[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 116 (Thursday, June 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32504-32507]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15373]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control And Prevention
[INFO-99-22]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) is providing opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects. To request more information on the 
proposed projects or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and 
instruments, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    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 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. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.

Proposed Project

    1. Public Health Prevention Service Program--New--Epidemiology 
Program Office (EPO). In 1995, senior CDC leadership asked for a review 
of CDC's role in developing public health workers. As a result of the 
review, the Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS) program was 
established in 1997, to be carried out by the Epidemiology Program 
Office (EPO). The purpose of the PHPS program is to improve the 
nation's public health practice by preparing entry-level public health 
professionals to conduct prevention programs that improve health and 
prevent injury and to manage emerging public health problems.''
    Implicit in the creation of the program is the expectation that the 
PHPS participants would be a ``new breed'' of public health 
professionals who would owe primary allegiance to prevention and public 
health as disciplines rather than to specific programs, be comfortable 
working across a variety of programs and in multiple levels of 
jurisdictions, and be knowledgeable about and prepared to meet future 
challenges in public health in planning, implementing, managing, and 
evaluating scientifically sound prevention programs and interventions.
    PHPS participants (Prevention Specialists) are selected annually in 
a national competition. Each year, approximately 25 PHPS participants 
are chosen from a pool of about 100 applicants. During their 3-year 
participation in the PHPS program, they undertake formal training, 
engage in a series of rotations throughout CDC and, finally, are posted 
to 2-year assignments with health departments at the State, county, or 
local level. Throughout the off-site portion of the program, they are 
intended to participate in scheduled training through periodic on-site 
sessions at CDC as well as through distance learning. At the conclusion 
of the three years, they are available for employment in any setting.
    Data are needed to determine if the PHPS program is meeting its 
goals, including: (1) Broad exposure to multiple disciplines and levels 
of government, (2) exposure to important management and leadership 
skills, and (3) contribution to the creation of a pool of qualified 
leaders who will remain in and rise rapidly to leadership in public 
health at Federal, State, and local levels. In addition, data are 
needed to monitor the implementation of the program and allow for 
continuous improvement of processes.
    While surveys and focus groups are being conducted with the PHPS 
participants and their CDC supervisors throughout the course of their 
3-year participation, these data need to be supplemented with 
information from others including: (1) ``Graduates'' of the PHPS 
program: to determine if they are assuming leadership roles in public 
health and the aspects of the PHPS program that proved most helpful, 
(2) local health department staff who supervise PHPS participants 
during their field assignments: to determine if the PHPS participants 
are exhibiting the level of skills imparted during their training 
period and are adding value to State and local public health efforts, 
and (3) those who are offered PHPS positions but choose not to 
participate: to determine how to make the program more attractive and 
to enable the program to improve marketing, application, and selection 
processes.
    Results from this research will be used to help CDC identify ways 
in which the PHPS program can be enhanced and its processes improved. 
More importantly, it will allow CDC to assess whether the PHPS program 
is an effective mechanism for creating a pool of broadly-trained public 
health leaders.
    The PHPS program will track participants, graduates, and their 
supervisors and employers for a period of 10 years. This request covers 
the first three years only. The total annualized cost to the 
respondents is $2,169.50.

[[Page 32505]]



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                                                                                   Avg. burden/     Total hour
                   Respondents                       Number of      Responses/     response  (in    burden  (in
                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)           hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Year 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates:
    Inquiring but not applying..................             100               1           10/60           17.00
    Interviewed but not offered PHPS slots......              50               1           10/60            8.50
    Offered PHPS slots but not accepting........               6               1           10/60            1.00
    Supervisors:................................
    For first-year field assignment.............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For second-year field assignment............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For permanent employment \1\................               0               1           10/60            0
    Who requested but were not assigned a PHPS                50               1           10/60            8.50
     participant................................
PHPS participants:
    Graduating from the program \1\.............               0               1           15/60            0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Year 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates:
    Inquiring but not applying..................             100               1           10/60           17.00
    Interviewed but not offered PHPS slots......              50               1           10/60            8.50
    Offered PHPS slots but not accepting........               6               1           10/60            1.00
Supervisors:
    For first-year field assignment.............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For second-year field assignment............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For permanent employment \1\................              25               1           10/60            4.25
    Who requested but were not assigned a PHPS                50               1           10/60            8.50
     participant................................
PHPS participants:
    Graduating from the program \1\.............              25               1           15/60            6.25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Year 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates:
    Inquiring but not applying..................             100               1           10/60           17.00
    Interviewed but not offered PHPS slots......              50               1           10/60            8.50
    Offered PHPS slots but not accepting........               6               1           10/60            1.00
Supervisors:
    For first-year field assignment.............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For second-year field assignment............              25               1           15/60            6.25
    For permanent employment \1\................              50               1           10/60            8.50
    Who requested but were not assigned a PHPS                50               1           10/60            8.50
     participant................................
PHPS participants:
    Graduating from the program \1\.............              50               1           15/60           12.50
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Burden............................  ..............  ..............  ..............          174.00
        Average Annual Burden...................  ..............  ..............  ..............           58.00 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ PHPS is a three year program enrolling 25 new participants each year. The first class will graduate in Year
  2 of this data collection; 25 new graduates will be added to the pool of graduates each year thereafter.

