[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75549-75550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27583]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Evaluation of the Early Head Start Enhanced Home Visiting 
Pilot Project.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Head Start Reauthorization Act of 1994 established 
a special initiative creating funding for services for families with 
infants and toddlers. In response, the Administration on Children, 
Youth and Families (ACYF) within the Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF) developed the Early Head Start program. Since its 
inception, Early Head Start has expanded to include more than 700 
programs and 70,000 families enrolled nationwide. The program is 
designed to produce outcomes in four domains: (1) Child development, 
(2) family development, (3) staff development, and (4) community 
development. The Head Start Bureau has given programs a mandate to 
support the quality of all settings where children receive care by 
providing high-quality services and supporting parents and child care 
providers in caring for their young children.
    In keeping with this mandate, the Head Start Bureau recently funded 
24 Early Head Start programs to participate in the Enhanced Home 
Visiting Pilot Project. The goal of the pilot project is to develop 
program models for supporting relatives and neighbors who care for 
Early Head Start children in acquiring the knowledge, skills and 
resources they need to support children's healthy development.
    The Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project evaluation will collect 
and disseminate information about the program models and service 
delivery strategies developed by the pilot sites, as well as the 
characteristics and needs of participating children, families, and 
caregivers. The evaluation will collect and analyze information from 
three main sources: (1) Interviews with staff and focus groups with 
parents and cargivers to be conducted during two rounds of visits to 
pilot programs (in spring 2005 and 2006), (2) a program recordkeeping 
system for tracking services to be maintained by the pilot sites, and 
(3) observational assessments of the quality of the caregiving 
environment and the interactions between children and caregivers to be 
conducted in spring 2006. All data collection instruments have been 
designed to minimize the burden on respondents by minimizing the time 
required to respond. Participation in the study is voluntary.
    The results of the research will be used by the Head Start Bureau 
and ACF to identify and disseminate information about promising program 
models and service delivery strategies and lessons learned from the 
experiences of the pilot programs.
    Respondents: Early Head Start directors, coordinators, specialists, 
and home visitors; staff from other community service providers; 
parents of Early Head Start children; and neighbor and relative 
caregivers of Early Head Start children.

Annual Burden Estimates

            Estimated Response Burden for Respondents for the Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Evaluation
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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per    Annual  burden
                   Instrument                       respondents    responses per     response         (hours)
                                                                    respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Site Visit Protocols (2005):
    Director Protocol...........................              24               1             3.0            72.0
    Coordinator/Specialist Protocol.............              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Community Partner Protocol..................              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Home Visitor Protocol.......................              48               1             1.5            72.0

[[Page 75550]]

 
    Parent Protocol.............................             192               1             1.5           288.0
    Caregiver Protocol..........................             192               1             1.5           288.0
    Case Review Protocol........................              48               1             3.0           144.0
    Recordkeeping System (2005).................              24            a 27           b 2.0         1,296.0
                                                 -----------------
        Total for 2005..........................  ..............  ..............  ..............         2,232.0
Site Visit Protocol (2006):
    Director Telephone Protocol.................              24               1             1.0            24.0
    Director Protocol...........................              12               1             3.0            36.0
    Coordinator/Specialist Protocol.............              12               1             1.5            18.0
    Community Partner Protocol..................              12               1             1.5            18.0
    Home Visitor Protocol.......................              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Parent Protocol.............................              96               1             1.5           144.0
    Case Review Protocol........................              24               1             3.0            72.0
    Recordkeeping System (2006).................              24            a 27           b 1.0           648.0
    Caregiver Observations (2006)...............              96               1             2.5           240.0
                                                 -----------------
        Total for 2006..........................  ..............  ..............  ..............         1,236.0
        Total for 2005 and 2006.................  ..............  ..............  ..............         3,468.0
Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours...........  ..............  ..............  ..............         1,734.0
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a Average expected number of children to be enrolled in the pilot per site. Expected enrollment ranges from 7 to
  60 across the 24 sites.
b Based on an estimated burden of 10 minutes per child per month.

    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, SW., Washington, DC 
20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Offices. E-mail address: 
[email protected]. 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 13, 2004.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-27583 Filed 12-16-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M