[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 103 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30047-30050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12795]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Study

AGENCY: Office of Head Start.

ACTION: Notice of Public Comment.

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SUMMARY: The following Notice of Public Comment is in response to 
Section 649(f) Sub-Section (3) of the 2007 Head Start School Readiness 
Act (the Act) requiring the Secretary to publish in the Federal 
Register a plan of how the Secretary will carry out

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section 649 Sub-Section (f) Sub-Paragraph (1) and shall provide a 
period for public comment.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before 60 days after this notice is published.
    To Comment on This Document, or for Further Information Contact: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Improving Head Start for 
School Readiness Act of 2007, Public Law 110-134, Section 649 [42 
U.S.C. 9801]--Sub-Section 649(h)(1)(A-B), notice is hereby given of a 
plan to conduct a set of activities designed to focus on the Migrant 
and Seasonal Farmworker Head Start-eligible population. As required by 
the Act, the Secretary shall work in collaboration with providers of 
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
the Secretary of Labor, the Bureau of Migrant Health, and the Secretary 
of Education to undertake the activities addressed in this notice. The 
notice is required to present: (1) A plan to ``collect, report, and 
share data, within a coordinated system, on children of migrant and 
seasonal farmworkers and their families, including health records and 
educational documents of such children, in order to adequately account 
for the number of children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers who are 
eligible for Head Start services and determine how many of such 
children receive the services;'' (2) a plan to ``identify barriers that 
prevent children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers who are eligible 
for Head Start services from accessing Head Start services;'' and (3) 
``develop a plan for eliminating such barriers, including certain 
requirements relating to tracking, health records, and educational 
documents, and increasing enrollment.''

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) Plans

    (1) Collaboration across Federal agencies in order to adequately 
account for the number of children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers 
who are eligible for Head Start services and determine how many of such 
children receive the services.
    Interagency Meetings. On December 5, 2008, ACF convened a meeting 
of representatives from the United States (U.S.) Department of 
Education (ED), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of 
Migrant Education; the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and 
Training Administration; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), 
Office of Migrant Health; the HHS Administration for Children and 
Families, Office of Head Start (OHS), Migrant and Seasonal Head Start, 
and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. The purpose of the 
meeting was to engage these agencies in discussing their efforts in 
collecting, reporting, and sharing data and lessons learned to enhance 
coordination among agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels. 
This meeting resulted in the organization of a series of Interagency 
Roundtables on Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers.
    The Roundtables will look at:
     Data collection efforts affecting migrant and seasonal 
farmworker children and their families, including efforts to maintain 
and coordinate their health and education records: How are data efforts 
pursued and maintained? How are data collected and reported? What are 
the lessons learned from previous attempts at coordinating data 
collection efforts?
     Accounting for the number of eligible children/workers, as 
well as the number of children/workers who receive services: How do 
various organizations identify gaps in their services? How can these 
approaches be improved? and
     Identifying barriers that prevent eligible migrant and 
seasonal farmworkers and their families from accessing migrant and 
seasonal services: How can these barriers be reduced, ameliorated or 
eliminated?
    After a first planning meeting with agencies involved, the first 
Roundtable was held in April 2009 and focused on the Department of 
Education's Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) and the 
Department of Labor's National Agricultural Worker's Survey (NAWS). The 
second half of the day involved active discussions between the Federal 
representatives, addressing the topical questions in light of the 
presented information. An additional meeting was held on March 17, 
2010.

