[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 49760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19805]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Evaluation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: In the fall of 2011, the Administration for Children 
and Families (ACF) within the US Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) significantly expanded its accountability provisions 
with the implementation of the Head Start Designation Renewal System 
(DRS). The DRS is designed to identify which Head Start and Early Head 
Start grantees are providing high quality, comprehensive services to 
the children and families in their communities. Where they are not, 
grantees are denied automatic renewal of their grant and must apply for 
continuing funding through an open competition process. Determinations 
are based on seven conditions designed to measure service quality, 
program operational quality, and fiscal and internal integrity.
    The ACF is proposing to conduct an evaluation of the DRS. The 
purpose of the evaluation is to understand if the DRS is working as 
intended, as a valid, reliable, and transparent method for identifying 
high-quality programs that can receive continuing five-year grants 
without competition and as a system that encourages overall program 
quality improvement. It also seeks to understand how the system is 
working, the circumstances in which it works more or less well, and the 
contextual, demographic, and program factors and program actions 
associated with how well the system is working. The study will employ a 
mixed-methods design that integrates and layers administrative and 
secondary data sources, observational measures, and interviews to 
develop a rich knowledge base about what the DRS accomplishes and how 
it does so.
    Respondents: Head Start program directors; other program managers 
including grantee agency directors, center directors, and education 
services coordinators; Head Start teachers; and members of Head Start 
governing bodies and local policy councils.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Instrument (appendix)        Total number    Annual number   responses per     hours per     Annual burden
                                  of respondents  of respondents    respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quality Measures Follow Up                   560             280               1            0.4              112
 Interview: Teachers............
Quality Measures Follow Up                   300             150               1            1.85             278
 Interview: Center Directors....
Quality Measures Follow Up                    70              35               1            1.1               39
 Interview: Program Directors...
DRS Telephone Interview: Program              35              18               1            1.25              23
 Directors......................
DRS In-Depth Interview: Agency                15               8               1            1                  8
 Directors......................
DRS In-Depth Interview: Program               15               8               1            1.5               12
 Directors......................
DRS In-Depth Interview: Policy                75              38               1            1.5               57
 Council/Governing Body.........
DRS In-Depth Interview: Program               45              23               1            1.5               35
 Managers.......................
Competition In-Depth Interview:               18               9               1            1.25              12
 Agency and Program Directors...
Competition In-Depth Interview:               45              23               1            1.5               35
 Policy Council/Governing Body..
Competition In-Depth Interview:               27              14               1            1.5               21
 Program Managers...............
Competition Data Capture Sheet..             500             250               1            0.15              38
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 670.
    Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained by 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. All 
requests should be identified by the title of the information 
collection. Email 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, Email: [email protected], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for 
Children and Families.

Robert Sargis,
ACF Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-19805 Filed 8-14-13; 8:45 am]
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