[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 141 (Thursday, July 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43796-43798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18076]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request for Information Collection for the National 
Guard Youth ChalleNGe Job ChalleNGe Evaluation, New Collection

ACTION: Notice

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested 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 is properly assessed. A copy of 
the proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) can be obtained by 
contacting the office listed in the addressee section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before September 21, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either one of the following 
methods: Email: [email protected]; Mail or Courier: Molly 
Irwin, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-2312, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Molly Irwin by telephone at 202-693-
5091 (this is not a toll-free number) or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is one of a handful of 
interventions that have demonstrated positive, sustained impacts on the 
educational attainment and labor market outcomes of youth who are not 
in school or the labor force. The goal of Youth ChalleNGe, a 
residential program, is to build confidence and maturity, teach 
practical life skills, and help youth obtain a high school diploma or 
GED. The program's numerous activities address its eight core pillars: 
Leadership/followership, responsible citizenship, service to community, 
life-coping skills, physical fitness, health and hygiene, job skills, 
and academic excellence.
    To build on the success of Youth ChalleNGe, the Employment and 
Training Administration issued $12 million in grants in early 2015 for 
three Youth ChalleNGe programs to: (1) Expand the program's target 
population to include youth who have been involved with the courts and 
(2) add an occupational training component, known as Job ChalleNGe. The 
addition of the Job ChalleNGe component will expand the residential 
time by five months and offer the following activities: (1) Occupation 
skills training, (2) individualized career and academic counseling, (3) 
work-based learning opportunities, and (4) leadership development 
activities.
    The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Job ChalleNGe Evaluation, funded 
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Chief Evaluation Office, will help 
policymakers and program administrators determine the impacts of 
expanding Youth ChalleNGe to court-involved youth and adding the Job 
ChalleNGe component to the existing Youth ChalleNGe model. The study 
will evaluate how these program

[[Page 43797]]

enhancements are implemented and how effective they are, both for youth 
overall and for court-involved youth in particular. The study will 
address four research questions: (1) How were the programs 
implemented?, (2) What impacts did Youth ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe 
have on the outcomes of participants?, (3) To what extent did 
participation in Job ChalleNGe change the overall impact of Youth 
ChalleNGe on program participants?, and (4) To what extent did impacts 
vary for selected subpopulations of participants?
    The first research question will be addressed through an 
implementation study of the three grantee demonstrations. The remaining 
three questions will be addressed through an impact study of the Youth 
ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe programs. For the impact study, the 
feasibility of using randomized controlled trials to estimate program 
effectiveness will be assessed; if needed, a comparison group of youth 
from Youth ChalleNGe sites that did not receive grants will be included 
in the study. Only youth who agree to participate in the study will be 
allowed to participate in the Youth ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe 
programs at the grantees included in the study; active consent will be 
obtained from youth 18 years of age or older and from a parent or 
guardian of youth under the age of 18.
    This Federal Register Notice provides the opportunity to comment on 
two proposed data collection instruments that will be used in the 
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Job ChalleNGe evaluation:
    (1) Baseline Information Form (BIF). A BIF will be included in the 
Youth ChalleNGe application packet and completed by youth. The form 
will collect demographic information as well as baseline measures of 
major outcome variables, including: Current employment, past 
delinquency, expectations about future education, work experience and 
other topics, and detailed contact information.
    (2) Site visit protocols. Site visits will occur twice. The first 
will occur early in the study period and will collect information about 
grantees' plans and procedures, the backgrounds and experiences of 
youth served, the nature of employers' involvement in the programs, and 
other topics. The second visit will occur later in the grant and 
evaluation periods and will collect information on whether and how 
plans and activities for the Youth ChalleNGe and Job ChalleNGe programs 
have changed since the first visit.
    A future information collection request will include an 18-month 
follow up survey of youth in the Job ChalleNGe treatment and control or 
comparison groups.

II. Review Focus

    Currently, DOL is soliciting comments concerning the above data 
collection for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Job ChalleNGe 
Evaluation. DOL is particularly interested in comments that do the 
following:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate of 
the proposed information collection, 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 collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology (for example, 
permitting electronic submissions of responses).

III. Current Actions

    At this time, DOL is requesting clearance for the BIF and the site 
visit protocols.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Title: National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Job ChalleNGe Evaluation.
    OMB Number: OMB Control Number 1205-0NEW.

                                          Estimated Total Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                    Number of       Number of       burden time    Total burden
                  Respondents                      respondents    responses per    per response        hours
                                                                    respondent       (minutes)
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                                           Baseline Information Forms
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Youth..........................................         a 4,050               1               15           1,013
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                                                  Site Visits b
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Visit 1:
    Staff......................................           c 113               1               60             113
    Employers..................................               3               1               60               3
    Participants...............................              42               1               60              42
Visit 2:
    Staff......................................           c 104               1               30             104
    Employers..................................               6               1               60               6
    Participants...............................              42               1               60              42
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        Total..................................           4,360  ...............  ..............           1,323
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a This corresponds to 2,700 treatment and 1,350 control group youths across the Youth ChalleNGe and Job
  ChalleNGe programs in the study.
b This is based on visits to three sites.
c Some respondents will participate in interviews that last more than 1 hour. Therefore, the table provides an
  upper estimate of the number of separate respondents.

    Affected Public: Youth applying for and/or participating in the 
Youth ChalleNGe program and the Job ChalleNGe program; Youth ChalleNGe 
and Job ChalleNGe program and partner staff; and employers.
    Form(s): Total respondents: 4,050 youth; 113 program and partner 
staff, and 9 employers.

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    Annual Frequency: One time for the BIF, one time for each site 
visit.
    Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and 
Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also 
become a matter of public record.

    Dated: July 13, 2015.
Marybeth Maxwell,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2015-18076 Filed 7-22-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-HX-P