[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 153 (Thursday, August 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 44374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17263]



[[Page 44374]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Data Collection for the Engaging 
Fathers and Paternal Relatives: A Continuous Quality Improvement 
Approach in the Child Welfare System Project (New Collection)

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) within 
the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing to 
conduct data collection activities for the Engaging Fathers and 
Paternal Relatives: A Continuous Quality Improvement Approach in the 
Child Welfare System (FCL) Project. This evaluation is a descriptive 
study of child welfare agencies' use of a continuous quality 
improvement process called the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) 
to implement strategies to improve father and paternal relative 
engagement in the child welfare system. The project is designed to 
examine the use of the BSC methodology to strengthen fathers' and 
paternal relatives' engagement with children involved in child welfare 
and to add to the evidence base on engagement strategies for fathers 
and paternal relatives in child welfare.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a 
decision about 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 within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Description: The FCL evaluation has three equally important aims. 
The first is to describe promising strategies and approaches for 
engaging fathers and paternal relatives in the child welfare system. 
The second is to assess the promise of the BSC as a continuous quality 
improvement framework for addressing challenges in the child welfare 
system, including whether and to what extent the BSC has potential, and 
if so, how it may be applied to other child welfare challenges. The 
third is to assess the extent to which agencies experienced a shift in 
organizational culture in terms of the importance of father engagement.
    The descriptive evaluation will build on the findings of the pilot 
study conducted under the umbrella generic: Formative Data Collections 
for ACF Program Support (OMB #0970-0531). (Site selection for the pilot 
study was conducted under the umbrella generic: Formative Data 
Collections for ACF Research (OMB #0970-0356). It will focus on 
organizational changes and network supports for father and paternal 
relative engagement, changes in staff attitudes and skills for engaging 
fathers and paternal relatives, and father and paternal relative 
engagement outcomes. This evaluation will explore the implementation of 
father and paternal relative engagement strategies and approaches by 
examining process outcomes. By examining process outcomes, the 
evaluation is designed to indicate whether strategies and approaches 
developed in the BSC are likely to lead to placement stability and 
permanency outcomes.
    Data collection will take place with stakeholders in five child 
welfare agencies implementing the BSC (including one agency that had 
two separate teams participate in the earlier pilot study). Data 
collection activities include discussions with participating agency 
staff and key partners during site visits, focus groups or interviews 
with fathers and paternal relatives with relatively recent experience 
with the focal child welfare agencies, and web surveys of participating 
agency staff.
    Respondents: Child welfare agency leaders, child welfare agency 
program staff and key partner staff involved in implementing the 
engagement strategies; community stakeholders whose role has 
intersected with the child welfare agency and who have an interest in 
father and paternal relative engagement; and, father and paternal 
relative clients of the agencies. Program staff may include senior 
leaders, managers, and frontline staff.

                                                                 Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                                             Number of
                                                                             Number of     responses per
                                                                            respondents     respondent      Avg. burden    Total burden    Annual burden
                               Instrument                                   (total over     (total over    per response     (in hours)      (in hours)
                                                                              request         request       (in hours)
                                                                              period)         period)
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Interview topic guide...................................................             230               1             1.5             345             173
Father and paternal relative focus group protocol.......................              72               1             1.5             108              54
Staff survey............................................................             360               2           0.333             240             120
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 347.
    Authority:
    Sec. 403. [42 U.S.C. 603] and Sec. 426. [42 U.S.C. 626]

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-17263 Filed 8-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-73-P