[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28352-28353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4584]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: building Strong Families (BSF) Demonstration and 
Evaluation--Implementation and Impact Study.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: This proposed information collection activity is for 
two types of data collections: (1) Interview and focus group protocols 
for use with program staff and couples enrolled in BSF programs and (2) 
a telephone survey to be administered (about 15 months after 
enrollment) to both partners of couples enrolled in the BSF research 
sample.

[[Page 28353]]

    These data collections are part of the BSF evaluation, which is an 
important opportunity to learn if well-designed interventions can help 
low-income couples develop the knowledge and relationship skills that 
research has shown are associated with healthy marriages. BSF programs 
will provide instruction and support to improve marriage and 
relationship skills and enhance couples' understanding of marriage. In 
addition, BSF programs will provide links to a variety of other 
services that could help couples sustain a healthy relationship (e.g., 
employment assistance). The BSF evaluation uses an experimental design 
that randomly assigns couples who volunteer to participate in BSF 
programs to a program or to a control group.
    The BSF evaluation has two parts, an implementation study and an 
impact study. For the implementation study, the BSF evaluation will use 
the interview and focus-group protocols to document how the programs 
worked and the experiences of staff and couples enrolled. For the 
impact study, the BSF evaluation will use telephone surveys to 
determine whether the BSF programs helped couples form healthier 
marriages.
    Respondents: for the implementation study, respondents will be BSF 
program managers and staff, couples who participated in the BSF group 
sessions, and couples who dropped out of the program or never 
participated in the BSF groups. Information from staff will be obtained 
in face-to-face interviews. Information from participating couples will 
be collected in focus groups. Non-participating couples and couples who 
dropped out of the program will be interviewed by phone. For the impact 
study, the respondents for the 15-month survey will be all couples in 
the BSF evaluation. They will be interviewed by telephone. Both types 
of information collection will take place over about a 24-month period.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                        Number of     responses per   burden hours    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response        hours
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                                              Implementation Study
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Staff interview protocol........................             126               1             1.5             189
Focus group protocol............................              70               1             1.5             105
Telephone interview protocol (non-participants/               84               1             .17              14
 dropouts)......................................
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                                                  Impact Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15-month Survey (females).......................           1,434               1             .91           1,305
15-month Survey (males).........................           1,434               1             .83           1,190
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours.........  ..............  ..............  ..............           2,803
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    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 11, 2006.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 06-4584 Filed 5-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M