Systematic Data Collection: Accounting for the Number of Children 
Eligible

    Farmworkers are eligible for MSHS services based on mobility, 
employment, age of the children, and income. For the eligibility of 
migrants, the family must be primarily engaged in agricultural work and 
have changed geographical locations within the past 24 months in 
pursuit of agricultural work. For seasonal farmworkers eligible for 
MSHS, the parents must be primarily engaged in farmwork but need not 
have changed geographical locations within the past 24 months. For both 
migrant and seasonal farmworkers, acceptable farmwork includes 
production and harvesting of tree and field crops. Production and 
harvesting of tree and field crops include preparing the soil, 
planting, cultivating, picking, packing, canning, and processing. 
Agricultural work that supports the crop production such as irrigation, 
crop protection, and operation of farm machinery are also included. 
Production and harvesting of greenhouse and nursery products may also 
be included. Eligible children range in age from newborn up to 
compulsory school age. Income requirements for families are based on 
poverty guidelines updated annually in the Federal Register by the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services. The income of migrant and 
seasonal eligible families must be primarily derived from agricultural 
work.
    As OHS has been asked to account for the total number of MSHS-
eligible children, it reviewed the data collection resources of other 
Federal agencies that are also currently serving or observing migrant 
and seasonal farmworkers. These included the Enumeration Studies of 
Migrant Health; Reports of Migrant Health Clinics; Data Transferring 
Efforts of Migrant Education; and the National Agricultural Workers 
Survey (NAWS) of the Department of Labor.
    The methodology of the Enumeration Profiles (Larson Assistance 
Services, Vashon Island; 1990; 2001; 2002) was very individualized per 
State and involved intensive effort. The results presented estimates of 
the number of farmworkers within a State and, when possible, by county 
and across age groups. The resulting profile estimations were based on 
secondary data analyses and the opinions of invested experts; the 
validity and reliability of the information was therefore undermined by 
the inherent variations in quality and quantity of data from State to 
State.
    There are 154 Federally funded migrant health center (MHC) 
entities, sponsored by the Office of Migrant Health, that collectively 
operate more than 500 satellite service sites that comprise a loosely 
knit network of independent organizations serving migrant and seasonal 
farmworkers. Their annual reports present the national and State number 
of farmworkers served by the clinic sites: http://bphc.hrsa.gov/uds/2007data/National/migrant/NationalTable3Amhc.htm. However, 
methodological and definitional issues currently undermine the 
possibility of using Migrant Health Clinic data to

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account for numbers of MSHS-eligible nationally. The HRSA definition of 
farmworkers eligible for service is similar to the MSHS definition in 
terms of the types of farmwork allowable and the mobility requirements. 
However, HRSA does not require the whole family to engage in 
agricultural work or to change geographical location in order to 
receive services. Methodologically, programs do not consistently share 
data across sites, so the cumulative count of individuals served may 
include workers who are counted more than one time as they migrate for 
work. Further, information about the entire family is not reported for 
each individual, so siblings that might be eligible for MSHS are not 
identified. Finally, migrant clinics are scattered across the U.S., but 
their distribution does not necessarily reflect a geographically 
representative profile of farmworkers in the U.S.
    Migrant Education of ED uses an extensive network of recruiters to 
actively identify eligible students in each area. The Migrant Education 
program uses a data transferring system to coordinate records across 
schools for children of migrant farmworkers. Again, definitional and 
methodological issues reduce the usefulness of these data for 
identifying the number of MSHS-eligible nationally. Migrant Education 
services are available for children who traveled with their families 
within the past three years for purposes of a family member's temporary 
or seasonal employment with agricultural, fishing, farming or logging. 
Further, Migrant Education recruiters are primarily interested in 
identifying eligible three-year-olds through high school aged. Given 
these definitions, the number of children eligible for Migrant 
Education will differ markedly from those eligible for MSHS.
    OHS also reviewed an additional established methodology for 
accounting for the national population of migrant and seasonal 
farmworkers: The National Agricultural Worker's Survey (NAWS). NAWS is 
a national, random sample survey of crop farmworkers in the continental 
U.S. that is housed at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The data is 
collected directly from agricultural workers, on an annual basis, using 
field survey methods. Estimates and data from this effort have been 
used by HRSA, Migrant Education, and DOL-Farmworkers Job Programs.
    Topics covered by NAWS have included farmworker work histories and 
tasks, as well as health and housing. The survey methodology is 
complex, with sampling occurring three times per year to capture 
seasonal and geographic variations in the farmworker population. NAWS 
interviewers travel to randomly selected counties, contacting an annual 
sample of approximately 500 agricultural employers to obtain 
cooperation for the survey. At the randomly selected agricultural 
establishments, interviewers draw a random sample of farmworkers and 
then administer the questionnaire. DOL calculates estimates of each 
State's share of the Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers population based on a 
formula that includes several data sources, including the Census of 
Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Quarterly 
Agricultural Labor Survey and NAWS. Strengths and weaknesses of each of 
these datasets are outlined in Steirman, Kissam, and Nakamoto, 1998.
    Estimating the national number of eligible MSHS children using NAWS 
data is a multi-step process. The first step is to calculate a size 
estimate for the national farmworker population (typically done using 
either the USDA Farm Labor Survey or the USDA Census of Agriculture). 
The second step is to identify the percent of the farmworker population 
eligible for MSHS and the average number of infant through pre-school 
aged children per family (using three-year averages of NAWS data 
regarding percentages of farmworker families meeting eligibility 
requirements). From steps one and two, it is possible to estimate the 
national average of eligible migrant and seasonal children. To further 
refine these numbers to agricultural regions, it is necessary to 
incorporate data regarding the proportion of farmworkers within each 
region (USDA Farm Labor Survey), and multiply the national average of 
eligible by these proportions.
    Upon review of these methods, the NAWS methodology was identified 
as an established, carefully designed, large scale approach to 
estimating numbers of agricultural workers nationally and by 
agricultural regions. Beginning in February 2008, ACF partnered with 
DOL to use this established survey to gather a national estimate of 
MSHS-eligible children (both migrant and seasonal). Estimates for seven 
multi-state agricultural regions will also be calculated. In June 2009, 
the results from the pilot year of NAWS will be made available to OHS 
for review and discussion. Further minor refinement of the NAWS-MSHS 
questions will be ongoing, to ensure that children who match to the 
MSHS definition of eligible can be accurately identified.

