Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 1, 2020 / Notices 77217 

1Haley DF, Saitz R. The Opioid Epidemic During 

the COVID–19 Pandemic. JAMA. Published online 

September 18, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.18543. 

2Blog Post (March 4, 2019): https://

eldermistreatment.usc.edu/opioids-and-elderabuse-a-disquieting-connection/. 

3Washington Post Article (June 17, 2019): https:// 

www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/06/17/ 

how-opioid-crisis-is-leading-elder-financial-abuse/ 

?utm_term=.594b4dd84d9d. 

Jeffery M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26397 Filed 11–30–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Community Living 

[OMB #0985–0067] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Study on the 

Impact of COVID–19 on Adult 

Protective Service (APS) Programs 

AGENCY: Administration for Community 

Living, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice 

SUMMARY: The Administration for 

Community Living (ACL) is announcing 

an opportunity for the public to 

comment on the proposed collection of 

information listed above. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the 

PRA), Federal agencies are required to 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each proposed 

extension of an existing collection of 

information, and to allow 60 days for 

public comment in response to the 

notice. 

This notice solicits comments on the 

Proposed Extension with Revisions and 

solicits comments on the information 

collection requirements related to Study 

on the impact of COVID–19 on Adult 

Protective Service (APS) Programs. 

DATES: Comments on the collection of 

information must be submitted 

electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or 

postmarked by February 1, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic 

comments on the collection of 

information to Stephanie Whittier 

Eliason Stephanie.WhittierEliason@

acl.hhs.gov. Submit written comments 

on the collection of information to 

Administration for Community Living, 

Washington, DC 20201, Attention: 

Stephanie Whittier Eliason. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephanie Whittier Eliason, 

Administration for Community Living, 

Washington, DC 20201, Phone: (202) 

795–7467, E: Mail 

Stephanie.WhittierEliason@acl.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal 

agencies must obtain approval from the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for each collection of 

information they conduct or sponsor. 

‘‘Collection of information’’ is defined 

in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 

1320.3(c) and includes agency requests 

or requirements that members of the 

public submit reports, keep records, or 

provide information to a third party. 

Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 

U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal 

agencies to provide a 60-day notice in 

the Federal Register concerning each 

proposed collection of information, 

including each proposed extension of an 

existing collection of information, 

before submitting the collection to OMB 

for approval. To comply with this 

requirement, ACL is publishing a notice 

of the proposed collection of 

information set forth in this document. 

With respect to the following 

collection of information, ACL invites 

comments on our burden estimates or 

any other aspect of this collection of 

information, including: 

(1) Whether the proposed collection 

of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of ACL’s functions, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of ACL’s estimate of 

the burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used 

to determine burden estimates; (3) ways 

to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques 

when appropriate, and other forms of 

information technology. 

This data collection is an extension of 

ACL’s investigation on the impact of 

COVID–19 on APS programs across the 

country. The COVID–19 pandemic is 

causing changes in APS policy and 

practice in several areas, including, but 

not limited to, a reduction of in-person 

interactions with clients, perpetrators, 

and collaterals. As ACL collects 

information on the impact of APS 

during the COVID–19 pandemic, the 

opioid overdose death rates are rising at 

the same time.1 The opioid epidemic 

affects older adults through opioid 

misuse and is associated with increases 

in elder abuse including physical abuse, 

threatening behavior; emotional abuse; 

and financial exploitation.2 3

The revisions to this study includes 

structured individual and group 

interviews with state administrators and 

local field staff to discuss opioid cases 

pre- and during the COVID–19 

pandemic. The study will reveal the 

characteristics of opioid cases in older 

adults and how APS staff are 

responding to these cases. In addition, 

it will compare how these cases are 

handled pre- and during the COVID–19 

pandemic by APS. The findings of the 

study will assist ACL in addressing the 

challenges of opioid cases under normal 

and emergency conditions. In particular, 

it will help to prioritize any policies and 

procedures during and after the COVID– 

19 pandemic to improve APS responses 

to these cases. 

The proposed data collection tools 

may be found on the ACL website for 

review at https://www.acl.gov/aboutacl/public-input. 

Estimated Program Burden 

ACL estimates the burden associated 

with this collection of information as 

follows: 

Respondent/data collection activity Number of 

respondents 

Responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Annual burden 

hours 

State Administrator Interviews .......................................................................................................... 12 1 .75 9 

Local Field Staff Group Interviews .................................................................................................... 60 1 .75 45 

Total: .......................................................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 54 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES4
77218 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 1, 2020 / Notices 

Dated: November 25, 2020. 

