[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 98 (Tuesday, May 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23572-23573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10526]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Next 
Generation (BIAS-NG).
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) 
in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services (HHS) requests Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval for a 3-year pilot generic clearance to collect 
data as part of rapid cycle testing and evaluation, in order to inform 
the design of interventions informed by behavioral science and to 
better understand the mechanisms and effects of such interventions. 
These interventions, which will be in the program area domains of 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare, are 
intended to improve outcomes for participants in these programs.
    OPRE plans to conduct the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-
Sufficiency Next Generation (BIAS-NG) project. This project will use 
behavioral insights to design and test interventions intended to 
improve the efficiency, operations, and efficacy of human services 
programs. The BIAS-NG project will apply behavioral insights to a range 
of ACF programs including TANF, Child Welfare, and other program areas 
to be determined. This notice is specific to data collection with TANF 
and Child Welfare sites; when and if the project desires to work in 
other program areas, OPRE will publish a Federal Register notice 
allowing for public comment and will submit a new information 
collection request for that work. Under this pilot generic clearance, 
OPRE plans to work with approximately six sites to conduct 
approximately two tests per site, for a total of approximately 12 tests 
of behavioral interventions.
    The design and testing of BIAS NG interventions will be rapid and 
iterative. Each specific intervention will be designed in consultation 
with agency leaders and launched quickly. To maximize the likelihood 
that the intervention produces measurable, significant, positive 
effects on outcomes of interest, rapid cycle evaluation techniques will 
be employed in which proximate outcomes will be measured to allow the 
research team to rapidly iterate and adjust the intervention design, 
informing subsequent tests. Due to the rapid and iterative nature of 
this work OPRE seeks generic clearance to conduct this research. 
Following standard OMB requirements for generic clearances, once 
instruments are tailored to a specific site and the site's 
intervention, OPRE will submit an individual generic information 
collection request under this umbrella clearance. Each request will 
include the individual instrument(s), a justification specific to the 
individual information collection, a description of the proposed 
intervention, and any supplementary documents. Each specific 
information collection will include two submissions: First, a 
submission for the formative stage research and second, a submission 
for the test and evaluation materials. In this notice we describe the 
types of information expected to be collected for each test and the 
expected burden.
    To ensure maximal relevance to the domain areas selected (i.e., 
Child Welfare and TANF), the project has identified a set of broad 
problems that affect entire domain areas rather than problems that are 
idiosyncratic to a particular program. In each of the approximately six 
sites with which the project will work under this clearance, 
interventions will be designed and tested using an approach called 
behavioral diagnosis and design which will involve determining how 
identified problems operate within each site's specific context, 
diagnosing behavioral reasons for those problems, designing 
interventions informed by behavioral insights, and rigorously testing 
the interventions. Information will be collected throughout this 
process. The information that will be collected is specific to each of 
the sites, will not be collected indefinitely, and is not intended to 
be interpreted as applicable to other sites or to other programs. In 
addition, in working with the project to design the behavioral 
interventions to be tested, some sites may decide to change what data 
they collect and/or the questions they ask the public to answer. Such 
decisions will be controlled by the sites, not by the project.
    In order to define and diagnose program challenges and design 
appropriate interventions, OPRE plans to conduct interviews and focus 
groups with administrators, staff, and/or clients in each of the 
approximately six sites. OPRE will field client and/or staff surveys in 
order to hear from a breadth of perspectives. In addition to 
interviews, focus groups, and surveys, OPRE anticipates observing 
program activities and reviewing documents and administrative data. 
This information will be critical to diagnosing where and why programs 
are facing challenges and which behavioral interventions may have an 
impact.
    During the testing phase OPRE anticipates conducting mixed-methods 
evaluations consisting of implementation, impact, and cost research for 
the approximately two tests in each of the approximately six total 
sites that will be engaged across the two program areas included under 
this clearance, TANF and Child Welfare (for a total of 12 tests). To 
better understand how the intervention is being implemented and its 
effects, OPRE anticipates conducting interviews and focus groups with 
program administrators, staff, and/or clients in each site. Because not 
all outcomes of interest (for example, improved understanding of and/or 
satisfaction with the foster parent recruitment process) are reflected 
in administrative records, OPRE anticipates conducting client surveys 
and staff surveys.
    Interest in participating in BIAS-NG is expected to be high, and it 
is not expected that systematic recruitment of sites will be necessary. 
Within each site, we do not intend to do any active recruitment as all 
those who are eligible will be enrolled in the study and randomization 
will be conducted using a list of those who meet the eligibility 
criteria. Findings from these tests will be publicized through multiple 
dissemination channels, which may include but are not limited to 
reports on individual tests, a final synthesis report, presentations at 
conferences and meetings, scholarly journal articles, webinars, social 
media, press outreach, newsletters, etc.
    Respondents: (1) Program Administrators (2) Program Staff and (3) 
Program Clients.

[[Page 23573]]



                                               Total Burden Hours
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                                                   Total  number     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                           of         responses per   burden  hours   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per  response       hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagnosis and Design Phase:
    Administrator interviews/focus groups.......              24               1               1              24
    Staff interviews/focus groups...............              48               1               1              48
    Client interviews/focus groups..............              48               1               1              48
    Client survey...............................             600               1             .25             150
    Staff Survey................................             120               1             .25              30
Evaluation Phase:
    Administrator interviews/focus groups.......              48               1               1              48
    Staff interviews/focus groups...............              96               1               1              96
    Client interviews/focus groups..............              96               1               1              96
    Client Survey...............................           6,000               1             .25           1,500
    Staff survey................................             120               1             .25              30
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,070 hours.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families 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 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC 
20201, 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 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.

Mary Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-10526 Filed 5-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-07-P