[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27363-27365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11531]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) for the Impact 
Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program; Comment Request

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department or DOL), as part of 
its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, 
conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general 
public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) [44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to ensure that required data can be 
provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial 
resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, 
and

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the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly 
assessed.
    The Department notes that a Federal agency cannot conduct or 
sponsor a collection of information unless it is approved by the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) under the PRA and displays a currently 
valid OMB control number, and the public is not required to respond to 
a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Also, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no 
person shall be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a 
collection of information if the collection of information does not 
display a currently valid OMB control number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 
1320.6.
    A copy of the proposed ICR can be obtained by contacting the office 
listed below in the addresses section of this notice or by accessing: 
http://www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee section below on or before July 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Eileen Pederson, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy Development 
and Research, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Frances Perkins Bldg., Room 
N-5641, Washington, DC 20210, telephone number (202) 693-3647 (this is 
not a toll-free number); e-mail address is [email protected] and 
fax number is (202) 693-2766 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild program is a seven-year 
experimental design impact evaluation funded by DOL/ETA. This 
information collection covers the first year of the project. YouthBuild 
is a youth and community development program that addresses several 
core issues facing low-income communities: available housing, and youth 
education, employment and criminal behavior. The program primarily 
serves high school dropouts and focuses on helping them attain a high 
school diploma or general educational development, or GED, and teaching 
them construction skills geared toward career placement. The evaluation 
will measure core program outcomes including educational attainment, 
postsecondary planning, employment, earnings, delinquency and 
involvement with the criminal justice system, and youth social and 
emotional development. The evaluation represents an important 
opportunity for DOL to add to the growing body of knowledge about the 
impacts of ``second chance'' programs for youth who have dropped out of 
high school. Compared to peers who remain in school, high school 
dropouts are more likely to be disconnected from school and work, be 
incarcerated, be unmarried, and have children outside of marriage.
    The evaluation of the YouthBuild program will address the following 
research questions:
    Operation: How is YouthBuild designed in each participating site? 
What are the key implementation practices that affect how the program 
operates? How does the local context affect program implementation and 
the services available to members of the control group?
    Participation: What are the characteristics of youth who enroll in 
the study? How are these characteristics shaped by YouthBuild 
recruitment and screening practices?
    Impacts: What are YouthBuild's impacts on educational attainment, 
planning, and aspirations? What are YouthBuild's impacts on employment, 
earnings, and job characteristics? What are YouthBuild's impacts on 
crime and delinquency? What are the program's impacts on social-
emotional development, identity development, and self-regulation?
    Costs: How does the net cost per participant compare with the 
impacts the program generates?
    The evaluation study started in June 2010 and is scheduled to 
continue until July 2017. MDRC, the prime contractor, is working with 
Mathematica Policy Research and Social Policy Research Associates to 
design and implement the evaluation. The study includes a baseline 
information collection, a Web-based questionnaire and a Web-based 
survey of YouthBuild grantees, site-specific qualitative and cost data, 
and three mixed-mode (Web and computer-assisted telephone interviewing) 
surveys of youth that will take place 12, 30, and 48 months after 
random assignment.
    The target population for the study is out-of-school youth aged 16-
24, who are from low-income families; in foster care; offenders; 
migrants; disabled; or are children of incarcerated parents. Of the 
universe of YouthBuild programs, the study team will recruit 77 sites 
(60 DOL-funded sites and 17 sites that are not currently funded by DOL 
but do receive funding from the Corporation for National and Community 
Service [CNCS], referred to hereafter as CNCS-funded programs) and will 
seek to enroll 3,465 eligible participants into the study. Study 
participants will be randomly assigned to either the treatment group, 
which will be eligible for YouthBuild services, or to the control group 
which will not be eligible. Study participants will be followed for 
four years after random assignment.
    Data for the study will be collected from YouthBuild grantees and 
from study participants through the following methods:
    Grantee Questionnaire and Survey and Site Visits. A brief grantee 
questionnaire and subsequent grantee survey will provide information 
about the grantee sites that run individual YouthBuild programs. The 
questionnaire will be a mandatory component of grant awards for all 
DOL-funded and CNCS-funded YouthBuild programs funded in 2011, and will 
request general information about the staff and participants at each 
site. Information provided in this questionnaire will be used to inform 
selection of those grantees which will participate in the participant 
random assignment component of the evaluation. The grantee survey is 
also mandatory and will be administered after programs are fully 
operational. It will request detailed information about the services 
each program offers, including the frequency and location of particular 
services, as well as more in-depth information about the staff and 
participants. The information from the grantee survey will be used to 
support the implementation analysis and will assess how outcomes may 
vary across YouthBuild program models. As part of the implementation 
analysis, the evaluation team will conduct site visits to at least 60 
sites. These visits will include classroom observations to assess the 
quality of instruction, youth focus groups, and semi-structured in-
depth interviews with program staff and collect cost data to ascertain 
the cost of the program.
    Baseline Data Forms Completed by Sample Group Members. Prior to 
random assignment in the sites selected for this component of the 
study, all eligible youth participants will complete baseline data 
forms, which will include an Informed Consent Form, a Baseline 
Information Form, and a Contact Information Form. Taken together, these 
will provide participants with information about the study while 
collecting information for both future subgroup analysis and locating 
study participants during future study follow-ups.
    Three Follow-up Surveys of Sample Group Members. Members of both 
the treatment and control groups will complete follow-up surveys at 12, 
30,