Lance Robertson, 

Administrator and Assistant Secretary for 

Aging. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26513 Filed 11–30–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Community Living 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Inventory of Adult 

Protective Services Practices and 

Service Innovations 

AGENCY: Administration for Community 

Living, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Administration for 

Community Living (ACL) is announcing 

an opportunity for the public to 

comment on the proposed collection of 

information listed above. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the 

PRA), Federal agencies are required to 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each proposed 

extension of an existing collection of 

information, and to allow 60 days for 

public comment in response to the 

notice. This survey previously ran a 60- 

day FRN in 83 FR 66276 on 12/26/2018. 

As required under the PRA we are 

providing the public an opportunity to 

comment on any changes or updates 

applied to this IC since the 2018 

publication. We are requesting an 

abbreviated public comment period for 

additional 30-days prior to publication 

of a 30-day FRN and submittal to OMB. 

Any changes to the survey from the 

initial 60-day FRN publication are 

incorporated into the revised version of 

the survey. This notice solicits 

comments on any revisions since the 

initial publication in 2018. This is a 

new information collection 0985-New 

Inventory of Adult Protective Services 

Practices and Service Innovations. 

DATES: Comments on the collection of 

information must be submitted 

electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or 

postmarked by December 31, 2020. 

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic 

comments on the collection of 

information to Stephanie Whittier 

Eliason Stephanie.WhittierEliason@

acl.hhs.gov. Submit written comments 

on the collection of information to 

Administration for Community Living, 

Washington, DC 20201, Attention: 

Stephanie Whittier Eliason 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephanie Whittier Eliason, 

Administration for Community Living, 

Washington, DC 20201, Phone: (202) 

795–7467, Email: 

Stephanie.WhittierEliason@acl.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal 

agencies must obtain approval from the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for each collection of 

information they conduct or sponsor. 

‘‘Collection of information’’ is defined 

in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 

1320.3(c) and includes agency requests 

or requirements that members of the 

public submit reports, keep records, or 

provide information to a third party. 

Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 

U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal 

agencies to provide notice in the 

Federal Register concerning each 

proposed collection of information, 

including each proposed extension of an 

existing collection of information, 

before submitting the collection to OMB 

for approval. To comply with this 

requirement, ACL is publishing a notice 

of the proposed collection of 

information set forth in this document. 

With respect to the following 

collection of information, ACL invites 

comments on our burden estimates or 

any other aspect of this collection of 

information, including: 

(1) Whether the proposed collection 

of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of ACL’s functions, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of ACL’s estimate of 

the burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used 

to determine burden estimates; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(4) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques 

when appropriate, and other forms of 

information technology. 

Authority 

The Elder Justice Act of 2009 requires 

the Secretary of the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services to carry out 

a number of activities related to adult 

protective services (APS) (42 U.S.C. 

1397m–1), including developing and 

disseminating information on APS best 

practices and conducting research 

related to the provision of APS. 

Furthermore, the Elder Justice 

Coordinating Council included as its 

third recommendation for increasing 

federal involvement in addressing elder 

abuse, neglect, and exploitation: 

‘‘develop a national APS system based 

upon standardized data collection and a 

core set of service provision standards 

and best practices.’’ 

Background 

The Administration for Community 

Living (ACL) in the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) 

plans to initiate an Inventory of Adult 

Protective Services Practices and 

Service Innovations (APS Practice 

Survey) in early 2021. Under a contract 

with ACL, the National Adult Protective 

Services Technical Assistance Resource 

Center (APS TARC) is conducting a 

national program evaluation of APS 

programs. As part of this evaluation, the 

APS Practice Survey will identify 

barriers to meeting policy mandates, 

and practice innovations and model 

programs that address such barriers and 

community-identified needs. It also 

seeks to identify practice variations in 

the way APS programs serve older 

adults and adults with disabilities. 

The results of the survey will serve to 

advance the field of APS and will be 

useful to many audiences. It will 

provide baseline information regarding 

the status of APS programs and services, 

and the resulting information will help 

states and territories compare their 

program characteristics with those of 

other states and territories. The survey 

will provide a context for other 

researchers examining APS programs. It 

will inform ACL’s efforts to support 

improvement of APS programs through 

activities such as innovation grants. 

Finally, it will inform the APS TARC 

team’s efforts to develop resources to 

enhance APS programs around the 

country. 

This survey has been developed to 

gather information on APS practices 

that is not available from other sources. 

As part of the National Adult 

Maltreatment Reporting System 

(NAMRS), ACL collects descriptive data 

on state and territory agency policies 

through the Agency Component of that 

data collection. 

Therefore, the proposed survey will 

not collect any background policy or 

data items. As part of the APS Program 

Evaluation, the APS TARC also 

conducted a detailed examination of 

state APS policies through development 

of individual state policy profiles. The 

profiles were based exclusively on 

extant information sources obtained 

without additional data requests from 

the states. Information on practices 

gathered in this survey will 

complement, but will not duplicate, 

these policy profiles. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES4