[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 37 (Friday, February 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8108-8110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03762]


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

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Evaluation of Strategies Used in TechHire and 
Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) Grant Programs

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Chief Evaluation 
Office, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL), 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). 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.
    Currently, DOL is soliciting comments concerning the collection of 
data about the Evaluation of Strategies Used in TechHire and SWFI Grant 
Programs. A copy of the proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) 
can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee 
section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee section below on or before April 24, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either one of the following 
methods:
    Email: [email protected]; Mail or Courier: Christina 
Yancey, Chief Evaluation Office, OASP, U.S. Department of Labor, Room 
S-2312, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. Instructions: 
Please submit one copy of your comments by only one method. All 
submissions received must include the agency name and OMB Control 
Number identified above for this information collection. Comments, 
including any personal information provided, become a matter of public 
record. They will also be summarized and/or included in the request for 
OMB approval of the information collection request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina Yancey by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), in collaboration with the 
Employment and Training Administration (ETA), of DOL seeks to build 
evidence about effective approaches to prepare Americans with skills 
and connect them to well-paying, middle- and high-skilled, and high 
growth jobs in H-lB industries (such as IT, healthcare, advanced 
manufacturing, financial services, and broadband). There is a 
particular interest in learning about approaches to serving populations 
and individuals who have traditionally faced barriers to training and 
employment opportunities such as youth and young adults, parents with 
childcare needs, individuals with disabilities, individuals with 
limited English proficiency, and individuals with criminal records. The 
evaluation will advance the evidence on innovative approaches being 
used to meet these goals in the TechHire Partnership (TechHire) and 
Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) grant programs. The 
evaluation will include two components, an implementation study and an 
impact study.
    The goal of the impact study is to provide rigorous evidence on the 
effectiveness of strategies used in the TechHire and SFWI grant 
programs. The impact study will consist of both a randomized controlled 
trial (RCT) and a quasi-experimental design (QED) evaluation. 
Approximately five grantees will be selected to participate in an RCT. 
The QED will include all 53 TechHire and SWFI grantees and use the 
pooled RCT control group as the comparison group using propensity score 
matching. The QED will collect data from an existing wage record data. 
It will also use data from the implementation study (described below)

[[Page 8109]]

in an effort to analyze how variation in program impacts correlates 
with implementation factors.
    A key goal of the implementation study is to provide systematic 
information on all of the grantees and link the findings to impacts. 
For all 53 grantees, the implementation study will review grantee 
applications, conduct web-based surveys with grantees and partners, and 
conduct semi-structured telephone interviews with grantees and 
partners. Additionally, for the grantees in the RCT, the implementation 
study will include two rounds of field visits involving a mix of 
observations, interviews, and case file reviews. This will provide 
critical context for understanding the impact findings from the RCT.
    In January 2018, OMB approved the baseline data collection for this 
evaluation (OMB 1290-0014), which includes a baseline information form 
(BIF), a 6-month follow-up participant survey, a participant tracking 
form, and a first round of site visit interviews. This Federal Register 
Notice provides the opportunity to comment on the following proposed 
data collection instruments that will be used in the implementation 
component of the evaluation:
    * Grantee Survey. The survey will be administered to all 53 
TechHire and SWFI grantees in 2018. The purpose of the survey is to 
collect uniform information on implementation status and a variety of 
program characteristics to support implementation analysis of the grant 
programs.
    * Partner Contact Information Form. Contact information and level 
of involvement for each partner will be collected from grantees in a 
partner contact information form. This information will be used to 
build the list of partners and their contact information for the 
partner survey.
    * Partner Survey. The survey will be administered to all partners 
of all 53 TechHire and SWFI grantees in 2018. The survey will explore 
the strength of relationships between the partners in the TechHire and 
SWFI grant programs. The survey will collect information on partner 
roles and responsibilities, sustainability plans, and implementation 
challenges and lessons learned.
    * Telephone Interview With Grantees. Within approximately 6 months 
after the grantee survey, the evaluation team will conduct semi-
structured telephone interviews with each grantee. The protocol will be 
used to learn about challenges, successes, and barriers to 
implementation that are difficult to obtain using a survey.
    * Telephone Interview With Partners. Within approximately 6 months 
after the partner survey, the evaluation team will conduct semi-
structured telephone interviews partners of a subset of grantees. The 
protocol will be used to learn about the degree of engagement and 
successful strategies that are difficult to obtain using a survey.
    * Site Visit Interviews for Second Round of Site Visits. During a 
second round of implementation site visits to the grantees in the RCT, 
the evaluation team will conduct in-depth interviews with program staff 
and partners. The site visit interview guide will collect information 
on implementation status, changes in implementation during random 
assignment, and degree of coordination. The site visit interview guide 
will be modular and collect information based on the grantee and/or 
partner staff knowledge and role.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    Currently, DOL is soliciting comments concerning the above data 
collection for the Evaluation of Strategies Use in the TechHire and 
SWFI programs. DOL is particularly interested in comments that do the 
following:
     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.
     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 submission of responses.

III. Current Actions

    At this time, DOL is requesting clearance for the implementation 
site visit protocols, the focus group protocols, and a grantee survey. 
A future information collection request will include an 18-month 
participant follow-up survey.
    Type of Review: New information collection request.
    OMB Control Number: 1290--0NEW.
    Affected Public: TechHire and SWFI grantees and partners.

                                             Estimated Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Average burden
                                   Total number    Annual number     Number of       time per        Estimated
     Information collection       of respondents  of respondents   responses per     response      annual burden
                                                                    respondent        (hours)          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grantee survey..................              53              18               1               1              18
Grantee telephone interview \a\.             159              53               1               1              53
Partner contact information form              53              18               1               1              18
Partner survey \b\..............             960             320               1              .5             160
Partner telephone interview \c\.             106              35               1               1              35
Site visit interview guide for                90              30               1               1              30
 second round of site visits \d\
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................           1,421             474  ..............  ..............             314
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Assumes 53 grantees and 3 respondents per grantee for (53 x 3) = 159 total respondents and (159/3) = 53
  annual respondents.
\b\ Assumes 1,200 partners and an 80 percent response rate for (1,200/.80) = 960 total respondents and (960/3) =
  320 annual respondents.
\c\ Assumes 53 partners and 2 respondents per partner for (53 x 2) = 106 total respondents and (53/2) = 35.33
  annual respondents.
\d\ Assumes 5 grantees and 10 grantee staff and 8 partner staff for each grantee for (5 x (10 + 8)) = 90 total
  respondents and (90/3) = 30 annual respondents.

    Comments submitted in response to this 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.


[[Page 8110]]


    Dated: February 16, 2018.
Molly Irwin,
Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2018-03762 Filed 2-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-HX-P