average
annual burden estimates.
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Total Total number Average burden Total Annual
Instrument number of of responses hours per burden burden
respondents per respondent response hours hours
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Sampling Decisions, Assurances, and Fieldwork 52 1 35 1,820 607
Preparation Plan............................
ACF-403 Record Review Worksheet: template.... 52 1 63 3,276 1,092
ACF-403 Record Review Worksheet: case record 52 276 3.0 43,056 14,352
reviews.....................................
ACF-404 State Improper Payments Report....... 52 1 66 3,432 1,144
ACF-405 State Improper Payments Report 6 \a\ 2 24 288 96
Corrective Action Plan......................
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:..... ........... .............. .............. ......... 17,291
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\a\ The total number of responses per respondent over 3 years ranges from 1-3, depending on how long it takes
respondents to reduce the Improper Payment Rate to below the threshold. Respondents submit a Corrective Action
Plan that covers a 1-year period; at the end of each year, if respondents have not reduced the Improper
Payment Rate to below the threshold, they submit a new Corrective Action Plan for the following year. An
average of two responses per respondent over a 3 year period is used to calculate annual burden estimates.
Comments: 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.
Authority: 45 CFR part 98 subpart K.
Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-26684 Filed 11-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-87-P
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