[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24639-24645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11314]




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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of Policy Development and Research
[Docket No. N-95-3919; FR-3913-N-01]


Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for expedited review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments must be received within seven (7) working days 
from the date of this Notice. Comments should refer to the proposal by 
name and should be sent to: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr., OMB Desk Officer, 
Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kay F. Weaver, Reports Management Officer, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20410, 
telephone no. (202) 708-0050. This is not a toll-free number. Copies of 
the proposed forms and other available documents submitted to OMB may 
be obtained from Ms. Weaver.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice informs the public that the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development has submitted to OMB, for 
expedited processing, and information collection package with respect 
to the Youth Apprenticeship Program Participant Information Form. HUD 
is requesting a 7-day OMB review of this information collection.
    The Youth Apprenticeship Program (YAP) is funded under the 
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for 1994. The program provides 
funding to eight public housing authorities (PHAs) that have previously 
been awarded grants under the HOPE VI program. The purpose of YAP is to 
provide training, apprenticeship, and employment for youth living in 
qualified public and assisted housing through the collaborative efforts 
of Youth Corps and joint labor management organizations. Of the $10 
million appropriated to YAP in fiscal year 1994, $250,000 was set aside 
by Congress to be used for an evaluation of the program.
    The planned evaluation for this program has two principal 
components--(1) Site specific process evaluation; and (2) participant 
tracking. The first component will involve interviews with Housing 
Authority, Youth Corps, and apprenticeship organizations at each of the 
sites to collect initial performance and planning information. The 
second component, participant tracking, would use the Youth 
Apprenticeship Program Participation Information Form to collect 
information about individuals at four phases of the program:
    1. Beginning of Youth Corps component.
    2. End of Youth Corps/Pre-employment training.
    3. Beginning of apprenticeship.
    4. Annually during apprenticeship.
    A final evaluation of YAP is planned in three to five years using 
the data collected from the reporting forms as well as additional on-
site visits.
    The Department has submitted the proposal for the collection of 
information, as described below, to OMB for review, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35):
    (1) the title of the information collection proposal;
    (2) the office of the agency to collect the information;
    (3) the description of the need for the information and its 
proposed use;
    (4) the agency form number, if applicable;
    (5) what members of the public will be affected by the proposal;
    (6) how frequently information submission will be required;
    (7) an estimate of the total number of hours needed to prepare the 
information submission including numbers of respondents, frequency of 
response, and hours of response;
    (8) whether the proposal is new or an extension, reinstatement, or 
revision of an information collection requirement; and
    (9) the names and telephone numbers of an agency official familiar 
with the proposal and of the OMB Desk Officer for the Department.

    Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 
U.S.C. 3507; Section 7(d) of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Act, 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    [[Page 24640]] Dated: April 21, 1995.
Lawrence L. Thompson,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy Development and 
Research.

Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB

    Proposal: Information Collection Associated with the Youth 
Apprenticeship Program.
    Office: Office of Policy Development and Research.
    Description of the Need for Information and its Proposed Use: This 
information collection is required in connection with the Youth 
Apprenticeship Program (YAP). The YAP is providing funding to eight 
public housing authorities (PHAs) that were previously awarded grants 
under the HOPE VI program. The purpose of YAP is to provide training, 
apprenticeship, and employment for youth living in qualified public and 
assisted housing through the collaborative efforts of Youth Corps and 
joint labor management organizations. This information request would be 
used for local management and national evaluation purposes. It would 
require grantees to collect information about individuals at four 
phases of the program:
    1. Beginning of Youth Corps component.
    2. End of Youth Corps/Pre-employment training.
    3. Beginning of apprenticeship.
    4. Annually during apprenticeship.
    A final evaluation of YAP is planned in three to five years using 
the data collected from the reporting forms as well as additional on-
site visits.
    Form Number: None.
    Respondents: Participants and managers in the Youth Apprenticeship 
Program.
    Frequency of Submission: 5 times.
    Reporting Burden:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       No. of                                                                   
      Form           Respondents    respondents  Time to complete     Frequency             Burden hours        
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Survey..........  Participants and        366.7  30 min..........  5 times over 3   920 (184 per submit).       
                   managers in YAP.                                 years.                                      
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    Status: New.
    Contact: Todd M. Richardson, HUD, (202) 708-0574, Joseph F. Lackey, 
Jr., OMB, (202) 395-7316.

