80 FR 27327 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 92 (May 13, 2015)

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announce 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 and ACF seek comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27327-27328]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11547]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Administration for Children and Families


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects (Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), the Health Resources and Services 
Administration (HRSA) and the Administration for Children and Families 
(ACF) announce 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 and ACF seek comments from the public 
regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES: Comments on this Information Collection Request must be received 
no later than July 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or mail the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 10C-03, Parklawn 
Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 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 the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: The Maternal, Infant, and 
Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Quarterly Data Request.
    OMB No.: 0906-xxxx--New.
    Abstract: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting 
Program (MIECHV), administered by HRSA in close partnership with the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), supports voluntary, 
evidence-based home visiting services during pregnancy and to parents 
with young children up to kindergarten entry. States and tribal 
entities 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.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: In order to continuously 
monitor and provide oversight and quality improvement guidance and 
technical assistance to Home Visiting Program grantees, HHS is seeking 
to collect two categories of information: Service Utilization Data and 
Corrective Action Benchmark Data.
    Service Utilization Data is made up of four data categories:
    (1) Program Capacity: HHS is seeking to collect information related 
to the overall home visiting service capacity in number of families 
that grantees are able to provide to the communities they work in, the 
actual capacity being utilized at certain points in time, as well as 
updates of home visiting enrollment in number of families.
    (2) Place-Based Services: HHS is seeking to collect information 
about the geographic areas where home visiting services are being 
provided. Specifically, data on zip code and locally defined 
communities are being requested from Home Visiting Program grantees in 
order to allow grantees an opportunity to provide data about geographic 
areas that are most salient to their respective programs. Currently, 
HHS has the authority to collect information related to service area 
zip code on an annual basis (OMB-0915-0357, expiration 7/31/2017). HHS 
plans to allow the grantee to describe the service community at the 
neighborhood, town, or city level where services are provided based on 
their judgment of local salience, rather than solely at the county 
level, which is how geographic services are currently reported.
    (3) Family Engagement: Currently HHS has the authority to collect 
information related to family engagement (attrition) on an annual basis 
(OMB-0915-0357, expiration 7/31/2017). However, HHS has learned through 
grants monitoring and technical assistance efforts that family 
engagement is an ongoing and complex issue for home visiting service 
providers. In order to monitor grantee performance and target technical 
assistance efforts most effectively, HHS

[[Page 27328]]

is seeking to collect information on family engagement on a more 
frequent basis. HHS proposes that in addition to annual reporting, Home 
Visiting Program grantees will report quarterly on the existing family 
engagement metrics they are required to submit. These metrics are 
currently defined as the number of participants currently receiving 
services who have completed the program, who stopped services before 
completion, and other participants.
    (4) Staff Recruitment and Retention: HHS is seeking to collect 
information related to the number of home visitors and other support 
staff who are currently employed directly or through sub-contracted 
grant funds. Staff recruitment and retention is a key component to the 
successful delivery of home visiting services and to maximizing the 
number of cases each local implementing agency can reach. Home Visiting 
Program grantees will report quarterly the actual number of staff and 
current vacancies in three categories: Home visitors, program 
administration, and support staff.
    Corrective Action Benchmark Data is made up of one category of 
data: Corrective Action Constructs. Home Visiting Program grantees who 
have not shown improvement in four of six Benchmark areas after 3 years 
of grant funding are statutorily required to complete corrective action 
plans, subject to approval by the Secretary, in order to show how they 
plan to achieve improvement in deficient areas. Currently HHS collects 
information related to selected Benchmark areas from all Home Visiting 
Program grantees on an annual basis (OMB-0915-0357, expiration 7/31/
2017). In order to monitor grantee improvement toward meeting these 
Benchmarks, HHS is seeking to collect information from grantees on 
implementation of their corrective action plans on a more frequent 
basis. HHS proposes that grantees with corrective action plans report 
on a quarterly basis for the Benchmark measures for which they were 
deemed as not showing improvement. It is estimated that approximately 
15 grantees per year will require this more frequent reporting.
    This information will be used to monitor and provide continued 
oversight for grantee performance and to target technical assistance 
resources to grantees.
    Likely Respondents: Home Visiting Program grantees.
    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 Information Collection Request 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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Service Utilization Data:
    Service Utilization Data--                56               4             224              24           5,376
     Formula Grants.............
    Service Utilization Data--                44               4             176              24           4,224
     Competitive Grants.........
    Service Utilization Data--                25               4             100              24           2,400
     Tribal Grants..............
Corrective Action Benchmark
 Data:
    Corrective Action                         10               4              40              40           1,600
     Constructs--MIECHV Grants..
    Corrective Action                          5               4              20              40             800
     Constructs--Tribal Grants..
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        Total...................             140  ..............             560  ..............          14,400
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    HHS 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.

    Dated: May 1, 2015.
Jackie Painter,
Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
Linda K. Smith,
Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early 
Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families.
[FR Doc. 2015-11547 Filed 5-12-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P