[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 46 (Friday, March 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10766-10767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1101]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Evaluation of the Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) 
Program.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments, as 
reauthorized (2006), amended Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 629-629e) providing funding for nonprofit agencies that recruit, 
screen, train, and support mentors for children with an incarcerated 
parent or parents. The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) of the 
Administration for Children and Families, United States Department of 
Health and Human Services, administers the Mentoring Children of 
Prisoners (MCP) program. The MCP program provides children of prisoners 
with caring adult mentors, supporting one-to-one mentoring 
relationships. Research in other populations has shown that such 
relationships can lead to reductions in risk behaviors and improvements 
in academic, behavioral and psychological outcomes in children and 
youth. Although the MCP program was developed based on research 
documenting the efficacy of mentoring as a general intervention 
strategy, it is not yet known whether or not this particular 
intervention yields positive outcomes for the children of prisoners 
population. Little is known about how mentoring relationships work for 
these youth, and how effective mentoring relationships for children of 
prisoners differ from effective mentoring relationships for other 
youth. In addition, little is known about children of prisoners in 
general and thus a survey of MCP program youth has the potential to 
provide important data about this relatively unstudied population.
    The evaluation and data collection proposed in this notice are to 
fulfill the statutory requirement under Section 8, subsection h(1) of 
the Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006, as amended, that 
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services evaluate 
outcomes of the MCP program and report to Congress on the findings. The 
proposed data collections will support a study of the MCP program that 
measures the program's child outcomes and compares these outcomes in 
similar programs. The data collection also will provide general 
information about youth in the program. Finally, the study will include 
an administrative survey of grantees participating in the study. The 
proposed study will include baseline and follow-up surveys (to be 
administered approximately 12 months apart) of youth ages 9-16 in the 
MCP program and will compare changes in key behaviors for program youth 
against changes in behaviors of similar youth not enrolled in mentoring 
programs. By comparing changes for youth in the MCP program against 
changes for youth not in the program, we will be able to determine if 
MCP youths' behaviors are closer to the norm for their age group at 
follow-up than at program intake. If MCP youths' behaviors and outcomes 
are shown to improve relative to other groups, the MCP program has

[[Page 10767]]

demonstrated the potential for positive impacts. The survey also will 
include some general informational questions about youth in the study 
so that HHS, policy makers, and practitioners can have a greater 
understanding of the life circumstances of these youth and of some of 
the challenges they may face.
    The youth surveys will focus on measuring both attitudinal and 
behavioral changes in areas targeted by the MCP program including 
attitudes towards and performance in school; relationships with 
parents, peers and teachers; self-esteem; and engagement in a variety 
of risk behaviors, including alcohol and drug use and physical 
violence. They also will include questions about the living situations 
of youth in the study, their relationships with both incarcerated and 
non-incarcerated caregivers, and their relationships with other 
supportive adults in their communities.
    The administrative survey of grantees will include questions about 
the programmatic structure of each grantee. It will provide information 
about variations in program administration, mentor activities, and 
youth served.
    Respondents: Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) grantees and 
non-MCP mentoring organizations.
    Annual Burden Estimates:

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                                                                   Number of     Average burden
                  Instrument                       Number of     responses per     hours per       Total burden
                                                  respondents     respondent        response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student Baseline Survey.......................             625               1               .5            312.5
Student follow-up Survey......................             500               1               .5            250
Grantee Survey................................              72               1              1               72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 634.5.
    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, FAX: 202-395-
6974, Attn: Desk Officer for ACF.

    Dated: March 5, 2007.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-1101 Filed 3-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-07-M