Additional Systematic Data Collection: Design for MSHS Survey

    A team of researchers, led by CDM, Inc., contracted in September 
2007, to design the methodology for an MSHS Survey. The plans will 
detail multiple options for gathering descriptive data at varied levels 
of the MSHS organization (i.e., program, center, staff, children and/or 
families). The development activities included gathering of insight and 
suggestions from program staff, administrators and families who are 
currently or previously served by MSHS. Topics that could be addressed 
by the survey and the methods outlined for gathering the data have been 
substantially shaped and refined by this input from program 
stakeholders. After completion of the contract and review by ACF 
leadership, the report for the Design for MSHS Survey project will be 
placed online in late 2010.
(1) A Plan To Identify Obstacles and Barriers
    Focus Groups. As a first step in developing a plan to identify 
barriers, ACF consulted with MSHS advocates, grantees, families and 
researchers attending the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth Annual Migrant 
and Seasonal Head Start Conferences in Washington, D.C. Potential 
themes regarding obstacles and barriers will be explored by providing 
venues that will allow opportunities for comment by key stakeholders. 
These discussions will be used to seek examples of high-quality 
recruitment and outreach efforts, details of families' and programs' 
perceptions of barriers, and potential solutions for reducing or 
eliminating barriers. The information gained through these venues is 
being analyzed and will be made available to Federal partners, Migrant 
and Seasonal Head Start grantees, and advocacy groups for comment and 
validation.
    Efforts for additional discussions with stakeholders are 
continually explored.

Systematic Data Collection: Identification of Obstacles and Barriers

    As discussed extensively above, the NAWS is a national, random 
sample survey of crop farmworkers in the continental U.S. that is 
housed at DOL. Beginning in February 2008, ACF partnered with DOL to 
pilot a questionnaire supplement to NAWS, aimed at families with 
children under the age of six. The questionnaire supplement asks about:
     Child care options used by the parents in recent months,
     Reasons for those choices,
     Parents' knowledge of MSHS,

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     Families' participation in MSHS, and
     Any perceived obstacles to participation.
    The resulting information can be collected for multiple cycles of 
NAWS data, identifying potential issues in various agricultural regions 
over the course of the seasons. If continued for multiple years, it 
should be possible to identify trends in farmworker family child care 
use for their young children and family perceptions of MSHS.

Systematic Data Collection: Incorporation of Related Questions in 
Design of MSHS Survey

    The design options for the MSHS Survey will include components that 
OHS could use to gather information regarding obstacles and barriers. 
Possible routes identified thus far include record reviews that could 
provide insight (e.g., review of local community needs assessments and 
program recruitment methods); gathering staff and parent opinions 
regarding obstacles and barriers to MSHS participation; or direct 
interviews with community partners and local advocacy organizations. 
The design contract will illuminate methodological and logistical 
considerations for collecting these types of data, and will be useful 
as OHS considers future data collection strategies.
(1) A Plan for Eliminating Identified Barriers and for Increasing 
Enrollment of Eligible Children
    Based on the information obtained from the Migrant and Seasonal 
Roundtables, and input from MSHS grantees, families, researchers, and 
private organizations involved in advocating for Migrant and Seasonal 
families, ACF will develop a plan that will articulate barriers 
identified through (1) and (2) above, propose methods for dealing with 
them that are within ACF's legislative purview, and incorporate methods 
that require action by other Federal agencies or statutory changes. The 
plan for eliminating identified barriers will form the basis for a 
strategy to increase the enrollment of eligible children in MSHS, as 
appropriate.

    Dated: May 21, 2010.
Yvette Sanchez Fuentes,
Director, Office of Head Start.
[FR Doc. 2010-12795 Filed 5-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-40-P