[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 97 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 29315]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10122]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Evaluation 42-
Month Survey.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The proposed information collection is for follow-up 
information within the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) 
Evaluation that is sponsored by the Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.\1\ 
The ERA project is a multi-year evaluation that is designed to study 
the net impact and cost-benefits of programs designed to help Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, former recipients, or 
families at-risk of needing TANF retain and advance in employment.\2\ 
The ERA Evaluation involves 15 random assigment experiments in eight 
states, testing a diverse set of strategies. The ERA project will 
generate rigorous data on the implementation, effects, and costs of 
these alternative approaches. The data collected as part of the 42-
month survey will be used for the purposes described below.
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    \1\ The U.S. Department of Labor has also provided funding to 
support the ERA project.
    \2\ From the Department of Health and Human Services RFP No.: 
105-99-8100.
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     The survey data will allow for the analysis of ERA 
programs' impacts on a wider range of outcome measures than is 
available through welfare or Unemployment Insurance administrative 
records in order to more fully understand how individuals were affected 
by such programs. This will include outcomes such as length of job 
retention; job quality; educational attainment; household composition; 
employment barriers (such as child care, health status, and 
transportation); health insurance coverage; income; wealth, debt, and 
consumption; hardship (such as food insecurity); and children well-
being.
     The data will allow for the conduct of non-experimental 
analyses to explain participation decisions and provide a descriptive 
picture of the circumstances of low-wage workers.
     The survey will address participation information 
important to the evaluation's cost-benefit component.
    Respondents: The respondents of the 42-month survey are TANF 
applicants, current and former TANF recipients, or individuals in 
families at-risk of needing TANF benefits (working poor and hard-to-
employ) who are in the research sample in a subset of the 15 programs 
participating in the ERA Evaluation. Survey participants will be 
administered a telephone survey approximately 42 months after the date 
they were enrolled in the research sample and randomly assigned to the 
treatment or control group. For those individuals who cannot be reached 
by phone, survey firm staff will attempt to contact them in person. A 
total of approximately 3,500 participants will complete the survey over 
a 2-year period (1,750 respondents annually).

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                          Number of
             Instrument                  Number of      responses per     Average burden hours     Total burden
                                        respondents       respondent          per response            hours
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42-Month Survey.....................           1,750                1   30 minutes (or .50 hrs)          875.0.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 875.0.
    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. All requests should be identified by the title of the 
information collection. E-mail address: [email protected].
    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, Attn: Desk 
Officer for ACF. E-mail address: [email protected].

    Dated: May 16, 2005.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-10122 Filed 5-19-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M