[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 8 (Monday, January 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1618-1619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-639]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: DHHS/ACF Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration 
Evaluation Project 18-Month Survey.
    OMB No.: New collection.
    Description: The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration 
Evaluation Project, which was developed and funded by the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a national evaluation to 
determine the benefits and cost-effectiveness of methods designed to 
aid current or former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 
recipients or other low-income families as they transition from welfare 
to the employment arena. This evaluation chiefly attempts to address 
four research questions:
    [sbull] What are the issues and challenges associated with 
operating the new welfare-to-work services and policy approaches being 
studied.
    [sbull] How effective are the welfare-to-work programs under the 
project in increasing employment and earnings and in improving other 
measures?
    [sbull] What are the net costs of the welfare-to-work programs, and 
do the programs' benefits outweigh the costs?
    [sbull] What approaches should policymakers and program managers 
consider in designing strategies to improve the efficacy of welfare-to-
work strategies for families in rural areas?
    The evaluation employs a multi-pronged approach to answer the 
research questions. These approaches include: (1) An impact study, 
which will examine the differences between control and intervention 
groups with respect to factors such as employment rates, earnings, and 
welfare receipt; (2) a cost-benefit analysis, which will calculate 
estimates of net program cost-effectiveness; and (3) an in-depth 
process study, which will identify implementation issues and 
challenges, examine program costs, and provide details on how programs 
achieve observed results. The data collected during the conduct of this 
study will be used for the following purposes:
    [sbull] To study rural welfare-to-work programs' effects on factors 
such as employment, earnings, educational attainment, family 
composition;
    [sbull] To collect data on a wider range of outcome measures--such 
as job acquisition, retention, and advancement, job quality, 
educational attainment, and employment barriers--than is available 
through welfare or unemployment insurance records, in order to 
understand how individuals are being affected by the demonstration 
programs;
    [sbull] To support research on the implementation of welfare-to-
work programs across sites;
    [sbull] To obtain program participation and service use information 
important to the evaluation's cost-benefit component; and
    [sbull] To obtain contact information for a future follow-up survey 
that will be important to achieving high response rates for that 
survey.
    Respondents: The respondents of the 18-month follow-up survey are 
current and former TANF recipients, or individuals in families at risk 
of needing TANF benefits (working poor, hard-to-employ) from the three 
states participating in the evaluation (Illinois, Nebraska, and 
Tennessee). The survey will be administered to both intervention and 
control groups in each participating site. The estimated sample size 
for the survey is 3,400 individuals, including projected samples of 
2,200 in Tennessee, and 600 each in Illinois and Nebraska. The survey 
will be conducted primarily by telephone, with field interviews 
conducted with those individuals who cannot be interviewed by 
telephone.
    Respondents of the process study data collection efforts 
(interviews, case studies, and focus groups) include State and local-
level agency staff from welfare agencies and other organizations. These 
individuals include program directors and site managers, program line 
staff, workforce development staff, TANF agency staff, and community 
partners and employers. Approximately 105 staff members per site are 
expected to participate in semi-structured interviews, 21 in case 
conferences, and 108 in focus groups, across the three demonstration 
sites.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Number of
              Instrument                   Number of     responses per  Average burden hours per   Total burden
                                          respondents     respondent            response               hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18-Month Follow-up Survey.............             963               1  45 minutes or .75 hours.             723
Process Study Data Collection Staff                105               1  75 minutes or 1.15 hours           120.8
 Interviews.
Process Study Data Collection Staff                 21               1  30 minutes or .5 hours..            10.5
 Case Conferences.
Process Study Data Collection Staff                108               1  90 minutes or 1.5 hours.             162
 Focus Groups.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1016.3.

Additional Information

    Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the 
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Administration, 
Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer.

OMB Comment

    OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of 
information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document 
in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having 
its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. 
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of 
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 725 17th Street, 
NW.,

[[Page 1619]]

Washington, DC 20503. Attn: Desk Officer for ACF.

    Dated: January 7, 2003.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-639 Filed 1-10-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M