Part A--Justification

Introduction

    The Youth Apprenticeship Program (YAP) is funded under the 
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for 1994. The Youth 
Apprenticeship Program is providing funding to eight public housing 
authorities (PHAs) that have been awarded grants under the HOPE VI 
program. The purpose of YAP is to provide training, apprenticeship, and 
employment for youth living in qualified public and assisted housing 
through the collaborative efforts of Youth Corps and joint labor 
management organizations. Of the $10 million appropriated to YAP in 
fiscal year 1994, $250,000 was set aside by Congress to be used for an 
evaluation of the program.
    The planned evaluation for this program has two principal 
components--(1) site specific process evaluation; and (2) participant 
tracking. The first component will involve interviews with Housing 
Authority, Youth Corps, and apprenticeship organizations at each of the 
sites to collect initial performance and planning information. The 
second component, participant tracking, would require grantees to 
collect information about individuals at four phases of the program:
    1. Beginning of Youth Corps component.
    2. End of Youth Corps/Pre-employment training.
    3. Beginning of apprenticeship.
    4. Annually during apprenticeship.
    A final evaluation of YAP is planned in three to five years using 
the data collected from the reporting forms as well as additional on-
site visits. This request for OMB approval focuses on the second 
component, which would use the Youth Apprenticeship Program Participant 
Information Form.
A1.0  Circumstances That Make the Collection of Information Necessary
    The Youth Apprenticeship program is a unique program that brings 
together housing authorities, the Youth Corps, and labor management 
organizations to provide public housing youth the skills and experience 
believed to be necessary for long-term employment success. Under this 
program an agreement must be executed by the PHA, an established Youth 
Corps, a local labor union and a multiemployer association.
    Youth Corps, an organization certified by the National Association 
of Service and Conservation Corps, provides participants with 6- to 12-
month structured adult-supervised work and learning experiences and 
promotes the development of life and employment skills. The labor 
management organizations, made up of employers and their employees who 
are represented by a collective bargaining agent, will operate or 
administer an apprenticeship and/or job training program. The youth 
participants live in subsidized housing at or near a distressed HOPE VI 
public housing site. This program brings together job skills, job 
experience, and job connections into a single program.
    The Youth Apprenticeship Program Participation Information Form 
will provide the tracking information on participant progress during 
the youth corps and apprenticeship that are vital to identifying the 
outcomes of this program.
A2.0  How and By Whom the Data Will Be Used
A2.1  Purpose of the Data Collection
    The purpose of the data collection is to allow HUD and the grantees 
to track participant progress in the Youth Apprenticeship Program. The 
Youth Apprenticeship Program Participation Information Form will 
provide the ongoing information needed to assess the impacts of the 
program on the participants.
A2.2  Consequences If the Information Was Not Collected
    Congress has appropriated $250,000 specifically for the evaluation 
of this $10 million demonstration program. YAP represents a unique 
opportunity to bring together the organizations that house low-income 
individuals (PHAs), the organizations that provide job training (Youth 
Corps), skilled trade unions, and employers. If this tracking 
information is not collected, this opportunity to assess the impact of 
a job training to job opportunity program for individuals from 
extremely distressed neighborhoods will be lost.
A3.0  Use of Improved Information Technologies
    Improved information technology has been incorporated wherever 
feasible to [[Page 24641]] reduce the data collection burden. HUD is 
currently developing software so that grantees in the YAP program could 
collect this tracking information directly on computer. The software is 
also intended to provide useful participant progress information for 
the grantees.
A4.0  Efforts to Identify Duplication
    HUD's Multi-Family Tenant Characteristics (MTCS) database will be 
used to observe household change for participants in this program. 
However, specific data about the participants and their progress in the 
program would only be available through the Youth Apprenticeship 
Program Participation Information Form
A5.0  Why Similar Already-Available Data Cannot Be Used
    There are no similar already-available data about the participants 
of this program.
A6.0  Effort to Minimize the Burden for Small Entities
    HUD is developing software to ease the data collection burden on 
the Youth Corps grantees. HUD will also provide technical assistance to 
the grantees to ease the burden of data collection start-up.
A7.0  Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection
    Data are planned to be collected at four different phases of the 
YAP program:
    1. Beginning of Youth Corps component.
    2. End of Youth Corps/Pre-employment training.
    3. Beginning of apprenticeship.
    4. Annually during apprenticeship.
    The first phase, the beginning of the youth corps, is the critical 
baseline data needed from which to measure all interventions. The 
second phase, immediately following the youth corps component, 
identifies the youth corps activities and participant progress. The 
third phase, the beginning of the apprenticeship, collects basic data 
about the intended apprenticeship. Finally, the fourth phase will 
capture participant progress each year during the apprenticeship and 
note the circumstances a participant leaves the program. Less frequent 
data collection would lose important parts of the story. Each phase of 
the data collection is targeted to the points in time the program makes 
a major change.
A8.0  Circumstances Requiring Deviation from Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6
    No deviation from the Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6 will be required 
for this data collection.
A9.0  Consultants Outside of the Agency
    HUD requested comment on a draft of the reporting form from: the 
National Association of Service & Conservation Corps; Reno, Cavanaugh & 
Hornig; the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of 
Labor; seven of the grantees. Comments were received from:

