Voluntary Acknowledgment of
Paternity and Required Data Elements for the Paternity
Establishment Affidavit
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
11/21/2023
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
01/31/2024
4,353,508
4,262,038
613,808
593,947
0
0
This request is for an extension of an
approved information collection: Voluntary Acknowledgement of
Paternity and Required Data Elements for the Paternity
Establishment Affidavit (OMB #0970-0171). The Administration for
Children and Families (ACF) is proposing minor changes to the
burden estimate as last updated in 2020. Section 466(a)(5)(C) of
the Social Security Act requires States to enact laws ensuring a
simple civil process for voluntarily acknowledging paternity via an
affidavit. The State must provide that, before a mother and
putative father can sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity,
the mother and putative father must be given notice, orally and in
writing of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and the
rights (including any rights, if one parent is a minor, due to
minority status) and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity.
One affidavit needs to be filled out for each paternity established
and the information cannot be provided any less frequently than
once to each mother and putative father. The development and use of
an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity would
include the minimum requirements specified by the Secretary and to
give full faith and credit to such an affidavit signed in any other
State according to its procedures.
US Code:
42
USC 652 Name of Law: Social Security, Subchapter IV Part D:
Child Support and Establishment of Paternity
US Code: 42
USC 666 Name of Law: Social Security, Subchapter IV Part D:
Child Support and Establishment of Paternity
In the last review of this
information collection in 2020, OCSS calculated the total annual
burden to be 593,947 hours. In this information collection, we
estimate the total annual burden to be 613,808 hours. This
adjustment is due to several factors. • Since 2020, there has been
a decrease in the estimated number of partners involved in the
voluntary paternity acknowledgment program by about 89,000
entities. This decrease affects the overall burden downward in the
rows for training and for ordering brochures on the burden table. •
Since 2020, there has been an increase in the burden for paternity
acknowledgment services. In 2020 we estimated the number of
nonmarital births for which services would be appropriate was
approximately 1.4 million, while in 2023, we estimate the number of
nonmarital births to be approximately 1.6 million (based on 2021
data). These overall changes have resulted in an overall increase
of approximately 16,000 annual burden hours.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Public comments - Paternity Establishment 09212023 - for OMB.xlsx
Supporting Statement_Paternity Data Elements_FINAL.docx
Brochures