[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 23 (Friday, February 3, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5853-5854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1011]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

    Title: Follow-Up Study of Issues Affecting the Duration of Child 
Care Subsidy Use.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: Child care subsidies provide an important benefit to 
low-income working families, offering them increased access to forms of 
child care that would otherwise be beyond their means. However, recent 
research suggests that, for many families, this benefit may be short-
lived or unstable. There are many possible explanations for these 
patterns, and the explanations may be different for different types of 
families.
    Recognizing that information about the reasons for short subsidy 
duration would be helpful to States, the Child Care Bureau has funded 
Abt Associates Inc. to conduct a two-State investigative study on the 
duration and use of child care subsidies. This study will, in the short 
term, provide States with information to shape or modify their child 
care subsidy procedures. In addition, the study will generate 
hypotheses that could be systematically tested in later research.
    The study will examine the use of child care subsidies by 840 
families in Illinois and 840 in Oregon. In each State, the sample will 
be a representative sample of current Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF) families and non-TANF families--all of whom apply and 
are approved for subsidies and who use them for at least one month. 
Families will be contacted by telephone approximately nine months after 
they began using subsidies and will be asked to participate in the 
study. If they agree, a 45-minute telephone interview will

[[Page 5854]]

ensue immediately or will be scheduled. It is expected that, after the 
nine months, over half of the families will no longer be using 
subsidies. Patterns of subsidy use prior to and during the study period 
will be tracked through State administrative data.
    The parent telephone interview will include questions about 
parents' employment, subsidy status and experience, child care usage, 
and changes in household composition over the nine-month period. 
Although the analyses will rely heavily on identification of trigger 
events, the survey will include questions about other less tangible 
considerations that may have influenced the duration of parents' 
subsidy use. Telephone interviews will be conducted using Computer-
Assisted-Telephone Interviewing (CATI). Responses are voluntary and 
confidential.
    The study will also analyze State administrative data on all 
families who are approved for subsidies during the recruitment period 
for the study. This will allow the researchers to assess the 
generalizability of the smaller sample of families recruited for the 
study.
    No existing data sources can provide all the information needed to 
complete the Follow-Up Study of Issues Affecting the Duration of Child 
Care Subsidy Use. These data will help the Child Care Bureau and States 
to better understand reasons for short child care subsidy duration.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                                  Average burden
                                                     Number of       Number or       hours per     Total burden
                   Instrument                       respondents    responses per     response          hours
                                                                    respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois parent survey..........................             840               1             .75             630
Oregon parent survey............................             840               1             .75             630
                                                 -----------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:........  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,260
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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 
Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, 
SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. 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 sue 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: January 30, 2006.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 06-1011 Filed 2-2-06; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M