--the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor;
--Atlanta Youth Corps;
--Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles;
--Seattle Housing Authority;
--Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta; and
--Civic Works--Baltimore's Youth Service Corps.
    HUD considered the comments of each of these organizations and 
revisions were made reflecting most of their comments.
A10.0  Arrangements and Assurances Regarding Confidentiality
    As part of the technical assistance component of this data 
collection effort, HUD will train the organizations collecting the data 
on maintaining confidentiality. These data, however, will be available 
to the program managers to assess individual participant progress. For 
all other purposes, data will only be presented in an aggregate form to 
assure the confidentiality of individual participants.
A11.0  Sensitive Questions
    Some of the categories under ``Barriers to employment or higher 
paying jobs'' may be sensitive for some respondents. The question, 
however, provides important baseline information on factors believed to 
have an impact on individuals ability to obtain a job or improve their 
job situation. Individuals can choose not to report an item they find 
too personal.
A12.0  Estimated Costs to the Federal Government
    The costs for this data collection are included in (1) the grants 
to the Housing Authorities (approximately $3,000 each), (2) the 
software development, and (3) the technical assistance. The estimated 
cost to the Federal Government is approximately $174,000.
A13.0  Respondent Burden
    Each of the eight grantees will have approximately 50 participants 
in the program. Different phases of the form will have to be completed 
approximately 6 times for each participant throughout the program. The 
form should take approximately 30 minutes to administer. Each phase is 
likely to lose some participants for one reason or another. For 
estimation purposes, we will use a 5 percent loss at each phase.

Phase 1=400 participants  @ 30 minutes=200 hours
Phase 2=400 participants  @ 30 minutes=200 hours
Phase 3=380 participants  @ 30 minutes=190 hours
Phase 4.1=380 participants  @ 30 minutes=190 hours
Phase 4.2=360 participants  @ 30 minutes=180 hours

    The total respondent burden for this request is estimated to be 920 
hours.
A14.0  Reasons for Change in Burden
    Not applicable.
A15.0  Tabulation Plans, Statistical Analysis, Study Schedule and 
Publication
    Baseline data from phase 1 will be aggregated and tabulated as part 
of the process and planning assessment conducted during the Youth Corps 
phase of the YAP. A report will be produced based on this analysis. 
During each phase, the grantees will have modules built into their data 
collection software that will allow them to look at different cross 
sections of their participants and over time assess individual and 
aggregate performance. HUD will collect and analyze the national data 
at each phase. After 3 to 5 years, HUD plans to use the data along with 
site visits to conduct an in depth evaluation on the preliminary 
success of the program.

Part B--Sampling and Response

    The purpose of the Youth Apprenticeship Program Participation 
Information Form is to track all program participants over time to 
determine the impact of the Youth Apprenticeship Program on each 
participant.
B1.0  Potential Respondent Universe
    All participants in the Youth Apprenticeship Program at the eight 
housing authorities.
B2.0  Statistical Methods
B2.1  Stratification and Sampling Plans
    No stratification or sampling plan is necessary, all participants 
will be included. [[Page 24642]] 
B3.0  Methods to Maximize Response Rates
    The form will be administered by the organizations managing the 
program. In order to achieve a high response rate, the form will be 
filled out in one-on-one discussion between the grantee and the 
participant. Because (1) participants are required to be in the office 
for the YAP program and (2) the information required is similar to many 
job applications, grantees should have little difficulty gaining 
cooperation from the participants.
B4.0  Results of Pre-Testing
    No pre-testing was conducted. However, numerous practitioners 
provided comment.
B5.0  Statistical Consultations and Information Collection Agents
B5.1  Consultation on the Statistical Aspects of the Design
B5.2  Information Collection Agents
    All information for this form will be collected by the YAP 
grantees. Instructions and technical assistance will be provided by HUD 
or a contractor it designates.

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[FR Doc. 95-11314 Filed 5-8-95; 8:45 am]
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