[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30718-30720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13701]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Behavioral Interventions To Advance 
Self-Sufficiency Next Generation (BIAS-NG) (0970-0502)

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), U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) requests Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval to modify the previously approved pilot generic 
clearance (0970-0502) 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. Interventions have been and will 
continue to be developed in the program area domains of Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare, and this 
revision

[[Page 30719]]

would also allow for collection of data in the Early Head Start/Head 
Start program area. These interventions are intended to improve 
outcomes for participants in these programs.

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: OPRE is conducting the Behavioral Interventions to 
Advance Self-Sufficiency Next Generation (BIAS-NG) project. This 
project uses behavioral insights to design and test interventions 
intended to improve the efficiency, operations, and efficacy of human 
services programs. The BIAS-NG project is applying and testing 
behavioral insights to ACF programs including TANF and Child Welfare, 
and intends to expand these efforts to Early Head Start/Head Start. 
This notice is a revision to a previously approved collection, which 
included data collection to design and test interventions in the TANF 
and Child Welfare domains. Under the approved pilot generic clearance, 
OPRE plans to work with approximately six sites, and will conduct one 
or more tests per site, for a total of approximately 9 tests of 
behavioral interventions. At least one of these sites will be in the 
newly added program area of Head Start/Early Head Start. The design and 
testing of BIAS-NG interventions is rapid and, to the extent possible, 
iterative. Each specific intervention is designed in consultation with 
agency leaders and launched as quickly as possible. 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 more quickly iterate and adjust 
the intervention design, informing subsequent tests. Due to the rapid 
and iterative nature of this work, OPRE sought and received generic 
clearance to conduct this research. Following standard OMB requirements 
for generic clearances, once instruments requiring burden are tailored 
to a specific site and the site's intervention, OPRE submits an 
individual generic information collection request under this umbrella 
clearance. Each request includes 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 includes up to two 
submissions: One submission for the formative stage research and 
another submission for any further data collection requiring burden 
during the testing phase. The type of information to be collected and 
the uses of the information is described in the supporting statements, 
found here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=201707-0970-005.
    This Notice is specific to expanding the program area domains to 
include Early Head Start/Head Start, in addition to the previously 
approved domains of Child Welfare and TANF.
    Respondents: (1) Program Administrators, (2) Program Staff and (3) 
Program Clients.

                                             Total Burden Estimates
                                            [TANF, CW, Third Domain]
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                                    Previously
                                     approved      Total number      Number of    Average burden   Total burden
           Instrument               respondents   of respondents   responses per     hours per    hours with 3rd
                                   for TANF and   (TANF, CW, EHS/   respondent       response         Domain
                                        CW              HS)
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                                              Diagnosis and Design
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Administrator interviews/focus                24              48               1               1              48
 groups.........................
Staff interviews/focus groups...              48             378               1               1             378
Client interviews/focus groups..              48             348               1               1             348
Client survey...................             600             840               1             .25             210
Staff Survey....................             120             144               1             .25              36
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                                                   Evaluation
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Administrator interviews/focus                48              96               1               1              96
 groups.........................
Staff interviews/focus groups...              96             756               1               1             756
Client interviews/focus groups..              96             696               1               1             696
Client survey...................           6,000          10,800               1             .25           2,700
Staff Survey....................             120             600               1             .25             150
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[[Page 30720]]

    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,418.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 1310.

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-13701 Filed 6-26-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-07-P