[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43298-43299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15440]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[OMB Number 1121-NEW]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection of
eComments Requested; Reinstatement, With Change, of a Previously
Approved Collection for Which Approval Has Expired: National Inmate
Survey in Jails (NIS-4J)
AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.
ACTION: 30-Day notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs,
Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting the following
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection was
previously published in the Federal Register Volume 87, Number 74, page
22942-22943, on April 18, 2022, allowing a 60-day comment period.
Following publication of the 60-day notice, the Bureau of Justice
Statistics received three requests for survey instruments and comments
from four separate people or organizations. These comments will be
addressed in the supporting statement.
DATES: 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. Comments
are encouraged and will be accepted for 30 days until August 19, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have additional comments
especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time,
suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection
instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact
Amy Lauger, Supervisory Statistician, Institutional Research and
Special Projects Unit, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street
NW, Washington, DC 20531 (email: [email protected]; telephone:
202-307-0711).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of
the following four points:
--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
--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;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Overview of This Information Collection
1. Type of Information Collection: Reinstatement, with change, of a
previously approved collection. A new OMB number is needed, as this
collection was previously under 1121-0311 with the collection of prison
data. They are now two separate collections.
2. The Title of the Form/Collection: National Inmate Survey in
Jails (NIS-4J).
3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of
the Department sponsoring the collection: There is no agency form
number at this time. The applicable component within the Department of
Justice is the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the Office of Justice
Programs.
4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as
well as a brief abstract: Respondents will primarily be State or Local
Government entities. The work under this clearance will be used to
produce estimates for the incidence and prevalence of sexual
victimization within correctional facilities as required under the
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-79). The Bureau of
Justice Statistics uses this information in published reports and for
the U.S. Congress, Executive Office of
[[Page 43299]]
the President, practitioners, researchers, students, the media, and
others interested in criminal justice statistics.
In 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA or the Act) was
signed into law. The Act requires BJS to ``carry out, for each calendar
year, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence
and effects of prison rape.'' The Act further instructs BJS to collect
survey data: ``. . . the Bureau shall . . . use surveys and other
statistical studies of current and former inmates. . .''
To implement the Act, BJS developed the National Prison Rape
Statistics Program (NPRS), which includes four separate data collection
efforts: the Survey on Sexual Violence (SSV), the National Inmate
Survey (NIS), the National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), and the
National Former Prisoner Survey (NFPS). The NIS collects information on
sexual victimization self-reported by inmates held in adult
correctional facilities, both prisons and jails. The NIS has been
conducted three times, in 2007 (NIS-1), in 2008-09 (NIS-2), and in
2011-12 (NIS-3). Each iteration of NIS was conducted in at least one
facility in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In each
iteration of the survey, inmates completed the survey using an audio
computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI), whereby they heard questions
and instructions via headphones and responded to the survey items via a
touchscreen interface.
The collection requested in this notice is the fourth iteration of
the National Inmate Survey in Jails. For NIS-4, administration of the
survey in prisons will take place separately from survey administration
in jails. This collection request is specific to conducting the survey
in adult jail facilities.
The survey instrument for the NIS-4 in Jails is slightly modified
from the previous iterations. The main difference is the addition of a
new set of incident-specific questions administered to respondents who
affirmatively indicate they were sexually victimized at some point in
the previous 12 months while housed in their current jail facility.
These incident-specific questions will provide information to the
public on the nature of sexual victimization in jails, such as where
incidents occurred within the facility, the relationship between the
victim and the alleged perpetrator(s), and whether the victim suffered
any injuries as a result of the incident, among other incident
characteristics.
5. An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of
time estimated for an average respondent to respond: Prior to data
collection commencing in 2021, BJS will coordinate the logistics of
NIS-4 survey administration with staff at jail facilities. Because the
administration of this survey in prisons is not included in this
request, the overall number of burden hours is lower than in the last
request approved in 2010. However, the reported burden also different
due to changes in reporting. It is estimated that 290 facility
respondents will devote 150 minutes of time to this coordination
effort, not including staff escort time. During data collection in
2023, jail staff will escort an estimated 65,360 jail inmates to/from
the interviews, which consists of a short consent administration and an
approximately 35-minute survey.
6. An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated
with the collection: This collection was previously approved for
implementation in both adult prisons and jails. The current request
will only be implemented in adult jails, thereby reducing the total
number of facility staff and respondents required to participate. The
total estimated NIS-4 Jails public burden, inclusive of facility staff
and respondent burden estimates, is 64,010 hours. This comprises 17,065
hours of facility staff burden and 46,945 hours of respondent
interviewing burden. This burden estimate assumes 100% participation
from both facilities and inmates, but historically both facility and
inmate participation have not reached 100%. For purposes of comparison,
during Year 3 of the NIS, the total maximum burden was estimated at
68,078 hours for the jail sample. The total burden used was 33,022
hours.
If additional information is required contact: Robert Houser,
Assistant Director, United States Department of Justice, Justice
Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two Constitution
Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.405A, Washington, DC 20530.
Dated: July 14, 2022.
Robert Houser,
Assistant Director, Policy and Planning Staff, U.S. Department of
Justice.
[FR Doc. 2022-15440 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P