[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72353-72354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33291]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Head Start Family and Child Experience Survey (FACES).
    OMB No.: 0970-0151.
    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 contract with Westat, Inc., with 
Ellsworth Associates as their subcontractor to collect information on 
Head Start performance measures. This revision is intended as follow-on 
to the current design in order to follow the

[[Page 72354]]

sample through the end of their first grade year of school.
    FACES currently involves five phases of data collection. The first 
phase was a Spring, 1997 field test in which approximately 2400 parents 
and children were studied in a nationally stratified random sample of 
40 Head Start programs. The second and third phases occurred in Fall, 
1997 (Wave 1) and Spring, 1998 (Wave 2) when data were collected on a 
sample of 3200 children and families in the same 40 programs. The 
Spring, 1998 data collection included assessments of both Head Start 
children completing the program and former Head Start children 
completing kindergarten (kindergarten field test), as well as 
interviews with their parents and ratings by their kindergarten 
teachers. In the fourth and fifth phases, follow-up continued for a 
second program year, plus a kindergarten follow-up. The current plan is 
to extend data collection in Spring of the first-grade year for both 
cohorts of children, those completing kindergarten in Spring, 1999, and 
those completing kindergarten in Spring, 2000.
    This schedule of data collection is necessitated by the mandates of 
the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Pub. L. 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. These mandates were reinforced by 
the Head Start Act Reauthorization of October, 1998, which called for 
planning for a study of Head Start children to continue follow-up 
through first grade.
    Respondents: Individuals or Households.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per     hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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Year 2000--First grade parents..................            1987               1             .5              994
Year 2000--First grade children.................            1987               1             .67            1331
Year 2000--First grade teachers.................            1987               1             .33             656
Year 2001--First grade parents..................            1168               1             .5              584
Year 2001--First grade children.................            1168               1             .67             783
Year 2001--First grade teachers.................            1168               1             .33             385
                                                                                                 ---------------
    Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours.......  ..............  ..............  ..............           2,367
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    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, 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: December 17, 1999.
Bob Driscoll,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-33291 Filed 12-23-99; 8:45 am]
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