[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60105-60106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30145]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES).
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families 
(ACYF), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the 
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is requesting Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for interview instruments to be 
used in the Head Start Family and Child Experience Survey (FACES). This 
study is being conducted under contracts with Abt Associates Inc.

[[Page 60106]]

(with The CDM Group, Inc. as their subcontractor (#105-96-1930)) to 
collect descriptive information on Head Start families, and Westat, 
Inc. (with Ellsworth Associates as their subcontractor (#105-96-1912)) 
to collect information on Head Start performance measures. The design 
calls for three rounds of data collection. A nationally representative 
group of 2,400 families with children enrolled in approximately 160 
centers in 40 Head Start programs will be identified in Spring, 1997. 
At that time, Head Start staff and parents will be interviewed, 
classroom observations will be completed, and children will be 
assessed. The second data collection period will occur in Fall, 1997. 
Again, staff and parents will be interviewed, and children will be 
assessed and observed in their classrooms. At that time children from 
the Spring, 1997 sample that left Head Start to enter kindergarten 
following the 1996-97 Head Start year will be replaced by a 
representative sample of children just entering Head Start. All 
families, including those whose children entered kindergarten in Fall, 
1997 will be tracked through the school year. The final data collection 
effort will occur in Spring, 1998 and involve all families and children 
identified in the earlier two data collection periods.
    A subgroup of 120 families will be identified from the Spring and 
Fall, 1997 samples for participation in the Validation Substudy. The 
Validation Substudy data collection will require home visits to 
participating families at each major data collection point and a series 
of monthly contacts between data collections periods. The monthly 
contacts will begin with the Spring, 1997 data collection and continue 
through December, 1998.
    This schedule of data collection is necessitated by the mandates of 
the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Public Law 
103-62), which requires that the Head Start Bureau move expeditiously 
toward development and testing of Head Start Performance Measures, and 
by the 1994 reauthorization of Head Start (Head Start Act, as amended, 
May 18, 1994, Section 649 (d)), which requires assessment of Head 
Start's quality and effectiveness.
    Respondents: Federal Government, Individuals or Households, and 
Not-for-profit institutions.

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                                                                                 Number of   Average            
                                                                    Number of    responses    burden     Total  
                            Instrument                             respondents      per     hours per    burden 
                                                                                respondent   response    hours  
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Spring, 1997.....................................................       7,840            1      0.652      5,110
Fall, 1997.......................................................       8,400            1      0.648      5,440
Spring, 1998.....................................................      11,460            1      0.654     7,500 
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 9,025.                                                                     

    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Information Services, Division of Information Resource Management 
Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447, Attn: 
ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the 
title of the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Dated: November 20, 1996.
Bob Sargis,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-30145 Filed 11-25-96; 8:45 am]
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