[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50452-50453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20704]


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

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-19-19BQB; Docket No. CDC-2019-0081]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled Public Health Accreditation Board 
(PHAB): Assessment of Processes and Outcomes. This proposed collection 
aims to learn about program processes and the accreditation/
reaccreditation standards to improve the program's quality, and to 
document program outcomes to demonstrate impact and inform decision 
making about future program direction.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before November 25, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2019-
0081 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:

[[Page 50453]]

    1. 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;
    2. 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;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. 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, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB): Assessment of Processes 
and Outcomes--New--Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial 
Support (CSTLTS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to 
protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign, 
and in the U.S. CDC strives to fulfill this mission, in part, by 
supporting state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) health 
departments. One mechanism for supporting STLT health departments is 
through CDC's support of a national, voluntary accreditation program.
    CDC supports the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a non-
profit organization that serves as the independent accrediting body. 
PHAB, with considerable input from national, state, tribal, and local 
public health professionals, developed a consensus set of standards to 
assess the capacity of state, tribal, local, and territorial health 
departments. The first health departments were accredited by PHAB in 
early 2013; as of August 2019, a total of 268 health departments (36 
state, three Tribal and 229 local), as well as one statewide integrated 
local public health department system have been accredited. 
Accreditation is granted for a five-year period and the first several 
health departments have successfully completed the reaccreditation 
process. Formal efforts to assess the outcomes of the accreditation 
program began in late 2012, and continue to date. Priorities focus on 
gathering feedback for program improvement and documenting program 
outcomes to demonstrate impact and inform decision making about future 
program direction. Starting in 2012 and running through December 2019, 
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the social science 
organization NORC at the University of Chicago, led evaluation efforts. 
CDC will assume support of the evaluation starting in 2020 and as a 
result, OMB approval for data collection is being sought.
    The purpose of this ICR is to support the collection of information 
from participating health departments through a series of five surveys. 
The surveys seek to collect longitudinal data on each health department 
throughout their accreditation process.
    The respondent universe will include STLT health department 
directors or designees. All surveys will be administered 
electronically; a link to the survey website will be provided in the 
email invitation. The surveys will be administered on a quarterly basis 
and sent to all health departments that reach each milestone in the 
accreditation process (application, recently accredited, accredited for 
one year, approaching reaccreditation, and reaccreditation). Each 
health department will be invited to participate in each survey once 
(for a total of five surveys max per health department). The total 
annualized estimated burden is 100 hours. There are no costs to 
respondents except their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STLT HD Directors or Designee.  Survey 1:                     60               1           20/60              20
                                 Applicants.
STLT HD Directors or Designee.  Survey 2:                     60               1           20/60              20
                                 Recently
                                 Accredited HDs.
STLT HD Directors or Designee.  Survey 3: HDs                 60               1           20/60              20
                                 Accredited One
                                 Year.
STLT HD Directors or Designee.  Survey 4: HDs                 60               1           20/60              20
                                 Approaching
                                 Reaccreditation.
STLT HD Directors or Designee.  Survey 5:                     60               1           20/60              20
                                 Reaccredited
                                 HDs.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-20704 Filed 9-24-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P