Dear Colleague for Tribes CCDF Plans 2-9-2011

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
370 L’Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447

February 9, 2011

Dear Colleagues:
The Office of Child Care (OCC) is pleased to announce the Federal Register publication of the
Second Notice of the Proposed Information Collection Activity and Comment Request regarding
the FY 2012 – 2013 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan for Tribes and Tribal
Organizations. A copy of the proposed FY 2012 – 2013 CCDF Plan Preprint is attached to this
email along with a copy of the Federal Register announcement. Both the Federal Register Notice
and the Plan Preprint can be found on the Office of Child Care’s website at:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/law/tribal_topic_application.htm
On behalf of the Office of Child Care, I want to thank all of our commenters for your thoughtful
consideration of the Tribal Plan Preprint. Your feedback contributed greatly to the strength and
clarity of the second revision of the Plan Preprint. We received comments from 9 entities,
including Tribal organizations. We believe the revisions will enable us to ensure the program is
being administered in accordance with the CCDF Rules and Regulations while providing Tribes
with the flexibility to provide information about the types of services and programs underway in
Tribal communities to meet the child care needs of children and families.
At least one commenter asked whether OCC would support electronic submission for the Tribes
for this Plan cycle. At OCC, we are committed to pursuing the electronic submission for Tribal
Plans for the next biennium (FY 2014 – 2015). We feel the additional time will allow us to
better understand the burden associated with the electronic submission for Tribal grantees and
iron out any glitches in the system during the rollout of the e-submission for the States and
Territories. In the meantime, to be responsive to requests that we make the Tribal Plan
information more readily available to the public, we have developed a summary sheet to capture
data related to each Tribal program. The completion of this form (Appendix 5 -Tribal Lead
Agency Synopsis) is optional, but we hope that Tribes will take the opportunity to summarize
key points of the program on this form. We will use the data to generate Tribal profiles and
make them publicly available.
Here are some of the highlights of the revisions:
o CCDF Program Integrity and Accountability (Section 1.6). Revisions in this section
included providing more guidance to clarify why the questions are being asked and to
gain a deeper understanding of how Tribes are exercising their options to fulfill their
responsibilities for program integrity and accountability.

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o Consultation and Development of the CCDF Plan (Section 2.1) and Coordinating the
Delivery of CCDF Services (Section 2.2). Revisions were made to better differentiate
between consultation and coordination. We altered the formatting to make a clearer
distinction between required activities versus recommended ones.
o Child Care Services Offered (Section 3). Significant revisions were made in light of the
many questions regarding the absence of the term “voucher” which is still widely used by
many Tribal Grantees. Revisions were made to allow Tribal programs to describe elected
limitations for the use of in-home care, to acknowledge the flexibility in how Tribes
define specific terms, and to provide examples regarding various ways that tiered
reimbursement could be implemented. Great attention was given to the Market Rate
Survey and the unique situations facing Tribal programs when trying to answer these
questions.
o How Families Apply for CCDF (Section 4.1). We streamlined the questions regarding
how Tribes document and verify families’ applications by providing a space for narrative,
rather than the detailed chart.
o Activities and Services to Improve the Quality of Child Care (Section 5). We have
provided an option to describe quality activities in a narrative, in lieu of check boxes.
o Health and Safety (Section 6). The section was revamped in response to comments
desiring recognition of the fact that many tribes utilize their own minimum health and
safety standards and to recognize that many have adopted the HHS Minimum Tribal
Child Care Standards. The background check question was modified in response to
questions from Tribes.
This second Public Comment Period provides an opportunity for you to submit comments to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). A comment is best assured of having its full
effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the
following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Fax: (202) 395–
7285, Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and Families, or E-mail:
[email protected]
Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the Administration for Children
and Families, Office of Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L’Enfant
Promenade, S.W., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests
should be identified by the title of the information collection. E-mail address:
[email protected]
Consultation with Tribal CCDF grantees and other interested parties is a priority for us. We will
host two conference calls on the Pre-Print with Tribal CCDF Grantees. The first call is
scheduled for Tuesday, February 22, 2011 from 3:00 – 4:30p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. The

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second conference call is scheduled for Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 3:00 – 4:30p.m.,
Eastern Daylight Time. Call-in information will be provided prior to the day of the calls.
If you have any questions regarding the proposed preprint, please feel free to contact your
Regional Office.
Thanks for your continued commitment to improving the number of high quality choices
available to low-income families through CCDF.
Sincerely,

Shannon L. Rudisill
Director
Office of Child Care
Attachments