by Meghan Maury
Proposed Rule of the Week: Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization. The Lifeline program is designed to help ensure that low-income Americans are able to receive affordable communications service. In this proposed rule, the FCC is making or considering several data-related changes to the program, including requiring collection of full Social Security Numbers, using the SAVE and Do Not Pay systems to verify participant identity, making changes to the "one-per-household" rule that could result in de-enrollment of many people who live in group quarters, disallowing state-based eligibility verification, and revising eligibility requirements to impose a five-year waiting period for eligible non-citizens and to mirror some of Medicaid's more restrictive eligibility requirements. These and other changes are designed to curb "waste, fraud, and abuse" in the Lifeline program.
Comments due May 4.
Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
Note: The Take Action tab of dataindex.us provides information about even more surveys, forms, evaluations, and records notices than are listed in your weekly newsletter.
Adoption and Foster Care
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). AFCARS collects information about children who enter foster care, their entries and exits, placement details, and foster/adoptive parent information. A recent regulatory process added 62 data elements to require state title IV-E child welfare agency reporting of more detailed information related to the Indian Child Welfare Act's procedural protections. ACF indicates in the listing that they are only interested in feedback on burden calculations, specifying, "It does not seek comment on the data elements that have been through the rulemaking process." However, because the PRA requires agencies to take input on whether data collected is necessary, accurate, and usable, this constraint on public input is inconsistent with the law.
Comments due May 29.
Public Benefits
mySocial Security—Security Authentication PIN. This listing describes SSA's new hybrid identity proofing process called the mySocial Security—Security Authentication PIN (SAP) that provides identity proofing parity with our online and in-person modalities. Utilizing the SAP process provides the necessary identity verification to allow direct deposit changes via phone, while ensuring fraud protection through stronger verification of the identity of the individual prior to accessing or revising their account. Earlier iterations of this process generated significant public comment, leading to an overall scaling back of its applicability.
Comments due April 30.Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Pilot Evaluation. For this new study, ACF will select up to five states to test new outcomes-based performance benchmarks in the TANF program. The implementation study will describe pilot design, staffing, service provision, partnerships, contextual details, and factors that support or hinder the pilot's implementation. The outcomes study will assess changes in participant outcomes using surveys and administrative data.
Comments due May 26.Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs-Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden. These forms collect information about the certification of participants; the nutrition education that is provided to participants; farmer, farmers' market, roadside stand, and CSA program authorization, training, monitoring, and management; and financial and participation data. In this listing, FNS is requesting to consolidate the collection requirements for the SFMNP and the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which are substantially similar.
Comments due May 29.
Health
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—Household Component. MEPS collects data on the specific health services that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these services, and how they are paid for, as well as data on the cost, scope, and breadth of health insurance held by and available to U.S. workers. HHS is making significant changes to the survey, including revising dozens of questions; removing questions on gender, birth control, counseling and treatment, and aspirin use; and adding questions about sleep, diet, screen time, and other timely topics.
Comments due April 30.Rural Health Care Coordination Program Performance Improvement Measures. This collection is used to assess Care Coordination Program awardees' progress in meeting the program goals and how well each awardee meets their community needs. HRSA is modifying several measures, including by adding a response option to the race/ethnicity question. In mid-2025, HRSA revised several questions in the collection to remove response options related to the Social Determinants of Health and Migrant Health Centers. This revision will formalize those changes as well.
Comments due May 26.Challenges of Operational Environments Study. Recent suicide clusters aboard Naval vessels have highlighted a critical need to better understand risk factors for suicide among various shipboard environments. This study is designed to identify specific shipboard stressors associated with different phases of the aircraft carrier life cycle and determine the effects of these stressors on Sailor's mental and behavioral health and readiness.
Comments due May 26.
Immigration
Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program. People use this form to apply for the Gold Card Program, under which a visa is granted to eligible immigrants who make a $1m (individual) or $2m (corporation) gift to the United States. The application fee for this program is an additional $15,000. In this listing, DHS indicates that they are making some unspecified changes to the form.
Comments due May 11.
Disability
CDC's Milestone Tracker App User Surveys. The CDC Milestone Tracker App supports family-engaged developmental monitoring and promotes early identification of developmental delays and disabilities. These surveys are designed to user satisfaction, usage patterns, and actions taken after a missed developmental milestone or developmental concern is identified within the app. CDC appears to be making only minor changes to question explanations at this time.
Comments due May 26.
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