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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 17713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07574]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

45 CFR Part 1355

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Intent to publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: On February 9, 2015, the Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to 
amend the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System 
(AFCARS) regulations to modify the requirements for title IV-E agencies 
to collect and report data to ACF on children in out-of-home care and 
who were adopted or in a legal guardianship with a title IV-E 
subsidized adoption or guardianship agreement. However, we did not 
propose that title IV-E agencies report data in AFCARS on American 
Indian and Alaskan Native children related to the Indian Child Welfare 
Act of 1978 (ICWA). In this notice, we are announcing that we intend to 
publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM), which 
will propose that title IV-E agencies collect and report additional 
ICWA-related data elements in AFCARS. We will consider the public 
comments on that SNPRM (related to ICWA-related data elements) and the 
February 9, 2015 NPRM (related to all other data elements) and issue 
one final rule on AFCARS.

DATES: Effective April 2, 2015, ACF announces its intent to issue a 
SNPRM.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen McHugh, Children's Bureau, 
Administration on Children, Youth and Families, (202) 401-5789 or by 
email at cbcomments@acf.hhs.gov. Do not email comments on the NPRM to 
this address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Children's Bureau (CB) issued a Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on February 9, 2015 (80 FR 7132) 
(hereafter referred to as the 2015 NPRM) to modify the requirements for 
title IV-E agencies to collect and report data to ACF on children in 
out-of-home care and who were adopted or in a legal guardianship with a 
title IV-E subsidized adoption or guardianship agreement with the title 
IV-E agency. In that NPRM, we proposed to revise and update the AFCARS 
regulations at 45 CFR 1355.40 et seq. and the appendices to part 1355. 
However, we did not propose data elements that would provide 
information in AFCARS on American Indian and Alaskan Native children 
related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1901 et 
seq.) (ICWA).
    We received comments to a previous NPRM and on a Federal Register 
Notice recommending data elements to address ICWA requirements. In the 
Tribal Consultation Statement section of the preamble to the 2015 NPRM, 
we acknowledged that we received comments asking for additional data 
elements that would address ICWA requirements and provide a 
comprehensive picture of the well-being of tribal children including: 
identifying whether a child is a member of an Indian tribe and the name 
of the Indian tribe, tribal notification, whether a tribal title IV-E 
agency intervened in a state title IV-E agency case, cultural 
activities that the child is participating in while away from his or 
her parents, judicial findings of active efforts, and preferential 
treatment for tribal placement resources. However, we did not propose 
in the 2015 NPRM to collect information related to ICWA because the 
enabling statute for AFCARS (section 479 of the Social Security Act 
(the Act)) had been interpreted as limiting data collection to 
information related to the title IV-B and IV-E program requirements.
    Upon further consideration following the publication of the 2015 
NPRM, we have determined that there is authority under the statute 
(section 479(c) of the Act) to collect ICWA-related data in AFCARS. 
Specifically, the statute permits broader data collection in order to 
assess the current state of adoption and foster care programs in 
general, as well as to develop future national policies concerning 
those programs. However, the statute includes limits on this broad 
interpretation of section 479 of the Act that we must take into 
consideration when contemplating collecting data related to ICWA in 
AFCARS, including: data collected under AFCARS must avoid an 
unnecessary diversion of resources from child welfare agencies (see 
section 479(c)(1) of the Act) and must assure the reliability and 
consistency of the data (see section 479(c)(2) of the Act).

    Dated: March 25, 2015.
Mark H. Greenberg,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.
[FR Doc. 2015-07574 Filed 4-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-01-P
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