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and 48 months following random assignment. These surveys will request 
information about the services that participants have received through 
YouthBuild and other community service providers, as well as 
information about their educational attainment, postsecondary planning 
and engagement, employment, earnings, delinquency and involvement with 
the criminal justice system, and social and emotional development.
    At this time, clearance is requested for the site selection 
questionnaire and grantee survey and the study participant baseline 
data forms. A future request will be submitted for the follow-up 
surveys, site visit protocols and cost data collection forms.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    Currently, DOL is soliciting comments concerning the above data 
collection for the Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild program. 
Comments are requested to:
    * 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;
    * Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    * Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    * Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who 
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of 
responses.

III. Current Actions

    At this time, DOL is requesting clearance for the three study 
participant enrollment forms--the informed consent form, the baseline 
information form, and the contact information form--as well as the 
initial Site Selection Questionnaire and subsequent Grantee Survey. A 
future request for comment (and OMB clearance) will be submitted for 
the site visit protocols, cost data forms and follow-up surveys.
    Type of review: New information collection request.
    Title of collection: Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program.
    OMB Control Number: 1205-0NEW.
    Affected Public: Low-income, disadvantaged youth and DOL- and CNCS-
funded YouthBuild programs.
    Cite/Reference/Form/etc: Workforce Investment Act Section 172.
    1. The Site Selection Questionnaire:
    Frequency: Once.
    Total Responses: 117 sites (all 2011 DOL-funded YouthBuild grantees 
and all 17 of the CNCS-funded grantees [excluding those which receive 
DOL funding]).
    Average Time per Response: 10 minutes per staff for each response.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19.5 (117 responses x 10 minutes).
    Total Burden Cost: $487.50 (19.5 hours x $25/hour).
    2. The study member enrollment forms:
    Frequency: Once.
    Total Responses: 3,465 study participants.
    Average Time per Response: 15 minutes per study participant.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 866.25 (3,465 participants x 15 
minutes each).
    Total Burden Cost: $6,280.31 (866.25 hours x $7.25/hour).
    3. The Grantee Survey:
    Frequency: Once.
    Total Responses: 117 sites (all 2011 DOL-funded YouthBuild grantees 
and all 17 of the CNCS-funded grantees [excluding those which receive 
DOL funding]).
    Average Time per Response: 30 minutes per staff for each response.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 58.5 (117 responses x 30 minutes).
    Total Burden Cost: $1,462.50 (58.5 hours x $25/hour).

Note that, due to rounding, the total amounts may differ from the sum 
of the components.
    Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 5th day of May, 2011.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2011-11531 Filed 5-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P