Notice2025-17275
Proposed Information Collection Activity; State Court Improvement Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 9, 2025
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is requesting a 3-year extension of the State Court Improvement Program (SCIP) Strategic Plan Template and Annual Self-Assessment (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0307, expiration February 28, 2026). There are minor updates to the self-assessment to reflect new legislation as well as to support technical assistance. The collections are necessary to continue operating the program in compliance with congressional reauthorization.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 172 (Tuesday, September 9, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 9, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43450-43451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17275]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[OMB #: 0970-0307]
Proposed Information Collection Activity; State Court Improvement
Program
AGENCY: Children's Bureau, 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 (ACF) is
requesting a 3-year extension of the State Court Improvement Program
(SCIP) Strategic Plan Template and Annual Self-Assessment (Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0307, expiration February 28, 2026).
There are minor updates to the self-assessment to reflect new
legislation as well as to support technical assistance. The collections
are necessary to continue operating the program in compliance with
congressional reauthorization.
DATES: Comments due November 10, 2025.
ADDRESSES: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting public comment on the specific
aspects
[[Page 43451]]
of the information collection described above. You can obtain copies of
the proposed collection of information and submit comments by emailing
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#325d4240575b5c545d515d5e5e5751465b5d5c725351541c5a5a411c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f49b8486919d9a929b979b98989197809d9b9ab4959792da9c9c87da939b82">[email protected]</span></a>. Identify all requests by the title of
the information collection.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Description: The SCIP provides federal funding to state courts to
assess their child welfare and judicial practices and develop and
implement improvement plans. States use funds in a variety of ways,
including improving legal representation and hearing quality, enhancing
the engagement of families in court proceedings, and supporting child
welfare and court partnerships. The proposed collection is a
continuation of the current collection and comprised of two
instruments: a strategic plan and self-assessment. The self-assessment
reflects what the state has done in the prior year focusing on its
progress and status within the change management cycle. The strategic
plan looks forward to those interventions and actions the state plans
to undertake to address needs or buttress strengths they have
discovered in their assessment activities. These two instruments serve
as an application for annual SCIP funding as well as a source for data
which are shared back with SCIP grantees to support their community
learning and peer connections, to inform technical assistance, and
support any reporting to Congress and others. Regarding updates to the
self-assessment and strategic plan, a minor change was made early in
2025 to the self-assessment in response to Executive Orders, amounting
to one optional topical box and a few drop-down categories being
removed. Additionally, at this time, the following minor changes are
proposed to the currently approved version of the self-assessment.
These do not impact estimated time to respond.
<bullet> Brief questions were added on IV-E funding, self-
assessment point of contact or publishing information, and additional
collaborative partners.
<bullet> Dropdown categories have been added to reduce burden and
improve data where `other' was too often selected.
<bullet> Some questions about technical assistance states
participated in were removed because alternative data sources were
found that reduced burden.
No changes are proposed to the strategic plan.
The next application will be due June 30, 2026.
Respondents: We anticipate the highest state court of every state,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to
respond. All 53 jurisdictions currently participate in the program. One
response from each jurisdiction is anticipated.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Total Annual number Average burden
Instrument number of of responses hours per Annual burden
respondents per respondent response hours
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Annual Self-Assessment............................. 53 1 40 2,120
Strategic Plan..................................... 53 *.20 52 551.2
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours............ ........... .............. .............. 2,671.20
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* The full Strategic Plan is completed every 5 years. In years when the Strategic Plan is not completed,
respondents may spend minimal time updating relevant sections of the Strategic Plan. This is accounted for in
the estimate for the Annual Self-Assessment.
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; (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.
In addition, the Children's Bureau (CB) would specifically like to
highlight:
(e) Regarding IV-E legal representation funding, in addition to
asking an open-ended question about this topic in the Self-Assessment,
would additional data elements around type of attorneys funded (e.g.,
agency, kin) or type of cases (e.g., only in foster care, in other
civil matters) be useful? These data are not needed for SCIP
application approval by CB but could be compiled and shared back with
grantees to support peer learning and connections. From your cost/
benefit vantage, would this be worth including? And;
(f) Under section II of the Self-Assessment, for the optional
project areas, each has a box on any training associated with the
projects that includes more granular information such as the number of
attendees, mode of delivery, and evaluation. This level of detail was
formerly useful for CB in reviewing for grant compliance when there
were three separate SCIP grants, one of which was for training. With
the statutory merger of the SCIP grants, this level of detail is no
longer needed for CB for grant compliance. These data can still be
organized to share back with grantees to support peer learning and
connections. From your cost/benefit vantage, would this be worth
keeping or should we remove that level of detail? Consideration will be
given to comments and suggestions submitted within 60 days of this
publication.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 629h.
Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-17275 Filed 9-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-29-P
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