[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86656-86657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27431]



[[Page 86656]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Formative 
Data Collections for ACF Research and Evaluation (OMB #0970-0356)

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to 
extend data collection under the existing overarching generic clearance 
for Formative Data Collections for ACF Research and Evaluation (Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) #0970-0356). There are no changes 
proposed to the terms of the overarching generic.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB must make a 
decision about the collection of information between 30 and 60 days 
after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, 
a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it 
within 30 days of publication.

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 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. You can 
also obtain copies of the proposed collection of information by 
emailing [email protected]. Identify all requests by the 
title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: ACF programs promote the economic and social well-
being of families, children, individuals, and communities. The Office 
of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) studies ACF programs, and 
the populations they serve, through rigorous research and evaluation 
projects. These include evaluations of existing programs, evaluations 
of innovative approaches to helping low-income children and families, 
research syntheses, and descriptive and exploratory studies. OPRE's 
research offers further understanding of current programs and service 
populations, explores options for program improvement, and assesses 
alternative policy and program designs. OPRE anticipates undertaking a 
variety of new research projects related to welfare, employment and 
self-sufficiency, Head Start, child care, healthy marriage and 
responsible fatherhood, family and youth services, home visiting, child 
welfare, trafficking, community services, and other areas of interest 
to ACF. Some ACF program offices conduct their own research and 
evaluation projects and may utilize this generic.
    Under this generic clearance, ACF engages in a variety of formative 
data collections with researchers, practitioners, technical assistance 
providers, service providers, and potential participants throughout the 
field to fulfill the following goals: (1) inform the development of ACF 
research, (2) maintain a research agenda that is rigorous and relevant, 
(3) ensure that research products are as current as possible, and (4) 
inform the provision of technical assistance and supports around 
research and evaluation. ACF envisions using a variety of techniques 
including semi-structured discussions, focus groups, surveys, and 
telephone or in-person interviews, in order to reach these goals.
    Information collected under this overarching generic is meant to 
inform ACF research activities and may be incorporated into documents 
or presentations that are made public. The following are some examples 
of ways in which we may share information resulting from these data 
collections: research design documents or reports; research or 
technical assistance plans; background materials for technical 
workgroups; concept maps, process maps, or conceptual frameworks; 
contextualization of research findings from a follow-up data collection 
that has full PRA approval; informational reports to TA providers; or 
project specific reports, or other documents relevant to the field, 
such as federal leadership and staff, grantees, local implementing 
agencies.
    Following standard OMB requirements, ACF has and will continue to 
submit to OMB information about individual information collection 
activities proposed under the generic clearance. ACF will provide OMB 
with a copy of the individual instruments or questionnaires, as well as 
other materials describing the project. ACF requests OMB's review 
within 10 days of submission of individual requests under this generic.
    Respondents: Respondents could include key groups involved in ACF 
projects and programs, state or local government officials, service 
providers, participants in ACF programs or similar comparison groups, 
experts in fields pertaining to ACF research and programs, or others 
involved in conducting ACF research or evaluation projects.

Burden Estimates

    Find currently approved information collections here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAOMBHistory?ombControlNumber=0970-0356. The 
request to OMB will include an extension request for approved 
information collections that are planned to continue beyond November 
2023.

                   Burden Estimates--Ongoing Requests
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                  Study                      Responses     Burden hours
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Fatherhood Family-Focused,                           861             980
 Interconnected, Resilient, and
 Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) Grantee
 Local Evaluation Plan Template * Burden
 updated from current approval..........
Child Welfare Study to Enhance Equity                100             100
 with Data (CW-SEED)....................
Culture of Continuous Learning Project:              546             182
 Landscape Survey.......................
Preliminary Activities to Support Future             110             110
 Data Collection for the National Survey
 of Child and Adolescent Well-Being
 (NSCAW)................................
Soliciting Input for the Consumer                    428             107
 Education and Parental Choice in Early
 Care and Education Project.............
Title IV-E Prevention Services                        71              88
 Clearinghouse..........................
Family Self-Sufficiency Demonstration                200             114
 Development Grants Evaluation Support:
 Data Collection for Final Report.......
                                         -------------------------------
    Totals..............................           2,316           1,681
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[[Page 86657]]


                                         Burden Estimates--New Requests
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                                                                     Number of
                                                     Number of     responses per
                                                    respondents     respondent      Avg. burden    Total burden
                   Instrument                       (total over     (total over    per response     (in hours)
                                                      request         request       (in hours)
                                                      period)         period)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semi-Structured Discussions and Focus Groups....            3000               1               2            6000
Interviews......................................            1500               1               1            1500
Questionnaires/Surveys..........................            1125               1              .5             563
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           8,063
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Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-27431 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-88-P