[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22611-22612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10448]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Emergency Clearance: Public Information Collection Requirements 
Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

    In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS), has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) the following request for emergency review. We requesting an 
emergency review because the original OMB clearance for this project 
expired on 12/31/98 and the collection of this information is essential 
to the mission of the Department.
    Without emergency approval of the proposed information collections 
described below, the Department can not complete this study that will 
answer key questions about assisted living and help inform state and 
federal policy-makers. The bulk of the data collection for this project 
has been successfully completed and preliminary analysis has begun but 
the remaining data collection is critical. To understand whether or not 
assisted living is meeting the needs of the frail elderly, we must get 
a clearer picture of the discharged residents. Policy makers currently 
have no information on this vulnerable population of frail elderly. The 
proposed data collection will provide information such as their length 
of stay, why they left assisted living, and what type of care setting 
they moved into after their discharge. This information is key because 
it will help answer crucial questions about whether assisted living 
meets its promise of allowing resident to ``age in place'' (thereby 
avoiding serious disruptions to their lives) and the degree to which 
assisted living serves as a viable alternative to nursing homes. These 
are important and timely policy issues that should benefit greatly from 
the study's findings.
    And delay in our ability to collect these data is likely to 
compromise both response rates and data quality. Any increase in the 
time between re-contact and the original assessment of the resident, 
when consent for re-contact and contact information was obtained, will 
reduce the response rate. Contact information becomes less accurate as 
time passes, and delay will mean that project staff will simply not be 
able to find as many of the discharged residents. Data quality will be 
compromised because of increases in the time between their decision to 
leave the facility and project queries asking them to reconstruct the 
logic of that decision. In addition, with delay, mortality will be 
higher in the discharged resident sample, requiring the use of more 
proxy respondents, whose recollections or perceptions may be less 
reliable then responses from the residents themselves.
    DHHS is requesting that OMB grant emergency approval for 180 days. 
We are requesting approval by April 30, 1999.
    Title and Description of Information Collection: The data 
collection for which emergency clearance is sought is for the study 
``National Study of Assisted Living for the Frail Elderly (OMB 0990-
0217).'' Facilities included in the original field data collection will 
be contacted again. Project staff will determine which of the residents 
included in the original resident sample in the facility have left the 
facility. Using contact information obtained during the initial 
assessment, project staff will contact those respondents (or their 
proxy respondents) for a telephone interview. The interview will 
include inquiries about the respondents' reasons for selecting the 
original facility, changes over time in their preferences for different 
features of assisted living, their length of stay, specific reasons for 
leaving facility, and a description of their current residential 
setting. Respondents: Discharged residents or their proxies; Number of 
Respondents: 306; Number of Responses per Respondent: one; Average 
Burden Per Response: 19 minutes; Total Burden: 97 hrs.
    To request more information or a copy of the proposed data 
collection, please contact Pam Doty on (202) 690-6443.
    Comments are invited 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) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of information technology.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collections should be immediately sent directly to the OMB Desk Officer 
designated at the following address:

OMB Human Resource and Housing Branch, Attention: Allison Eydt, New

[[Page 22612]]

Executive Office Building, Room 1000235, Washington, D.C. 20503

    Comments may be faxed to Ms. Eydt at (202) 395-5167.
    Please send a copy of your comments to Cynthia Agens Bauer, OS 
Reports Clearance Officer, Room 503H, Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 200201.

    Dated: April 16, 1999.
Dennis P. Williams,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Budget.
[FR Doc. 99-10448 Filed 4-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-04-M