[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84342-84343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26581]


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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: Assessing 
the Use of Coaching To Promote Positive Caregiver-Child Interactions in 
Home Visiting

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection 
Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the 
public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the 
ICR.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than February 
5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or mail the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14N39, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

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 Joella Roland, the 
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, at (301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the ICR title for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Assessing the Use of Coaching 
to Promote Positive Caregiver-Child Interactions in Home Visiting OMB 
No. 0906-xxxx--[New]
    Abstract: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting 
(MIECHV) Program, authorized by the Social Security Act, title V, Sec.  
511 (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 to provide home 
visiting services to eligible families in at-risk communities.
    This information collection is part of the Assessing and Describing 
Practice Transitions Among Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs in 
Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Study. This study aims 
to identify and study practices implemented in response to the COVID-19 
public health emergency that support evidence-based practice and have 
the potential to enhance home visiting programming. One of the 
practices the study identified is the use of coaching to promote 
caregiver-child interactions and positive caregiving skills. Coaching 
involves a home visitor providing instructions to the parent or 
caregiver as they carry out the skill and differs from a common home 
visiting strategy modeling in which home visitors first demonstrate a 
skill themselves before asking the parent or caregiver to try it. The 
purpose of this information collection is to better understand, through 
rapid cycle learning, how MIECHV-funded home visiting programs can 
implement coaching strategies during home visits.
    Information will be collected in four phases designed to (1) define 
coaching strategies (co-definition phase); (2)

[[Page 84343]]

identify potential refinements to improve coaching strategies 
(installation phase); (3) iteratively test the refinements (refinement 
phase); and (4) assess the potential of coaching strategies to improve 
service delivery and promote family engagement and family satisfaction 
with home visiting programs (summary phase). Data collection activities 
include focus groups, online questionnaires, and review of documents 
and administrative data.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The COVID-19 public 
health emergency led the MIECHV Program to rapidly adjust practices, 
within the bounds of evidence-based home visiting model guidance, to 
reduce service delivery disruptions while protecting the health and 
safety of home visiting participants and the home visiting workforce. 
Largely prompted by the shift to virtual home visits, one of these 
practice changes was to use coaching to promote positive caregiving 
skills and family-child interactions. Home visitors suggested that 
using coaching strategies enhanced the way that home visitors worked 
with families, particularly in virtual settings when home visitors were 
unable to use modeling strategies (e.g., in-person demonstrations by 
home visitors). Some findings indicate that home visitors who used 
coaching perceived that it led to improved family engagement and 
caregiver confidence in interacting with their child. However, other 
findings suggest that some families may not prefer coaching over 
modeling and that coaching may create a burden on home visitors. As 
home visitors transition back to primarily in-person home visits, there 
is a need for more information about strategies to support the 
implementation of coaching to effectively promote positive caregiver-
child interactions in virtual and in-person settings, while reducing 
home visitor burden and increasing family acceptance of this strategy. 
HRSA intends to use the information collected to provide evidence-
informed resources and strategies that MIECHV awardees can use to 
inform their use of coaching strategies to strengthen home visiting 
services.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents include families who receive home 
visiting services and MIECHV-funded home visiting program staff, which 
may include program directors, managers, supervisors, and home 
visitors.
    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 
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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                                                                                      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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Program Eligibility Protocol.......              16               1           16            1.00            16.0
Program Staff Focus Group Protocol               24               1           24            1.50            36.0
 1 (Co-definition Phase)...........
Program Staff Focus Group Protocol               24               1           24            1.50            36.0
 2 (Co-definition Phase)...........
Program Staff Focus Group Protocol               24               3           72            1.00            72.0
 (Installation & Refinement Phases)
Program Staff Focus Group Protocol               24               1           24            1.00            24.0
 (Summary Phase)...................
Family Focus Group Protocol (Co-                 48               1           48            1.00            48.0
 definition & Summary Phases)......
Home Visitor Questionnaire                       40               9          360            0.17            61.2
 (Installation & Refinement Phases)
Family Post-Visit Questionnaire                  48               6          288            0.08            23.0
 (Refinement Phase)................
Focus Group Participant                         120               1          120            0.08             9.6
 Characteristics Form (All Phases).
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    Total..........................             368  ..............          976  ..............           325.8
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    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. 2023-26581 Filed 12-4-23; 8:45 am]
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