[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 236 (Monday, December 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 69696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-5978]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) Demonstration and 
Evaluation Project: 12-month Follow-up and Implementation Research Data 
Collection.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services, is conducting a demonstration and 
evaluation called the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) project. SHM is 
a test of marriage education demonstration programs in eight separate 
locations that will aim to enroll up to 1,000 couples per location, up 
to 500 couples participating in SHM programs and 500 control group 
couples.
    SHM is designed to inform program operators and policymakers of the 
most effective ways to help low-income married couples strengthen and 
maintain healthy marriages. In particular, the project will measure the 
effectiveness of marriage education programs by randomly assigning 
eligible volunteer couples to SHM program groups and control groups.
    This data collection request includes three components. First, a 
survey will be administered to couples 12 months after they are 
enrolled in the program. The survey is designed to assess the effects 
of the SHM program on marital status and stability, quality of 
relationship with spouse, marital expectations and ideals, marital 
satisfaction, participation in services, parenting outcomes, child 
outcomes, parental well-being, employment, income, material hardship, 
and social support characteristics of study participants assigned to 
both the program and control groups. Second, survey data will be 
complemented by videotaped observations of couple, co-parenting, and 
parent-child interactions with a subset of intact and separated couples 
at the 12-month follow-up. Third, qualitative data will be collected 
through a process and implementation study in each of the eight SHM 
demonstration programs across the country.
    These data will complement the information gathered by the SHM 
baseline data collection (OMB Control No. 0970-0299). The information 
collected at the 12-month follow-up will allow the research team to 
examine the effects of SHM services on outcomes of interest and to 
identify mechanisms that might account for these effects. The process 
and implementation research will consist of a qualitative component 
that will help ACF to better understand the results from the impact 
analysis as well as how to replicate programs that prove to be 
successful.
    Respondents: Low-income married couples with children.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Number of    Average burden     Estimated
                   Instrument                    Annual  number   responses per    hours  per     annual burden
                                                 of respondents    respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12-month survey................................          10,240               1            0.83          8,499.2
12-month observational study (intact couples)..           3,200               1            0.68          2,176
12-month observational study (separated                     160               1            0.17             27.2
 couples)......................................
12-month observational study (children of                 1,600               1            0.33            528
 intact couples)...............................
12-month observational study (children of                   160               1            0.17             27.2
 separated couples)............................
The process and implementation field research               504               1            1               504
 guide.........................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,761.6.

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 the Administration for Children and Families.

    Dated: November 29, 2007.
Brendan C. Kelly,
OPRE Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-5978 Filed 12-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M