[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12951-12953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04185]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Maternal, Infant, and 
Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Home Visiting Program Budget 
Assistance Tool

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA 
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of

[[Page 12952]]

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 should be received no later than March 31, 
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 more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and 
draft instruments, email [email protected] or call Samantha Miller, 
the acting HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, at 301-594-
4394.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Maternal, Infant, and Early 
Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program Home Visiting Budget 
Assistance Tool (HV-BAT), OMB No. 0906-0025--Revision.
    Abstract: HRSA is requesting an extension of approval and revision 
to the burden estimates for the HV-BAT. The tool collects information 
on standardized cost metrics from programs that deliver home visiting 
services. Entities receiving MIECHV formula funds that are states, 
jurisdictions, and nonprofit awardees are required to submit cost data 
using the HV-BAT to HRSA once every 3 years to be reviewed for accuracy 
and quality control and to collect data to estimate national program 
costs.
    The MIECHV Program, authorized by section 511 of the Social 
Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 711, and administered by HRSA in partnership 
with the Administration for Children and Families, supports voluntary, 
evidence-based home visiting services during pregnancy and for parents 
with young children up to kindergarten entry. States, tribal entities, 
and certain nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive funding 
from the MIECHV Program and have the flexibility to tailor the program 
to serve the specific needs of their communities. Funding recipients 
may subaward grant funds to local implementing agencies (LIAs) to 
provide services to eligible families in at-risk communities. HRSA is 
making the following changes to the HV-BAT:
     Updating the burden estimate for completing the HV-BAT 
based on recently gathered information. The burden estimate reflects 
both awardee and LIA staff hours to complete an HV-BAT. HRSA expects 
the majority of awardees will be submitting data from multiple LIAs, 
and some LIAs may submit multiple HV-BATs to account for each model 
implemented at their site.
     Translating the HV-BAT data collection instrument into 
Spanish to expand accessibility.
    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on November 
8, 2022, 87 FR 67481-82. HRSA received five responses to the request 
for public comment. Two commentors are current MIECHV awardees, one is 
a home visiting model developer, one is a national membership 
organization representing MIECHV awardees, and one is a consultancy 
group directing a national initiative relating to home visiting. 
Commentors posed questions about the utility of HV-BAT data (e.g., 
relevance of data collected from the prior year, lack of data context 
collected through the tool, how HRSA will account for variation in 
local labor markets) and of the specific data items collected (e.g., 
necessity of collecting rural and frontier visit data, MIECHV funding 
percentages, and combined salary and fringe data). In addition, 
commentors provided recommendations for updating burden estimates and 
improving HRSA's technical assistance and feedback (e.g., providing 
support for estimating in-kind costs and additional suggestions for 
review and feedback from HRSA).
    HRSA views HV-BAT as an important tool for collecting standardized 
cost information across awardees, understanding the comprehensive costs 
of home visiting, and informing program planning and policy. During HV-
BAT tool development, HRSA reviewed available cost measurement reports, 
tested the tool with awardees during the pilot and feasibility studies, 
and assessed the types of data that would be critical for understanding 
home visiting costs and funding allocation. Data categories within the 
tool were chosen to address these identified needs and fill in gaps in 
existing research. To ensure consistency in data collected across three 
cohorts of respondents, HRSA is not proposing to make updates to the 
data collection instrument itself at this time. However, in response to 
feedback on burden, the estimated average burden per response was 
increased from 24 to 40 hours, which includes burden on both LIAs and 
state-level awardees. In addition, awardees will have the option for 
HRSA to aggregate their LIA-level HV-BAT data, decreasing awardee 
burden. HRSA values the comments received regarding technical 
assistance, such as challenges with the tool and the utility of 
feedback received during the first round of submissions. HRSA is in the 
process of refining technical assistance materials and processes to 
better support awardees in response to these comments and to decrease 
awardee time spent on back-and-forth regarding HV-BAT revisions.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: HRSA uses HV-BAT data to 
collect comprehensive home visiting cost data. Awardees submit 
aggregated data from their individual LIAs, which provides HRSA with 
information needed to produce state and national cost estimates and 
support procurement activities and subrecipient monitoring. Requiring 
data submission also allows HRSA to ensure the tool is being accurately 
and appropriately used. Because the use of a standardized tool of this 
kind is novel to the field of home visiting, HRSA requires that states 
submit data collected using HV-BAT to HRSA for the purposes of quality 
control reviews and accuracy checks. Submission will allow HRSA to 
estimate national-level costs for use in conducting research and 
analysis of home visiting costs, understanding cost variation, and 
assessing how comprehensive program cost data can inform other policy 
priorities, such as innovative financing strategies. HRSA is seeking to 
revise burden estimates to ensure accuracy and inform awardee planning 
for this activity. In addition, HRSA is translating the HV-BAT data 
collection instrument into Spanish in response to previous awardee 
feedback and to increase accessibility for LIA sites that primarily 
operate in Spanish.
    Likely Respondents: One-third of MIECHV Program awardees (n=19, 
annually) that are states, jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations 
receiving MIECHV funding to provide home visiting services within 
states.
    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 develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to

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a collection of 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.

                                     Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                     Number of                    Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Home Visiting Budget Assistance               19              13             247              40           9,880
 Tool...........................
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    Total.......................              19              13             247              40           9,880
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Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023-04185 Filed 2-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P