[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28623-28625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11719]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for the Impact 
Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program; New Collection

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the 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 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). This information collection request (ICR) consists of three 
follow-up surveys for youth who were randomly assigned to either a 
treatment group or control group. The surveys will be fielded 12-, 30- 
and 48-months after random assignment into the study groups. This 
package requests clearance for these follow-up surveys and related 
respondent materials.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addresses section below on or before July 16, 2012.

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). Email address: [email protected]. Fax 
number: (202) 693-2766 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild program is a 7-year 
experimental design impact evaluation funded by the ETA. This 
information collection covers the follow-up surveys administered to 
study participants at 12-, 30- and 48-months after random assignment. 
YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that addresses 
several core issues facing low-income communities: Available housing, 
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

[[Page 28624]]

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 social and emotional development. The 
evaluation represents an important opportunity for the Department 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, incarcerated, 
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 83 sites 
(60 Department-funded sites and 23 sites that did not receive Fiscal 
Year 2011 funding from the Department but did 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 4 years after random 
assignment.
    Data for the study will be collected from YouthBuild grantees and 
from study participants through the following methods:
    (1) Grantee Questionnaire and Site Visits. A grantee survey will 
provide information about the grantee sites that run individual 
YouthBuild programs. The grantee survey is 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 all 83 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.
    (2) 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.
    (3) Three Follow-up Surveys of Sample Group Members. Members of 
both the treatment and control groups will complete follow-up surveys 
at 12-, 30-, 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 youth follow-up 
surveys.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    Currently, the Department is soliciting comments concerning the 
youth follow-up survey 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, the Department is requesting clearance for the youth 
follow-up surveys.
    Type of review: New information collection request.
    Title: Impact Evaluation of the YouthBuild Program.
    OMB Number: 1205--0NEW.
    Affected Public: Low-income, disadvantaged youth and Department- 
and CNCS-funded YouthBuild Programs.
    Cite/Reference/Form/etc: Workforce Investment Act of 1998 Section 
172.
    a. Youth Follow-up Surveys:
    Frequency: Three times.
    Total Responses: 8,316 (= 2,772 youth x three surveys).
    Average Time per Response: 40 minutes per respondent for each 
response.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,544 hours (= 2,772 responses x 40 
minutes x three rounds).
    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

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included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR; they will also 
become a matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 8th day of May 2012.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2012-11719 Filed 5-14-12; 8:45 am]
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