[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 105 (Monday, June 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33189-33191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11731]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-7029-N-04]


60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: The Outcomes 
Evaluation of the Choice Neighborhoods Program

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and 
Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is 
seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the 
information collection described below. In accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested 
parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this 
notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: July 31, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: Anna P. Guido, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW, Room 4176, Washington, DC 20410-5000; telephone 202-402-5534 
(this is not a toll-free number) or email at [email protected] for a 
copy of the proposed forms or other available information. Persons with 
hearing or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna P. Guido, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20410; email Anna P. Guido at 
[email protected] or telephone 202-402-5535. This is not a toll-free 
number. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this 
number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 
(800) 877-8339.
    Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from 
Ms. Guido.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD is 
seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in 
Section A.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: The Outcomes Evaluation of the 
Choice Neighborhoods Program.
    OMB Approval Number: Pending.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: This 
request is for the collection of information for an outcomes evaluation 
of the Choice Neighborhoods Program (Choice). Choice leverages 
significant public and private dollars to support locally driven 
strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with distressed public 
or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to 
neighborhood transformation; local leaders, residents, and stakeholders 
come together to create and implement a plan that revitalizes 
distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding 
neighborhood. Launched in 2010, Choice provides direct investments 
through competitive grants targeted to neighborhoods marked by high 
rates of poverty with distressed public or HUD-assisted housing. Today, 
Choice remains one of HUD's primary tools to support planning and 
implementation efforts to catalyze redevelopment efforts in cities 
across the nation.
    Under contract with HUD's Office of Policy Development and 
Research, the Urban Institute (Urban) is conducting an evaluation of 
Choice, focusing on the neighborhoods that received grants in 2011 and 
2013: Quincy Corridor neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts; Woodlawn 
neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois; Iberville/Trem[eacute] neighborhood 
in New Orleans, Louisiana; Eastern Bayview neighborhood in San 
Francisco, California; Yesler neighborhood in Seattle, Washington; Near 
East Side neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio; South Norwalk neighborhood in 
Norwalk, Connecticut; North Central Philadelphia neighborhood in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Larimer/East Liberty neighborhood in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The overarching goal of the current 
evaluation is to understand the impact of the Choice program and the 
investment it brings, with an emphasis on understanding the first 
cohort of grantees, funded in 2011 and four additional grantees from 
the third cohort of grantees, funded in 2013.
    The evaluation will use qualitative and quantitative methods to 
answer the following overarching research question: Whether public and 
private dollars were successfully leveraged to (1) replace distressed 
public and

[[Page 33190]]

assisted housing with high-quality mixed-income housing that is well-
managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood, 
(2) improve outcomes for households in the target housing, including 
employment and income, health, and education, and (3) create the 
conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed 
neighborhoods to improve amenities and assets. The evaluation is a 
follow-up to an initial evaluation completed by Urban in 2016, and will 
employ analysis of administrative/secondary data, including HUD data, 
as well as primary data collection in the form of a large household 
survey of households living in the Choice sites, and interviews and 
observations from stakeholders regarding the Choice program. In total, 
Urban expects to field the survey to up to 2,388 Choice residents and 
contact 257 respondents for qualitative interviews. This information is 
necessary to evaluate Choice and to understand differences across 
sites, over time, in different types of HUD-assisted housing, by 
grantee type, and for different contextual conditions.
    Respondents: Residents who are living in Choice Neighborhoods 
(Choice) sites in the Quincy Corridor neighborhood in Boston, 
Massachusetts; Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois; Iberville/
Trem[eacute] neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana; Eastern Bayview 
neighborhood in San Francisco, California; Yesler neighborhood in 
Seattle, Washington; Near East Side neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio; 
South Norwalk neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut; North Central 
Philadelphia neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Larimer/
East Liberty neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as 
stakeholders who were, or remain, engaged with the Choice program. 
Stakeholders include the lead grantee, implementation leads for 
housing, people, and neighborhood pillars, HUD managers of Choice 
grants, city agency officials and staff, public housing and affordable-
housing property management staff, housing developers, early education 
providers, case management providers, other service providers, 
community and resident leaders, local police precinct commanders, and 
staff from local anchor institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,388 respondents to the household 
survey and 257 respondents to qualitative interviews.
    Estimated Time per Response: The survey is designed to be completed 
in 35 minutes. We expect qualitative interviews to last 1 hour with 30 
minutes of preparatory time needed per interview for review of 
materials related to the Choice Neighborhoods program.
    Frequency of Response: 1 time.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,385 burden hours for the 
household survey and 385.5 burden hours for the qualitative interviews.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $23,545.68 for the household survey 
and $13,836.48 for the qualitative interviews.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: The survey is conducted under Title 12, United 
States Code, Section 1701z and Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44, U.S.C., 35, as amended.

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                                             Number of     Frequency of   Responses  per    Burden hour    Annual burden    Hourly cost
         Information collection             respondents      response          annum       per response        hours       per response        Cost
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Household survey........................           2,388               1               1             .58           1,385          $17.00      $23,545.68
Interviews with resident leaders........               5               1               1             1.5             7.5           17.00          127.50
Interviews with High-level informants:                45               1               1             1.5            67.5           42.30        2,855.25
 Lead grantees, City officials and staff
Interviews with HUD staff...............              18               1               1             1.5              27           75.82        2,047.14
Interviews with housing informants:                   54               1               1             1.5              81           35.39        2,866.59
 Housing implementation lead, Housing
 developers, Public housing and
 affordable-housing property management
 staff..................................
Interviews with people informants:                    72               1               1             1.5             108           23.92        2,583.36
 People implementation lead, Case
 management staff, Other service
 providers..............................
Interviews with Neighborhood informants:              63               1               1             1.5            94.5           35.52        3,356.64
 Implementation lead, Local police
 precinct commanders,...................
Local anchor institution staff,
 Community leaders......................
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................           2,645  ..............  ..............  ..............         1,770.5  ..............       37,382.16
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[[Page 33191]]

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

    This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected parties concerning the collection of information described in 
Section A on the following:
    (1) 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) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to 
these questions.

Authority

    Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35.
    The Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Seth 
Appleton, having reviewed and approved this document, is delegating the 
authority to electronically sign this document to submitter, Nacheshia 
Foxx, who is the Federal Register Liaison for HUD, for purposes of 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Dated: May 27, 2020.
Nacheshia Foxx,
Federal Register Liaison for the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
[FR Doc. 2020-11731 Filed 5-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P