[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45432-45433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16259]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-20-20QO; Docket No. CDC-2020-0084]


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.

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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 ``Pilot Implementation of the 
Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in the United 
States.'' This study is designed to conduct a pilot implementation of 
the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in the United 
States, which CDC has conducted in 24 countries globally.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before September 28, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-
0084 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:
    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 using 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

    Pilot Implementation of the Violence Against Children and Youth 
Survey (VACS) in the United States--New--National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Violence against children is a global human rights violation that 
spans every country worldwide and affects a billion children each year. 
In the U.S., many youths are the victims of multiple forms of violence 
and abuse. An estimated 10 million children in the U.S. have 
experienced child abuse and neglect. Each day, about a dozen youth are 
victims of homicide and more than 100 times that number (~1,400) are 
treated annually in emergency rooms for physical assault injuries. 
Youth are also involved in high levels of peer violence, which is one 
of the leading causes of death for people ages 10-24. A body of 
research has shown that the impact of violence against children goes 
far beyond the initial incident, and that those who have experienced 
emotional, physical, and sexual violence can experience severe short to 
long-term health and social consequences. Given the serious and lasting 
impact on children, it is critical to understand the magnitude and 
nature of violence against children in order to develop effective 
prevention and response strategies. Currently, data to guide state and 
local violence prevention and response efforts in the U.S. are quite 
limited. While some studies have provided information on the risks and 
impact on violence against children, they are mostly limited in scale 
and cannot be generalized to the scope of violence against youth across 
the U.S. or for specific regions.
    VACS is a methodology which CDC has conducted in 24 countries 
globally to measure the magnitude of physical, sexual, and emotional 
violence against children as well as associated risk and protective 
factors. VACS have contributed to research throughout the world, 
demonstrating the high prevalence of violence against children

[[Page 45433]]

in a variety of countries and cultures, and have proven to be critical 
tools that can fill data gaps in ways that are vital to informing 
strategic planning and evidence-based public health efforts in many 
countries. However, VACS have not been implemented in the U.S., and the 
existing representative datasets of violence against youth in the U.S. 
have significant limitations that prevent the data from being 
actionable for prevention planning by public health departments at the 
local level. VACS in the U.S. will help fill this gap with rigorous 
probability-based estimates of the problem of youth violence combined 
with an internationally tested approach to embed the VACS survey into 
the local strategic planning process of local public health partners.
    The present project will implement a pilot testing for the adapted 
VACS survey and methodology in two contexts: (1) A representative 
sample of 13-24 year old youth in Baltimore and (2) a convenience 
sample of 13-24 year old youth in rural Garrett County, Maryland to 
test the VACS in-person methodology in a rural location. The proposed 
study will pilot test the adaptation of the VACS for use in a domestic 
context, using a representative sample of youth in urban Baltimore and 
a convenience sample of youth in rural Garrett County, Maryland. Data 
will be collected through in-person probability-based household 
surveys, which will be conducted using a combination of interviewer-
administration and Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview Software on 
tablets. Data will be analyzed using statistical software to account 
for the complexity of the survey design to compute weighted counts, 
percentages, and confidence intervals using probability-based survey 
data at the local level. The findings from this pilot study will be 
used primarily to better understand the feasibility and effectiveness 
of implementing VACS in the U.S., which will ultimately determine the 
magnitude of violence against children and underlying risk and 
protective factors in order to make recommendations to national and 
international agencies and non-governmental organizations on developing 
strategies to identify, treat and prevent violence against children.
    The total estimated annualized burden hours are 800. There are no 
costs to respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
      Type of respondents        Data collection    respondents    responses per   response  (in    (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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Head of Household.............  Invitation                  2983               1            2/60             100
                                 letter.
                                Screener                    2721               1            3/60             135
                                 Questionnaire.
                                Head of                      634               1            2/60              22
                                 Household
                                 Consent Form.
                                Head of                      608               1           15/60             152
                                 Household
                                 Questionnaire.
Youth ages 13-24 in Baltimore   Youth                        608               1            3/60              31
 or Garrett County, Maryland.    participant
                                 consent/assent.
                                Core Youth                   180               1               1             180
                                 Participant
                                 Questionnaire
                                 for male.
                                Core Youth                   180               1               1             180
                                 Participant
                                 Questionnaire
                                 for female.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total:....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             800
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-16259 Filed 7-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P