[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75437-75439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30686]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program.
    OMB No.: 0970-0394.
    Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing data 
collection activities as part of the Health Profession Opportunity 
Grants (HPOG) program. ACF has developed a multi-pronged research and 
evaluation approach for the HPOG program to better understand and 
assess the activities conducted and their results. The proposed data 
collection activities described in this notice will provide data for 
three evaluation components, the National Implementation Evaluation of 
the Health Profession Opportunity Grants to Serve TANF Recipients and 
Other Low-Income Individuals (HPOG-NIE) and the Impact Studies of the 
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG-Impact), and the Innovative 
Strategies for Increasing Self Sufficiency (ISIS) evaluation.
    Two data collection efforts related to HPOG research were approved 
by OMB, including approval of a Performance Reporting System (PRS) 
(approved September 2011) and for collection of additional baseline 
data for the HPOG-Impact study (approved October 2012). One data 
collection of ISIS was approved (November 2011) and follow up data 
collection instruments are currently under review.
    This 60-day notice describes the remaining data collection efforts 
for both HPOG-NIE and HPOG-Impact. Two of the proposed instruments will 
collect data from all of the ISIS sites. Information collection 
described under 1 through 9 will be included in the next OMB submission 
for review. Information collections 10 through 14 will be submitted in 
a future information collection clearance request.
    The goal of HPOG-NIE is to describe and assess the implementation, 
systems change, and outcomes and other important information about the 
operations of the 27 HPOG grantees focused on TANF recipients and other 
low-income individuals. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to 
collect data about the HPOG program designs and implementation, HPOG 
partner and program networks and indicators of systems change, 
employers' perceptions of HPOG programs, the composition and intensity 
of HPOG services received, participant characteristics and HPOG 
experiences, and participant outputs and outcomes.
    The goal of HPOG-Impact is to evaluate the effectiveness of 
approaches used by 20 of the HPOG grantees to provide TANF recipients 
and other low[hyphen]income individuals with opportunities for 
education, training and advancement within the health care field. HPOG-
Impact also is intended to evaluate variation in participant impact 
that may be attributable to different HPOG program components and 
models. The impact study design is a classic experiment in which 
eligible applicants will be randomly assigned to a treatment group that 
is offered participation in HPOG and a control group that is not 
permitted to enroll in HPOG. Data collected from the HPOG participants 
served by these 20 grantees will also be used for the HPOG-NIE study.
    The goal of ISIS is to test a range of promising career pathways 
strategies to promote education, employment, and self-sufficiency. 
Three HPOG grantees are in the ISIS evaluation along with 6 additional 
non-HPOG sites.
    The information collection activities to be submitted in the next 
request package include:
    (1) The HPOG-NIE sample frame questionnaire will ask respondents 
from each of the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantees to identify and 
provide contact information for potential respondents to the surveys 
described in items 2-4.

[[Page 75438]]

    (2) The HPOG-NIE grantee survey will be administered to staff of 
the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantees and their major collaborators. 
The survey will collect information about the HPOG program context and 
about program administration, activities and services.
    (3) The HPOG-NIE survey of HPOG program management and staff will 
collect information from HPOG staff in the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG 
grantee sites about their approaches to delivering key program services 
and activities, as well as beliefs and attitudes about the HPOG program 
and mission and priorities in serving its target population.
    (4) The HPOG-NIE stakeholder/network survey will collect 
information about partner organizations' and stakeholders' roles, 
responsibilities, levels of investment, and perceptions of the 
viability and productivity of the program and stakeholder network in 
all 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantee sites and the 6 additional non-
HPOG ISIS sites.
    (5) The HPOG-NIE employer survey will collect information about 
employers' perceptions of the overall healthcare labor market, firm-
specific conditions and hiring practices, and their perceptions of and 
experience with the program in all 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantee 
sites and the 6 additional non-HPOG ISIS sites.
    (6) HPOG-Impact in-person implementation interviews with HPOG 
personnel will collect information about the grantees' rationale for 
applying for HPOG funding, administrative challenges, and challenges 
implementing programs as planned, as well as information about staff 
roles and responsibilities and perceptions of the program. The study 
will use the interviews to supplement and validate sections of the 
HPOG-NIE grantee survey (described above) in the 27 TANF and low-income 
HPOG grantee sites.
    (7) HPOG-Impact additional in-person implementation interviews with 
HPOG personnel at systematic variation grantees will collect 
information about the implementation of HPOG program components that 
may be associated with variation in participant impacts in the 27 TANF 
and low-income HPOG grantee sites.
    (8) The HPOG-Impact follow-up survey of both treatment and control 
group members will be administered approximately 15 months after 
baseline data collection and random assignment. The survey will collect 
data about outcomes of interest, including certifications and 
educational achievements, job placement, wages, and benefits. It also 
will collect some information about HPOG participants' tenure and 
experience in HPOG programming in all 20 HPOG Impact sites.
    (9) The HPOG-NIE supplemental participant follow-up survey will be 
the same as the instrument developed for the HPOG-Impact follow-up 
survey but will be administered to participants from the four HPOG 
grantees focused on TANF recipients and other low[hyphen]income 
individuals that are not included in the HPOG-Impact study or the 
Innovative Strategies for Increasing Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project.
    Data collection activities to submit in a future information 
collection request include: (10) The HPOG-NIE follow-up stakeholder/
network survey; (11) the HPOG-Impact second follow-up survey of both 
treatment and control group members; (12) the HPOG-NIE second 
supplemental participant follow-up survey; (13) HPOG-Impact follow-up 
data collection on children of HPOG-Impact study participants; and (14) 
the HPOG-NIE in-person interviews with HPOG managers and staff.
    Respondents: Individuals enrolled in HPOG interventions; control 
group members; HPOG program managers; HPOG program staff, including 
instructors and case managers; representatives of partner agencies and 
stakeholders, including support service providers, education and 
vocational training providers, Workforce Investment Boards, TANF 
agencies, and local health care employers.

                                        Annual Response Burden Estimates
                         [This information collection request is for a two-year period]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of    Average burden
           Instrument              Total number    responses per     hours per     Total burden    Annual burden
                                  of respondents    respondent       response          hours           hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. HPOG-NIE sample frame                      54               1            4                216             108
 questionnaire..................
2. HPOG-NIE grantee survey......             135               1            0.67              90              45
3. HPOG-NIE survey of HPOG                   540               1            0.5              270             135
 program management and staff...
4. HPOG-NIE stakeholder/network              610               1            0.5              305             153
 survey.........................
5. HPOG-NIE employer survey.....             244               1            0.5              122              61
6. HPOG-Impact in-person                     216               1            1                216             108
 implementation interviews with
 HPOG personnel.................
7. HPOG-Impact additional in-                100               1            1                100              50
 person implementation
 interviews with HPOG personnel
 at systematic variation
 grantees.......................
8a. HPOG-Impact follow-up survey           3,416               1             .75            2562            1281
 of HPOG participants...........
8b. HPOG-Impact follow-up survey            1708               1            0.5              854             427
 of control group members.......
9. HPOG-NIE supplemental                     600               1            0.75             450             225
 participant follow-up survey...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Annual Response Burden Hours: 2,593.
    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506 (c) (2) (A) of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children 
and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services, 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 in writing to 
the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, 
Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., Washington, DC 
20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Email 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

[[Page 75439]]

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.

Robert Sargis,
ACF Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-30686 Filed 12-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-09-P