[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14930-14932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05781]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Evaluation of the Child 
Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative (New Collection)

AGENCY: Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families; 
HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is 
proposing to collect data for an evaluation of the services provided to 
child welfare jurisdictions and Court Improvement Programs (CIP) by the 
Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative. This study uses 
instruments that build on previously approved OMB instruments, 
including satisfaction surveys, assessment tools, interview protocols, 
and service-specific feedback forms (OMB #0970-0484, expiration 11/30/
22; OMB #0970-0494, expiration 2/28/23).

DATES: Comments due within 60 days of publication. In compliance with 
the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is 
soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information 
collection described above.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be 
obtained and comments may be forwarded 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 (OPRE), 330 C Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20201, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests, emailed or 
written, should be identified by the title of the information 
collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Description: The Capacity Building 
Collaborative includes three centers (Center for States, Center for 
Tribes, Center for Courts) funded by the Children's Bureau to provide 
national child welfare expertise and evidence-informed training and 
technical assistance services to state, tribal, and U.S. territorial 
public child welfare agencies and CIP. The Centers offer services 
including Web-based content and resources, product development and 
dissemination, self-directed and group-based training, virtual learning 
and peer networking events, and tailored consultation, coaching, and 
facilitation (``tailored services''). Centers' services will be 
evaluated by Center-specific evaluations and a cross-Center evaluation. 
The cross-Center evaluation will examine collaboration across and 
within Centers; how well Centers have established themselves 
nationally, and how the child welfare field perceives their expertise, 
credibility, and value; what services are delivered by the Centers, and 
how well they are defined; service recipient satisfaction with service 
quality; child welfare jurisdiction and federal staff's experiences of 
assessment and work planning services offered by Centers; effectiveness 
of Center services; how Centers apply a common ``change management 
approach'' in their work; what affects child welfare jurisdiction 
engagement with and use of Center services; and the costs of Center 
services. The Center for States' evaluation consists of data collection 
around two research questions and five sub-studies. The research 
questions focus on understanding usefulness, relevance, and 
satisfaction from a stakeholder perspective, as well as outcomes of all 
services, with a focus on tailored services. The sub-studies assess 
organizational capacities, child welfare policy and practice, and 
outcomes for children and families. The Center for Tribes' evaluation 
will examine the extent to which the Center provides effective, 
culturally responsive services that meet the needs of tribal child 
welfare programs; the satisfaction of service recipients with service 
quality; and service outcomes for tribal child welfare programs and 
stakeholders. The Center for Courts' evaluation will assess 
satisfaction with and effectiveness of service delivery; progress 
toward meeting Center goals and the needs of CIP to promote continuous 
quality improvement (CQI); and increased knowledge, collaboration, and 
capacity to improve court performance and child and family outcomes.
    Proposed cross-Center evaluation data sources for this effort 
include (1) a survey to assess child welfare staff perceptions of the 
outcomes of intensive \1\ courses of tailored services and their 
satisfaction with those services, completed by a project team lead with 
input from the rest of the team; (2) a survey to assess child welfare 
staff perceptions of the outcomes of brief courses of tailored 
services, for use with tribes and CIP; \2\ (3,4,5) a leadership 
interview protocol administered to all state/territory child welfare 
directors and to tribal child welfare directors and CIP coordinators 
receiving services from the Centers; (6) a collaboration and 
communication survey administered twice to Center staff/contractors and 
their federal partners to understand whether factors that support 
collaboration are in place and improving over time; (7) a survey to 
assess whether collaborative teams for specific projects and/or 
communication teams exhibit signs of healthy collaboration; and (8) a 
survey to assess child welfare jurisdiction staff satisfaction with the 
assessment and work planning services provided by Centers.
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    \1\ Intensive services typically last 9 or more months and 
involve 20 or more hours of service.
    \2\ The Center for States will administer its own, similar 
survey for use with state respondents.
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    Center for States' data sources include (1) a registration form for 
participation in virtual events; (2,3) a survey to gather feedback from 
participants in brief service events of 100+ registrants, and a follow-
up survey to measure outcomes 3 months later; (4) a short poll for use 
by participants in brief service events with fewer than 100 
registrants; (5) a peer learning group survey to gather feedback to 
inform program planning; (6) a survey to measure satisfaction with 
learning experiences; (7) a protocol for interviewing staff in 
jurisdictions receiving intensive services; (8) a protocol for use with 
state project leads to capture feedback following meetings associated 
with intensive projects, for use in a fidelity study; (9) a tailored 
services brief project survey to inform outcome reporting and CQI; (10) 
a survey of participants in peer-to-peer events to inform project 
planning; and (11) a jurisdiction interview protocol for a longitudinal 
ethnographic sub-study of several intensive projects. Center for 
Tribes' data sources include (1) a form for tribes requesting Center 
services; (2) an inquiry form for Center staff to collect information 
on services the tribe requests; (3) a demographic survey to provide 
information about the tribal child welfare program; (4) a ``needs and 
fit exploration tool-phase 1'' to gather information to decide if the 
tribe's request meets criteria for services; (5) a