    2. Site-Specific Evaluation--New--Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry (ATSDR). Evaluation is a critical component in ATSDR's 
site-related public health actions, both to ensure the successful 
application of site-specific/site-related intervention activities, and 
the effective management of resources. As ATSDR's divisions and offices 
assume expanded responsibilities for sites in program areas such as 
health assessment, health consultations, health studies, research and 
education, information, and communication, their interest in promoting 
improvements in evaluating their site-specific and site-related public 
health actions has grown accordingly.
    An ATSDR inter-divisional workgroup has developed an integrated and 
more focused approach for assessing ATSDR's site-related activities. 
The site-specific protocol encompasses data collections from three 
groups:
    1. Members of the site community--to determine if knowledge, 
attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) have changed as a result of ATSDR's 
intervention on the site and to assess their satisfaction with the 
process used to obtain their input, provide information to them , and 
by which ATSDR made recommendations about dealing with hazards in their 
community;
    2. Members of the provider community--to determine if their KAB 
regarding environmental hazards and appropriate diagnosis, referral, 
and treatment of those exposed have changed in the appropriate 
direction as a result of ATSDR's activities on-site; and
    3. Members of a larger ``contrast'' community--to determine if 
changes in KAB on-site are due to ATSDR activities or other confounding 
factors and secular trends.
    Mainly, these data will be used for management feedback and program 
improvement. Data will not be used to make statistically generalizable 
statements or draw national estimates. Instead, results from these data 
collections will be used by ATSDR to fine-tune its activities at 
individual sites, to compare outcomes across sites, and to paint an 
overall picture of the amount and type of impacts ATSDR is having on 
site.
    The evaluation of ATSDR's site activities is intended to be an 
ongoing

[[Page 32506]]

agency activity. This data collection covers only the first three 
years. The total annualized cost to the respondents is $30,423.

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                                                                                   Avg. burden/
                                                    Respondents     Responses/      respondent     Total burden
                                                                   respondent *      (in hrs.)       (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Sites:
Site community (phone)..........................             100         2  (10)          0.1667             333
Contrast community (phone)......................             300         2  (10)          0.1667            1000
Health care providers (mail)....................              50         2  (10)          0.1667             166
Existing Sites:
Site community (phone)..........................             100         1  (10)          0.1667             167
Contrast community (phone)......................             300         1  (10)          0.1667             500
Health care providers (mail)....................              50         1  (10)          0.1667              83
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           2,249
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* Responses per Respondent per Site (10)

    3. National Vital Statistics Report Form (0920-0213)--Revision--
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The compilation of 
national vital statistics dates back to the beginning of this century 
and has been conducted since 1960 by the Division of Vital Statistics 
of the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC. The collection of 
the data is authorized by 42 U.S.C. 242k. The National Vital Statistics 
Report (renamed from the Monthly Vital Statistics Report in January 
1998) provides counts of monthly occurrences of births, deaths, infant 
deaths, marriages, and divorces following the end of each month. 
Similar data have been published since 1937 and are the sole source of 
these data at the national level. The data are used by the Department 
of Health and Human Services and by other government, academic, and 
private research organizations in tracking changes in trends of vital 
events.
    Respondents for the Monthly Vital Statistics Report Form are 
registration officials in each State and Territory, the District of 
Columbia, and New York City. In addition, 60 local (county) officials 
in New Mexico who record marriages occurring and divorces and 
annulments granted in each county of New Mexico will use this Form. 
There are no direct costs to respondents; the data are routinely 
available in each reporting office as a by-product of ongoing 
activities. Earlier OMB approvals of this data collection involved four 
separate forms, all of which are combined into a single multi-purpose 
form for this current approval request.

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                                                                                   Avg. Burden/
                   Respondents                       Number of      Responses/     response  (in   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)         (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State and Territory Registration Officials......              57              12             0.2             137
New Mexico County Officials.....................              60              12             0.1              72
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............             209
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    4. Annual Marriage and Divorce Statistical Report Form (0920-
0211)--Reinstatement with Change-National Center for Health Statistics 
(NCHS). Compilation of national vital statistics dates back to the 
beginning of this century and has been conducted since 1960 by the 
Division of Vital Statistics of the National Center for Health 
Statistics, CDC. The collection of the data is authorized by 42 U.S.C. 
242k. The National Vital Statistics System constitutes a program to 
provide statistics on births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and 
divorces. One part of this function is to provide final annual counts 
of marriages and divorces by month for the United States and for each 
State. The data are widely used by government, academic, private 
research, and commercial organizations in tracking changes in trends of 
family formation and dissolution. The statistical counts requested on 
this form differ from provisional estimates obtained on the Monthly 
Vital Statistics Report Form in that they represent complete counts of 
marriages, divorces, and annulments occurring during the months of the 
prior year. These final counts are usually available from State or 
county officials about eight months after the end of the data year.
    Respondents for the Annual Marriage and Divorce Statistical Report 
Form are registration officials in each State, the District of 
Columbia, New York City, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Northern 
Marianas, and American Samoa. In addition, counts of marriages will be 
collected from individual counties in New Mexico, and counts of 
divorces will be collected from individual counties in California, 
Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, New Mexico, and the boroughs of New York 
City due to a lack of centralized complete collections in these 
registration areas. There are no direct costs to respondents; the data 
are routinely available in each reporting office as a by-product of 
ongoing activities. Earlier OMB approvals of this data collection 
involved four separate forms, some of which are combined into a single 
multi-purpose form for this current approval request. Counts will no 
longer be requested from all States for all counties in each State.

[[Page 32507]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of     Avg. burden/
                   Respondents                       Number of      responses/     response  (in   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)         (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State/Territory/City Registration Officials.....              56               1             0.5              28
County/Borough Officials........................             348               1             0.5             174
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............             202
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dated: June 10, 1999.
Kathy Cahill,
Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 99-15373 Filed 6-16-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P