[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 169 (Wednesday, September 1, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47847-47848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22802]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request

    In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the

[[Page 47848]]

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13), the Health 
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic 
summaries of proposed projects being developed for submission to OMB 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information 
on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection 
plans and draft instruments, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer on 
(301) 443-1891.
    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.

Proposed Project: Guidance and Forms for the Title V Application/
Annual Report, OMB No. 0915-0172: Extension

    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) proposes to 
revise the Guidance and Forms for the Application and Annual Report for 
the Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant Program. The 
guidance is used annually by the 50 States and 9 jurisdictions in 
making application for Block Grants under Title V of the Social 
Security Act, and in preparing the required annual report. The proposed 
revisions follow and build on extensive modifications made to the 
guidance and forms in 1997. The proposed revisions are of two types: 
(1) editorial and technical revisions based on the experiences of the 
States and jurisdictions in using the guidance and forms in 1998 and 
1999; and, (2) the addition of a standard set of measures to be used in 
conducting the formal needs assessment required by Title V every five 
years. This needs assessment will be required of each State and 
jurisdiction in FY 2000.
    The addition of the core set of measures for use in conducting the 
formal needs assessment follows discussions with State Maternal and 
Child Health Directors over the last two years. The changes 
incorporated in the 1997 revisions have been reflected in major changes 
in the Title V program, with much more emphasis on accountability and 
performance measurement as part of the performance partnership concept 
on which those changes were built. The inclusion now of standard 
measures for all States and jurisdictions to use in conducting the 
five-year needs assessment is a natural progression in the development 
of the Federal-State partnership process.
    Following approval of the 1997 revisions, HRSA developed and 
instituted an automated electronic data collection and reporting 
system, the Title V Electronic Reporting Package (Title V ERP). The ERP 
has greatly reduced the burden on the States and jurisdictions, because 
it provides for automatic calculations of ratios, rates, and 
percentages, carries data over from year-to year, and assures that data 
used in multiple tables are entered only once. The ERP also provides 
for text entry, and facilitates the orderly printing of tables, text, 
and required appendices. As a result, even with the additional data 
that were incorporated, the expectation is that there will be a 33% 
reduction in the annual burden from previous levels. The estimated 
response burden is as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of     Responses per   Burden hours    Total  burden
                  Type of form                      respondents     respondent     per response        hours
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Application and Annual Report, with needs
 assessment*:
    States......................................              50               1             450           22500
    Jurisdictions...............................               9               1             240            2160
Application and Annual Report, without needs
 assessment*:
    States......................................              50               1             330           16500
    Jurisdictions...............................               9               1             133           1197
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Application and Annual Report, with needs assessment, will be submitted in FY 2000. The Application and
  Annual Report, without needs assessment, will be submitted in FY 2001 and FY 2002. The average burden for the
  next three years is 20,018 hours.

    The HRSA revision plan calls for draft versions of the new guidance 
to be sent to all Maternal and Child Health Directors in September, 
1999. Copies will also be available to all other interested parties who 
request one from: Peter C. Van Dyck, M.D., M.P.H., Associate 
Administrator for Maternal and Child Health, Maternal and Child Health 
Bureau, Room 18-05, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 
20857. His phone number is (301) 443-2170.
    Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance 
Officer, Room 14-33, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
MD 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this 
notice.

    Dated: August 26, 1999.
Jane Harrison,
Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.
[FR Doc. 99-22802 Filed 8-31-99; 8:45 am]
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