[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16382-16383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6227]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5123-N-09]


Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment on 
the Final Evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity Program

AGENCY: Office of the Policy Development and Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department 
is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES: Comments Due Date: June 4, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: Reports Liaison Officer, Office 
of Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 8234, Washington, DC 20410.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd M. Richardson, Program Evaluation 
Division, Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 8140, Washington, DC 
20410-5000. Call (202) 402-5706 (this is not a toll-free number) or 
[email protected] for copies of the proposed forms and other 
available documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department will submit the proposed 
information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended). This Notice 
is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology (e.g., permitting electronic submission 
of responses).
    This Notice also lists the following information:
    Title of Proposal: Final Evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity 
(MTO) Program.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: This 
request is for the clearance of several survey instruments for the 
Final Evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) demonstration 
program. Authorized by Congress in the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1992, MTO is a unique experimental research 
demonstration designed to learn whether moving from a high-poverty 
neighborhood to a low-poverty neighborhood significantly improves the 
social and economic prospects of poor families. Families living in high 
poverty public and assisted housing in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los 
Angeles and New York who applied for MTO were randomly assigned into 
two treatment groups and one control group between 1994 and 1998. 
Families assigned to the treatment groups were provided Section 8 to 
allow them to move out of the high poverty developments. Families in 
one of the

[[Page 16383]]

treatment groups received intensive mobility counseling and were 
required to lease a unit in a neighborhood with less than ten percent 
poverty. The other treatment group families could lease a unit wherever 
they chose, but only received the normal housing authority counseling. 
Those families assigned to the control group did not receive any 
Section 8 assistance but continued to receive project-based assistance.
    This data collection is necessary to measure impacts and mediators 
approximately 10 to 14 years after families were randomly assigned to 
the two treatment groups and the control group. The data are planned to 
be collected for the following primary outcome domains: housing 
mobility and assistance; neighborhoods and social networks, adult 
education, employment and earnings; household income and cash 
assistance; adult, youth, and child physical and mental health; youth 
and child emotional and social well-being, including delinquency and 
risky behavior; and youth and child educational performance.
    Interviews are estimated to be completed for 3,900 adult heads of 
household using the adult interview guide and approximately 5,800 youth 
between the ages of 10 and 20 using the youth interview guide. The 
youth and children noted above will be administered a math and reading 
achievement assessment. Subject to final decisions by the research team 
and HUD, as well as Institutional Review Board approval, the interviews 
will also include collection of biomarker data via finger pricks to 
obtain dried blood spots of MTO participants. All interviewers and 
testing will be conducted in-person or on the telephone by interviewers 
using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) or computer-
assisted telephone interviewing software to directly input the data 
into a computer. Incentive payments will be made to respondents 
participating in this survey in order to ensure a high response rate. 
Data gathered will be used by the National Bureau of Economic Research 
to prepare a report to HUD on the long-term impacts of MTO. Subject to 
maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of respondents, the data 
collected will also be used by academics and HUD policy analysts to 
further explore what specific neighborhood mediating factors contribute 
to the neighborhood impact on outcomes for families and children. The 
information will be used by HUD and Congress to guide future housing 
policy in many areas, including housing mobility assistance and the 
location and concentration of assisted housing.
    OMB Control Number: Pending approval.
    Agency form numbers: None.
    Members of Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Estimation of the total number of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
response, and hours of response: 3,900 adults at 75 minutes; 5,800 
youth with 45 minute survey and 45 minute achievement test. One-time 
response, total 12,910 reporting burden hours.
    Status of the proposed information collection: New.

    Authority: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended.

    Dated: March 29, 2007.
Darlene F. Williams,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
 [FR Doc. E7-6227 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
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