[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 68 (Monday, April 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21192-21193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07462]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Tribal Maternal, 
Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Data Reports: 
Demographic and Service Utilization, Grantee Performance Measures and 
Quarterly Performance Reports

AGENCY: Office of Early Childhood Development; Administration for 
Children and Families; Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is 
requesting a new information collection for the Tribal Maternal, 
Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Tribal Home Visiting 
Program Data Reports: Demographic and Service Utilization, Grantee 
Performance Measures and Quarterly Performance Reports.

DATES: Comments due within 60 days of publication. In compliance with 
the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is 
soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information 
collection described above.

ADDRESSES: You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of 
information and submit comments by emailing [email protected]. 
Identify all requests by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: Section 511 of Title V of the Social Security Act 
created the MIECHV Program and authorizes the Secretary of the United 
States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to 
Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, 
or urban Indian organizations to conduct an early childhood home 
visiting program. The legislation set aside 6 percent of the total 
MIECHV program appropriation for grants to tribal entities. Tribal 
MIECHV grants, to the greatest extent practicable, are to be consistent 
with the requirements of the MIECHV grants to states and jurisdictions 
and include conducting a needs assessment and establishing 
quantifiable, measurable benchmarks.
    The ACF Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD), in 
collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
Maternal and Child Health Bureau, awards grants for the Tribal MIECHV 
Program. The Tribal MIECHV grant awards support 5-year cooperative 
agreements to conduct community needs assessments, plan for and 
implement high-quality, culturally grounded, evidence-based home 
visiting programs in at-risk Tribal communities, and participate in 
research and evaluation activities to build the knowledge base on home 
visiting among Native populations.
    In Year 1 of the cooperative agreement, grantees must (1) conduct a 
comprehensive community needs and readiness assessment and (2) develop 
a plan to respond to identified needs. Following each year that Tribal 
MIECHV grantees implement home visiting services; they must comply with 
the requirement to submit demographic and service utilization data once 
they begin to provide services, and then on an annual basis. Grantees 
also begin to report quarterly on caseloads and family and staff 
retention and submit performance data in years 2-5 of their cooperative 
agreements. Tribal MIECHV Program data are used to help ACF better 
understand the population receiving services from Tribal MIECHV 
grantees, the degree to which they are using services, as well as 
staffing data to better understand the Tribal MIECHV workforce. This 
includes demographic and service utilization data on the number of 
newly enrolled and continuing participants, educational level and 
poverty status of participants, education level of staff, number of 
home visits and grantee caseload capacity and retention of families and 
staff. Performance reporting on the six legislatively mandated areas 
(referred to as ``benchmark areas'') will document grantee improvement 
in the benchmark areas over time and will allow new cohorts of grantees 
to reflect on their performance to make program improvements or to 
document implementation of services successfully that encompass the 
major goals of the program.
    ACF will use Tribal Home Visiting Data Reports to:
     Collect demographic and service utilization that provides 
vital information on the families being served under the Tribal MIECHV 
Program;

[[Page 21193]]

     Collect the number of newly enrolled and continuing 
families being served;
     Number of home visits;
     Track and improve the quality of benchmark measures data 
submitted by the tribal grantees;
     Improve program monitoring and oversight;
     Improve rigorous data analyses that help to assess the 
effectiveness of the programs and enable ACF to better monitor 
projects;
     Ensure adequate and timely reporting of program data to 
relevant federal agencies and stakeholders including Congress and 
members of the public; and
     Collect data on caseload capacity, retention and attrition 
of enrolled families and the retention and attrition of program staff 
on a quarterly basis.
    Overall, this information collection will provide valuable 
information to HHS that will guide understanding of the Tribal MIECHV 
Program and the provision of technical assistance to Tribal MIECHV 
Program grantees.
    Respondents: Tribal MIECHV Program Grantees.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                   Annual number  Average burden
                   Instrument                      Total number    of responses      hours per     Annual burden
                                                  of respondents  per respondent     response          hours
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Tribal MIECHV Demographic and Service                         55               1             317          17,435
 Utilization Data Form..........................
Tribal MIECHV Performance Measures Form.........              55               1             288          15,840
Tribal MIECHV Quarterly Performance Report......              55               4             2.5             550
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 33,825.
    Comments: HHS specifically requests comments on (a) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.
    Authority: Section 511 of Title V of the Social Security Act

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-07462 Filed 4-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-77-P