[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68519-68520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24780]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-0311]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: 
National Inmate Survey in Prisons (NIS-4P)

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 30-Day notice.

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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.

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 December 15, 
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, Re-entry, Recidivism, and Special 
Projects Unit, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20531 (email: [email protected]; telephone: 202-307-
5955).

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: Revision of a Currently Approved 
Collection.
    2. The Title of the Form/Collection: National Inmate Survey in 
Prisons (NIS-4P).
    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 Federal or 
State 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 (Pub. L. 108-79). The Bureau of 
Justice Statistics uses this information in published reports and for 
the U.S. Congress, Executive Office of the President, practitioners, 
researchers, students, the media, and others interested in criminal 
justice statistics.
    Abstract: 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

[[Page 68520]]

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 
touch-screen interface.
    The collection requested in this notice is the fourth iteration of 
the National Inmate Survey. 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 
prison facilities.
    BJS submitted this collection for approval in 2020 in anticipation 
of fielding the survey in 2021. The survey was delayed due to COVID-19 
and fielding is now set to begin in 2023. The collection is slightly 
modified from the version approved in 2020.
    The main difference is a series of edits to items related to sexual 
orientation and gender identity based on latest recommendations from 
the National Institute of Health. In addition, revisions have been made 
to reflect the possibility that a transgender man could be housed in a 
women's prison or that a transgender woman could be housed in a men's 
prison. In previous rounds of the NIS, respondents were routed through 
the survey assuming that prisons housed inmates based on anatomy rather 
than gender identity. We have revised our questions to make sure they 
are appropriate for all inmates living in a sampled facility. A module 
on parental involvement has been removed from the survey.
    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 2023, BJS will coordinate the logistics of 
NIS-4 survey administration with staff at federal and state 
correctional facilities. It is estimated that 241 facility respondents 
will devote 150 minutes of time to this coordination effort. During 
data collection in 2023, an estimated 75,674 federal and state prison 
inmates will be interviewed, with the average interview lasting an 
estimated 35 minutes.
    6. An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total estimated NIS-4 in Prisons public 
burden, inclusive of facility staff and respondent burden estimates and 
assuming a 100% response rate, is 77,288 hours. This comprises 19,522 
hours of facility staff burden (coordinating the administration, 
completing the facility questionnaire, and escorting inmates to and 
from the interviews) and 57,766 hours of respondent interviewing 
burden. The third iteration of NIS had around a 65% response rate, so 
the true burden will likely be much lower.
    If additional information is required contact: Robert Houser, 
Department Clearance Officer, Policy and Planning Staff, Justice 
Management Division, United States Department of Justice, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.206, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: November 8, 2022.
Robert Houser,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, Policy and Planning Staff, Office 
of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2022-24780 Filed 11-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P