[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 47050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-4110]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Proposed Projects:
    Title: National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being--Second 
Cohort (NSCAW II).
    OMB No.: 0970-0202.
    Description: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
intends to collect data on a new sample of children and families for 
the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). The 
NSCAW was authorized under Section 427 of the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996. The original survey 
began in November 1999 with a national sample of 5,501 children, ages 
0-14, who had been the subject of investigation by Child Protective 
Services during the baseline data collection period, which extended 
from November 1999 through April 2000. Direct assessments and 
interviews were conducted with the children themselves, their primary 
caregivers, their caseworkers, and, for school-aged children, their 
teachers; agency directors also were interviewed at baseline. Follow-up 
data collections were conducted 12 months, 18 months, and 36 months 
post-baseline, and a fifth data collection is currently under way.
    The NSCAW is the only source of nationally representative, 
firsthand information about the functioning and well-being, service 
needs, and service utilization of children and families who come to the 
attention of the child welfare system. Information is collected about 
children's cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral, and adaptive 
functioning, as well as family and community factors that are likely to 
influence their functioning. Family service needs and service 
utilization also are addressed in the data collection.
    The current data collection plan calls for selecting a new cohort 
of 5,700 children and families and repeating the data collection 
procedures used in the original study. Selection of a new cohort will 
allow the comparison of characteristics of children who are entering 
the child welfare system today with those who entered prior to the 
implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act and prior to the 
advent of the Child and Family Services Review process. The data 
collection will follow the same format as that used in previous rounds 
of data collection, and will employ, with only modest revisions, the 
same instruments that have been used in previous rounds.
    Currently, HHS intends to collect baseline data and one follow-up 
18 months later, with future follow-up rounds contingent on funding 
availability. Data from NSCAW are made available to the research 
community through licensing arrangements from the National Data Archive 
on Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University.
    Respondents: 5,700 Children and their associated permanent or 
foster caregivers, caseworkers, and teachers; in addition, an 
administrator will be interviewed in each location from which children 
are sampled.

                                             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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Child Interview.................................           5,700               1            1.2            6,840
Permanent Caregiver Interview...................           3,800               1            2.0            7,600
Foster Caregiver Interview......................           1,990               1            1.5            2,985
Caseworker Interview............................           5,700               1            1.0            5,700
Teacher Questionnaire...........................           3,000               1             .75           2,250
Agency Questionnaire............................              97               1            1.0               97
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 25,472.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 506(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 use 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: August 15, 2007.
Brendan C. Kelly,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-4110 Filed 8-21-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-07-M