[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50776-50777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21516]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-61-03]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax 
to (202) 395-6974. Written comments should be received within 30 days 
of this notice.

Proposed Project

    School Associated Violent Death Surveillance System--New--National 
Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).
    The Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), National Center for 
Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) proposes to develop a system for 
the surveillance of school-associated homicides and suicides. The 
system will rely on existing public records and interviews with law 
enforcement officials and school officials. The purpose of the system 
is to (1) estimate the rate of school-associated violent death in the 
United States and (2) identify common features of school-associated 
violent deaths. The proposed system will contribute to the 
understanding of fatal violence associated with schools, guide further 
research in the area, and help direct ongoing and future prevention 
programs.
    Violence is the leading cause of death among young people, and 
increasingly recognized as an important public health and social issue. 
In 1998, over 3,500 school aged children (5 to 18 years old) in the 
United States died violent deaths due to suicide, homicide, and 
unintentional firearm injuries. The vast majority of these fatal 
injuries were not school associated. However, whenever a homicide or 
suicide occurs in or around school, it becomes a matter of particularly 
intense public interest and concern. NCIPC conducted the first 
scientific study of school-associated violent deaths during the 1992-99 
academic years to establish the true extent of this highly visible 
problem.
    Despite the important role of schools as a setting for violence 
research and prevention interventions, relatively little scientific or 
systematic work has been done to describe the nature and level of fatal 
violence associated with schools. Until NCIPC conducted the first 
nationwide investigation of violent deaths associated with schools, 
public health and education officials had to rely on limited local 
studies and estimated numbers to describe the extent of school-
associated violent death.
    The proposed system will draw cases from the entire United States 
in attempting to capture all cases of school-associated violent deaths 
that have occurred. Investigators will review public records and 
published press reports concerning each school-associated violent 
death. For each identified case, investigators will also interview an 
investigating law enforcement official (defined as a police officer, 
police chief, or district attorney), and a school official (defined as 
a school principal, school superintendent, school counselor, school 
teacher, or school

[[Page 50777]]

support staff) who are knowledgeable about the case in question. 
Researchers will request information on both the victim and alleged 
offender(s)--including demographic data, their academic and criminal 
records, and their relationship to one another. They will also collect 
data on the time and location of the death; the circumstances, motive, 
and method of the fatal injury; and the security and violence 
prevention activities in the school and community where the death 
occurred, before and after the fatal injury event. The total burden 
hours are estimated to be 70.

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                                                                                      No. of       Avg. burden/
                           Respondents                                No. of        responses/     response (in
                                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
School Officials................................................              35               1               1
Police Officials................................................              35               1               1
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    Dated: August 18, 2003.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-21516 Filed 8-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P