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``needs and fit exploration tool-phase 2'' for use when meeting with 
tribes whose service request has been approved; (6,7) a Tribal Child 
Welfare Leadership Academy Self-Assessment (pre- and post-training 
versions); and (8) a feedback survey to measure satisfaction with 
Center webinars. Center for Courts' data sources include (1) a survey 
to assess the usefulness of CQI workshops and perceived knowledge 
gained from participating in them; (2) a survey to assess participant 
satisfaction with Judicial and Attorney Academies and perceived 
knowledge gained; and (3) a pre-post survey to assess knowledge gained 
from the Academies and to provide exposure to material tailored to the 
participant's knowledge.
    Respondents: Respondents to the data collection instruments will 
include (1) child welfare and judicial professionals that use the 
Centers' web pages, products, and online courses; participate in 
virtual or in-person trainings or peer events; and/or receive brief or 
intensive, tailored services from the Centers; (2) state child welfare 
directors, tribal child welfare directors, and CIP coordinators 
receiving services from the Centers; (3) directors, staff, and 
consultants of the three Capacity Building Centers; and (4) federal 
staff.

Annual Burden Estimates

    The proposed data collection will span 3 years.

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                                                   Total number       Average
          Instrument              Total number     of responses    burden hours    Total burden    Annual burden
                                 of respondents   per respondent   per response        hours           hours
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Cross-Center: Outcomes of and               120                1            0.25              30              10
 Satisfaction with Tailored
 Services Survey (Intensive
 projects)--team lead's
 completion of survey.........
Cross-Center: Outcomes of and               576                1            0.17              98              33
 Satisfaction with Tailored
 Services Survey (Intensive
 projects)--input from other
 members of the team..........
Cross-Center: Outcomes of                   150                1            0.05               8               3
 Tailored Services Survey
 (Brief projects).............
Cross-Center: Leadership                     43                2               1              86              29
 Interview--States and
 Territories..................
Cross-Center: Leadership                     37                2               1              74              25
 Interview--CIPs..............
Cross-Center: Leadership                     14                2            1.25              35              12
 Interview--Tribes............
Cross-Center: Collaboration                 200                1            0.22              44              15
 and Communication Survey--
 Center staff.................
Cross-Center: Collaboration                 120                1            0.23              28               9
 Project Team Survey..........
Cross-Center: Assessment and                130                1            0.15              20               7
 Work Planning Survey--
 Jurisdiction Staff...........
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Center for States: Event                 13,500                1            0.03             405             135
 Registration.................
Center for States: Brief Event            1,500                1             0.1             150              50
 Survey.......................
Center for States: Event                  1,500                1            0.08             120              40
 Follow-up Survey.............
Center for States: Event Poll.              300                1            0.03               9               3
Center for States: Peer                     300                1            0.33              99              33
 Learning Group Survey........
Center for States: Learning                 975                1            0.33             322             107
 Experience Satisfaction
 Survey.......................
Center for States:                           90                1               1              90              30
 Jurisdiction Interview
 Protocol.....................
Center for States: Fidelity                 108                1            0.25              27               9
 Study: State Lead Debrief
 Questions....................
Center for States: Tailored                 150                1            0.13              20               7
 Services Brief Project Survey
Center for States: Peer to                   60                1            0.08               5               2
 Peer Event Survey............
Center for States:                           45                2               1              90              30
 Longitudinal Ethnographic Sub-
 study Jurisdiction Interview.
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Center for Tribes: Request for              100                1               1             100              33
 Services Form................
Center for Tribes: Inquiry                  200                1            0.08              16               5
 Form.........................
Center for Tribes: ICW                       60                1            1.75             105              35
 Demographic Survey...........
Center for Tribes: Needs and                150                1               2             300             100
 Fit Exploration Tool Phase 1.
Center for Tribes: Needs and                 80                1               3             240              80
 Fit Exploration Tool Phase 2
 (Process Narrative)..........
Center for Tribes: Tribal                   240                1             0.5             120              40
 Child Welfare Leadership
 Academy Pre-Training Self-
 Assessment...................
Center for Tribes: Tribal                   240                1             0.5             120              40
 Child Welfare Leadership
 Academy Post-Training Self-
 Assessment...................
Center for Tribes: Universal                400                1            0.08              32              11
 Services Webinar Feedback
 Survey.......................
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Center for Courts: CQI                      240                1            0.07              17               6
 Workshop Feedback Survey.....
Center for Courts: Academy                  600                1            0.07              42              14
 Feedback Survey..............
Center for Courts: Pre/Post                 600                2            0.22             264              88
 Academy Assessment...........
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,041.
    Comments: The Department specifically requests comments on (a) 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the

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information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

    Authority: Sec. 5106, Pub. L. 111-320, the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment Act Reauthorization Act of 2010, and titles 
IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act.

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-05781 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-44-P