[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78112-78114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27698]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request Information Collection Request Title: Healthy 
Start Evaluation and Capacity Building Support, OMB No. 0906-xxxx--New

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
HRSA has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments 
submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided 
to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the 
review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 
30-day comment period for this Notice has closed.

DATES: Comments on this ICR must be received no later than January 20, 
2023.

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 Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Samantha Miller, the acting 
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or 
call 301-594-4394.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Healthy Start Evaluation and 
Capacity Building Support, OMB No. 0906-xxxx--New.
    Abstract: The National Healthy Start Program, authorized by 42 
U.S.C. 254c-8 (section 330H of the Public Health Service Act) and 
funded through HRSA, has the goal of reducing disparities in

[[Page 78113]]

maternal and infant health. The program began as a demonstration 
project with 15 grantees in 1991 and has expanded over the past 3 
decades to 101 grantees across 35 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto 
Rico. Healthy Start grantees operate in communities with rates of 
infant mortality at least 1.5 times the U.S. national average, or with 
high rates of other adverse perinatal outcomes (e.g., low birthweight, 
preterm birth). Grantees may also qualify for the program if their 
project areas meet other relevant criteria (e.g., high rates of 
diabetes, obesity, or tobacco use during pregnancy; low utilization of 
prenatal care in the first trimester; no utilization of prenatal care 
during pregnancy) that demonstrate disparities in health outcomes for 
pregnant women in their communities. Healthy Start programs are located 
in communities that are geographically, racially, ethnically, and 
linguistically diverse. Healthy Start covers services during the 
perinatal period (before, during, after pregnancy) and follows the 
women, infants, and fathers/partners in the program through 18 months 
after the end of the pregnancy. The Healthy Start program uses a life 
course approach that includes women's health, family health and 
wellness, and community/population health.
    HRSA seeks to implement a mixed-methods evaluation to assess the 
effectiveness of the program on individual, organizational, and 
community-level outcomes. Data collection instruments will include the 
(1) Healthy Start Program Survey, (2) Healthy Start Network Survey, (3) 
Healthy Start Participant Survey, and (4) Healthy Start Stakeholder 
Interview Guide. These instruments have been specifically designed to 
be non-duplicative. Using previously approved content, the Healthy 
Start Program Survey is designed to collect information on the 
experiences of all 101 grantee programs related to program 
infrastructure, services/activities, participants, community 
partnerships, new maternal and fatherhood initiatives, and health 
equity. The information collected in the survey will allow the Healthy 
Start grantees to better assess risk, identify needed services, provide 
appropriate follow-up activities to program participants, and improve 
overall service delivery and quality.
    The two other surveys and interview guide will be administered to a 
subset of 15 grantees, their community partners, and participants. The 
Healthy Start Network Survey focuses on understanding the participation 
of members in the Healthy Start Community Action Networks (CANs) \1\ 
and collaborations within the CANs to improve maternal, infant, and 
family outcomes within the Healthy Start communities. Results from the 
survey will help the Healthy Start programs and their CANs identify 
areas of strength and opportunities for further collaborations, 
understand how well the CAN members are working together to serve women 
and their families, and whether they are supporting the programs in 
addressing the participants' greatest needs. The Healthy Start 
Participant Survey is designed to collect information about the 
experiences of the Healthy Start participants with the program and 
assess whether the programs are meeting their needs. The Healthy Start 
grantees can use this information to identify areas to strengthen the 
services provided to the participants. The Healthy Start Stakeholder 
Interview Guide is designed to collect more in-depth information about 
the Healthy Start services, the new maternal health and fatherhood 
initiatives, CAN activities, and activities developed to improve the 
Healthy Start benchmarks and achieve health equity.
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    \1\ A CAN is an existing, formally organized partnership of 
organizations and individuals. The CAN represents consumers and 
appropriate agencies which unite in an effort to collectively apply 
their resources to the implementation of one or more common 
strategies to achieve a common goal within that project area.
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    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register, 87 FR 43535 
(July 21, 2022). There were no public comments.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The purpose of the data 
collection instruments is to obtain consistent information across all 
grantees about Healthy Start, its operations and outcomes. The data 
will be used to (1) conduct ongoing performance monitoring of the 
program; (2) provide credible and rigorous evidence of program effect 
on outcomes; (3) meet program needs for accountability, programmatic 
decision-making, and ongoing quality assurance; and (4) strengthen the 
evidence base and identify best and promising practices for the program 
to support sustainability, replication, and dissemination of the 
program.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents will include project directors and 
staff for the Healthy Start Program Survey, members of the CANs for the 
Healthy Start Network Survey, program participants for the Healthy 
Start Participant Survey, and program and administrative staff for the 
Healthy Start Stakeholder Interview Guide.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the 
information requested. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to utilize technology and systems for the purpose of 
collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to 
search data sources; to complete and review the collection of 
information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized 
in the table below. The total number of responses was multiplied by the 
average burden per response and summed to produce the total annualized 
burden hours, which is estimated to be 600 hours. A break-down of these 
hours is detailed in the table below.

                                     Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of       Number of         Total        burden per     Total burden
            Form name               respondents    responses per     responses     response  (in       hours
                                                    respondent                        hours)
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Healthy Start Program Survey....             101               1             101            1.00             101
Healthy Start Network Survey....         \1\ 600               1             600            0.33             198
Healthy Start Participant Survey         \2\ 750               1             750            0.25             188
Healthy Start Stakeholder                \3\ 150               1             150            0.75             113
 Interview Guide................
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    Total.......................           1,601  ..............           1,601  ..............             600
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\1\ This is the maximum number of responses for this data collection instrument.

[[Page 78114]]

 
\2\ Ibid.
\3\ Ibid.

    HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and 
utility of the proposed information collection for the proper 
performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to 
minimize the information collection burden.

Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2022-27698 Filed 12-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P