[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17298-17299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06403]



[[Page 17298]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[OMB No. 0970-0545]


Proposed Revision to Information Collection Activity; Next 
Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies Project

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 is proposing revisions to 
data collection activities conducted for the Next Generation of 
Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project (OMB #0970-0545). The 
project is rigorously evaluating innovative interventions to promote 
employment and economic security among low-income individuals with 
complex challenges. The project includes an experimental impact study, 
descriptive study, and cost study. The project is seeking approval for 
two participant follow-up surveys and related materials with proposed 
changes to the instruments and to the tokens of appreciation for the 
follow-up surveys. The requested changes do not require any changes to 
the previously submitted and approved burden estimates.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB is required to 
make a decision concerning 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: Copies of the proposed collection of information can be 
obtained and comments may be forwarded by emailing 
[email protected]. Identify all requests by the title of 
the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Description: OPRE is conducting the NextGen Project to build the 
evidence around effective strategies for helping low-income individuals 
find and sustain employment. This project will identify and test 
innovative employment programs designed to help people facing complex 
challenges secure economic independence. The project is partnering with 
the Social Security Administration to incorporate a focus on 
employment-related early interventions for people with current or 
foreseeable disabilities who have limited work history and are 
potential applicants for Supplemental Security Income.
    Prior information collection requests for the project (see https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202102-0970-003) occurred 
in two phases. Phase 1 instruments--the informed consent form, baseline 
survey, and identifying and contact information collection--were 
approved in April 2020. Phase 2 instruments--staff characteristics 
survey, program leadership survey, semi-structured program participant 
discussion guide, semi-structured employer discussion guide, service 
receipt tracking, in-depth participant interview guide, and cost 
workbook--were approved in December 2020. Approval for changes to the 
Phase 1 and some Phase 2 instruments was received in March 2021.
    We now seek approval for the first and second follow-up surveys, 
advance letters and related materials, and changes to the proposed 
tokens of appreciation for the follow-up surveys.
    Below are additional details regarding this clearance request.

First Follow-Up Survey (Instrument 3)

    We propose the following revisions to the first follow-up survey:
     Minor revisions to skip patterns and the wording of some 
items for clarity.
     Moved all items about jobs to the beginning of the survey 
(Section A) to collect this information first because of its 
importance.
     Added items on the effect of COVID-19 including changes in 
jobs as a result of the pandemic (A02a); whether any physical, mental, 
or emotional condition that limits work is related to COVID-19 (A22a); 
employment challenges related to the pandemic (A23); receipt of advice 
on how to meet workplace requirements related to COVID-19 (B01m); and 
vaccination status (C10a).
     Removed some benefits from the list of benefits available 
at the respondent's current or last job (A16), dropped the industry and 
occupation items, and removed most items about employment challenges 
(A23) to reduce burden.
     Added questions about confidence in ability to seek 
employment (A25) for one program.
     Removed the distinctions between receiving services in 
one-on-one settings and group settings (B01 and B02) to reduce burden. 
Added an item about attendance at any group support meetings (B02) for 
one program.
     Modified the items (B01) about receipt of services to 
better match the services offered by the programs in the project.
     Removed questions related to the amount of time spent in 
employment services and ask only about the location where respondents 
received the most services (B03), rather than asking about all 
locations, to reduce burden.
     Replaced questions about each education or training 
program with questions about all programs attended (B04 to B05b) and 
removed questions about the amount of time spent in the program because 
education and training are not part of any selected program. Removed 
questions about employer-provided training because they were not 
relevant to any program. Added items about participating in education 
or training programs (B04a and B05a) at the time of the survey and 
receipt of a certificate or degree (B04c and B05b). Tailored the 
education and training questions for one program that works with young 
adults (B06-B08b) to make it easier for them to respond.
     Revised the recall period for mental health service 
receipt to the last 6 months instead of since random assignment (B10-
B10b) to better match when the program expects to affect the receipt of 
these services.
     Added questions about receipt of services for physical 
medical conditions and receipt of mental health services for 
respondents' children within the last 6 months for one program (B11 and 
B11a).
     Removed items asking about the type of rental housing and 
number of days spent homeless since housing is not a focus of the 
selected programs. Moved the remaining housing questions to an earlier 
location in the survey (C01, C01a, and C02).
     Removed benefits from a question about benefit receipt 
(C03) that we do not expect many study participants to receive to 
reduce burden.
     Added a series of questions about financial help received 
from parents, relatives, friends, or neighbors and the amount received 
(C04b to C04e1) for a program serving young adults and an item to ask 
if the program helped them in having a trusted person they can turn to 
for job advice (D02d).
     Modified the emergency support items (C05-C07a) to ask how 
many people the respondents can turn to for help, to borrow money, or 
for advice, and added items on social trust (C07b and C07c) to measure 
social support more accurately.
     Added the Healthy Families Parenting Inventory's parenting 
efficacy

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subscale (C08) for one program that aims to improve mothers' belief in 
their parenting skills.
     Added items about confidence in future financial 
situations (C09a-C09b) for one program that aims to increase youths' 
belief in their ability to become self-sufficient.
     Added a question to ask if participants are covered by 
health insurance (C10b).
     Added the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression 
Scale Revised (CESD-R) (C22a) for use by a program that serves mothers 
with symptoms of depression. For this program, this more in-depth 
depression scale will be used instead of the shorter K-6 Distress Scale 
(C22).
     Added questions about whether the respondent is currently 
under court-ordered supervision (C38), whether any convictions were for 
felonies (C42), and if any of the reported incarcerations were for 
violating the terms of court-ordered supervision (C44) for a program 
that serves adults with criminal justice system involvement.
     Removed some items asking program group study participants 
about their satisfaction with the program.
    We currently have OMB approval to provide a $40 gift card for 
follow-up survey completion. Based on new evidence, we propose to 
increase the first follow-up survey token of appreciation from $40 to 
$50 and to add a $5 prepaid gift card for the first follow-up survey 
sent with the advance letter. We would assess the effectiveness of the 
prepaid gift card using an experiment. If the experiment shows that 
prepaid tokens of appreciation are effective at increasing response 
rates or decreasing the treatment-control response rate differential, 
we will propose using it for remaining sample members for the first 
follow-up survey.

Second Follow-Up Survey (Instrument 4)

    We propose changes to the second follow-up survey to match the 
changes proposed for the first follow-up survey. We propose introducing 
a $5 prepaid token of appreciation if the experiment for the first 
follow-up survey demonstrates it is effective. We do not propose 
changes to the previously approved $50 postpaid gift card for the 
second follow-up survey.
    Respondents: Individuals enrolled in the NextGen Project.

Annual Burden Estimates

    The annual burden estimates for the instruments we are requesting 
to revise are presented below. All currently approved materials under 
OMB # 0970-0545 and the associated burden can be found at: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202012-0970-003.

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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
           Instrument              Total number    Annual number   responses per     hours per     Annual burden
                                  of respondents  of respondents    respondent       response          hours
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                                                     PHASE 2
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First follow-up survey--                   8,000           2,667               1            0.83           2,214
 participants...................
Second follow-up survey--                  8,000           2,667               1            0.83           2,214
 participants...................
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    Total Annual Burden Hours, Phase 2: 4,428.
    Authority: Section 413 of the Social Security Act, as amended by 
the FY 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31).

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-06403 Filed 3-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-09-P