Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 63 / Thursday, April 2, 2015 / Proposed Rules 17713 

Dated: March 13, 2015. 

William C. Early, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07371 Filed 4–1–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

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. 

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 outof-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] 

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