Non-substantive change memo to OIRA

DATE: April 11, 2017

TO: Stephanie Mok, OMB Desk Officer

FROM: Lisa Wright-Solomon, HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer

_____________________________________________________________________________

Request: The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau requests approval for non-substantive changes to the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to States Program Application/Annual Report Guidance documents (OMB #0915-0172, expires 12/31/2017). The Guidance consists of two documents: 1) Guidance and Forms for the Title V Application/Annual Report, and 2) Appendix of Supporting Documents.

Purpose: The purpose of these proposed changes is to align the Guidance with the current Administration’s priorities, as well as the evolving health care landscape, and reduce reporting burden where possible by making certain sections optional. No changes were made to the forms.

Time Sensitivity: Annual submission of an Application is required by law to entitle a State to receive MCH Block Grant funds (Section 505 of Title V of the Social Security Act). An Annual Report on the expenditure of the previous year’s funds is also required by Section 506 of Title V. Section 505(a) further requires a State to conduct a Statewide Needs Assessment every 5 years.

Every year on April 1, the electronic data entry system (Title V Information System) is opened for State and jurisdictional MCH Block Grantees to begin preparing an Application for the coming fiscal year (FY) and an Annual Report for the previous fiscal year. Designed to be compatible with the narrative and data requirements that are outlined in the Application/Annual Report Guidance, release of the data entry system to the States is contingent on the approval of the non-substantive changes outlined in this memo. Once the changes are approved and incorporated in the Guidance document, additional quality assurance testing will be required before the data entry system can be released.

States submit their MCH Block Grant Applications/Annual Reports within the data entry system on or before July 15 of each year. Given this due date, delayed release of the Title V data entry system will impact the amount of time that States have to complete the FY 2018 Application/FY 2016 Annual Report.

Burden: It is anticipated that the revisions included herein will reduce reporting burden for State Title V programs.

PROPOSED CHANGES FOR THE TITLE V MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH SERVICES BLOCK GRANT TO STATES APPLICATION/ANNUAL REPORT GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS:

1. Reframing reporting requirements to be more in line with Administration priorities, including burden reduction, as well as the evolving health care landscape (Guidance and Forms: Pages 2, 15, 16 and 35)

2. Removed phrasing more appropriate for the first, rather than third, year of the application programs (Guidance and Forms: Pages 2 and 4)

Attachments:

1. Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to States Program: Guidance and Forms for the Title V Application/Annual Report (while included as a separate attachment, the Table of Contents will be merged with the Guidance and Forms in the final document)

2. Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to States Program: Appendix of Supporting Documents

All proposed changes are indicated with tracked changes in the attached documents.

Requested Changes to Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to States Application/Annual Report Guidance (OMB #0915-0172, expires 12/31/2017), Page 1