[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28307-28308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12801]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Formative Data Collections for ACF 
Program Support (New Collection)

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in 
the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to request 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a generic 
clearance to conduct a variety of formative data collections with more 
than nine respondents. These information collections would not be 
highly systematic or intended to be statistically representative or 
otherwise generalizable. ACF programs promote the economic and social 
well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. Many ACF 
program offices need to learn more about funded program services so 
that an understanding of program or grantee processes and potential for 
improvements can inform ACF decision-making and program support. 
Information collected under this generic would help address these 
needs.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. 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.

ADDRESSES: 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.
    Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by emailing 
[email protected]. Alternatively, copies can also be 
obtained 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. All 
requests, emailed or written, should be identified by the title of the 
information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: Information gathering for program support was 
originally described under the Formative Data Collections for ACF 
Research Generic Clearance (0970-0356), but is now being requested as a 
stand-alone generic clearance. A 60-day comment period was provided as 
part of the approval process for #0970-0356, which included description 
of information collections for program support. We are now providing a 
30-day comment period specific to this generic clearance for program 
support.
    The goals of the generic information collections under this 
approval are to obtain information about program and grantee processes 
or needs, and to inform the following types of activities, among 
others:
     Delivery of targeted assistance and workflows related to 
program implementation or the development or refinement of program and 
grantee processes, and the development and refinement of recordkeeping 
and communication systems.
     Planning for provision of programmatic or evaluation-
related training or technical assistance (T/TA).
     Obtaining grantee or other stakeholder input on the 
development of program performance measures.
     Use of rapid-cycle testing activities to strengthen 
programs in preparation for summative evaluation.
     Development of learning agendas and research priorities.
    ACF envisions using a variety of techniques such as semi-structured 
discussions, focus groups, surveys, templates, open-ended requests, and 
telephone or in-person interviews, in order to reach these goals.
    Following standard OMB requirements, OPRE will submit a change 
request for each individual data collection activity under this generic 
clearance. Each request will include the individual instrument(s), a 
justification specific to the individual information collection, and 
any supplementary documents. OMB should review requests within 10 days 
of submission.
    Respondents: Example respondents include: current or prospective 
service providers, training or technical assistance (T/TA) providers, 
grantees, contractors, current and potential participants in ACF 
programs or similar comparison groups, experts in fields

[[Page 28308]]

pertaining to ACF programs, key stakeholder groups involved in ACF 
projects and programs, individuals engaged in program re-design or 
demonstration development for evaluation, state or local government 
officials, or others involved in or prospectively involved in ACF 
programs.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Estimated
                                                     Estimated       number of    Average burden     Estimated
                 Instrument type                   total number    responses per     hours per     total burden
                                                  of respondents    respondent       response          hours
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Semi-Structured Discussions and Focus Groups....           2,000               1               2           4,000
Interviews......................................           1,000               1               1           1,000
Questionnaires/Surveys..........................           1,000           * 1.5              .5             750
Templates and Open-ended requests...............             250               1              10           2,500
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           8,250
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* We have estimated 1.5 responses to account for rapid cycle testing, which will require multiple responses.


    Authority: Social Security Act, Sec. 1110. [42 U.S.C. 1310].

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-12801 Filed 6-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-79-P