```

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 248 (Friday, December 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 105609-105610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31044]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Refugee Assistance 
Program Estimates: Cash and Medical Assistance-ORR-1 (Office of 
Management and Budget #: 0970-0030)

AGENCY: Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and 
Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services is requesting revisions to an existing data collection, ORR-1 
Cash and Medical Assistance (CMA) Program Estimates (Office of 
Management and Budget #: 0970-0030, expiration June 30, 2025). The 
proposed revisions include minor revisions to the existing ORR-1 form 
and the addition of a template recipients must use in preparing their 
annual budget justification estimates in accordance with the refugee 
resettlement program regulations.

DATES: Comments due February 25, 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 [email protected]. 
Identify all requests by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: The ORR-1, CMA Program Estimates, is the application 
for grants under the CMA program. The application is required by ORR 
program regulations at 45 CFR 400.11(b). The regulation specifies that 
states must submit, as their application for this program, estimates of 
the projected costs they anticipate incurring in providing CMA for 
eligible recipients and the costs of administering the program. Under 
the CMA program, states are reimbursed for the costs of providing these 
services and benefits for 12 months after an eligible recipient arrives 
in this country. The eligible beneficiaries for these services and 
benefits are refugees, Amerasians, Cuban and Haitian Entrants, asylees, 
Afghans and Iraqi with Special Immigrant Visas, victims of a severe 
form of trafficking, and other populations. States that provide 
services for unaccompanied refugee minors also provide an estimate for 
the cost of these services for the year for which they are applying for 
grants.
    The proposed revisions include minor changes to the existing ORR-1 
form and the addition of a template recipients must use in preparing 
their annual budget justification estimates in accordance with the 
refugee resettlement program regulations. Currently recipients must 
submit the ORR-1, CMA Program Estimates, as the application for grants 
under the CMA program. A budget justification must be submitted along 
with the ORR-1 form. However, ORR does not provide a standardized 
budget justification template, so submissions vary widely in format, 
content, and quality, making it challenging to extract and standardize 
information, increasing burden on both ORR reviewers and recipients. 
This revision to the information collection requires states to submit 
budget justifications in a standardized format via a Microsoft Excel 
workbook, with each tab of the justification in alignment with a 
specific line on the ORR-1. The ORR-1 form has minor revisions, 
including updating the titles of columns and lines to align with 
current terminology, and simplifying the form to require total cost 
estimates where unit costs were previously requested. These revisions 
are a result of the standardization of the budget justification.
    The revised instructions, which are now embedded within the 
standardized budget justification, provide guidance to recipients on 
how to fill out each section of the standardized budget justification. 
The recipients work through corresponding sections of the instructions 
and budget justification, and the standardized format makes clear what 
information is needed and at what level of detail. Upon completion of 
the budget justification, the values needed to populate the ORR-1 form 
are automatically calculated, and recipients are instructed to transfer 
specific data from the budget justification to the ORR-1 form in the 
system of record.
    ORR conducted a pilot of the standardized budget justification. 
Feedback was positive, with participating states citing time savings in 
development of their budget justification and more streamlined and 
consistent review and analysis by ORR reviewers. The annual burden 
estimate has been revised to reflect this.
    Respondents: State Agencies, the District of Columbia, and 
Replacement Designees under 45 CFR 400.301(c) administering or 
supervising the administration of programs under Title IV of the Act.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Annual  number  Average  burden
           Information collection             Total number of   of  responses      hours per      Annual burden
                                                respondents     per respondent      response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORR-1, CMA Program Estimates................              57                1              0.5             28.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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.

[[Page 105610]]

    Authority: 8 U.S.C. 412(a)(4).

Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-31044 Filed 12-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-45-P
```