80 FR 32135 - Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 108 (June 5, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 108 (Friday, June 5, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 32135]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-13698]



[[Page 32135]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Study of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded 275 Early 
Head Start expansion and Early Head Start-child care partnership grants 
in 50 states; Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; and the Northern Mariana 
Islands. These grants will allow new or existing Early Head Start 
programs to partner with local child care centers and family child care 
providers to expand high-quality early learning opportunities for 
infants and toddlers from low-income families.
    ACF is proposing to conduct a descriptive study of the new 
partnership grantees to document the characteristics and features of 
partnerships and the activities that aim to improve professional 
development and quality of services and better meet the needs of 
families. The study will focus on the grantees that have received funds 
for Early Head Start-child care partnership grants.
    The proposed data collection for the descriptive Study of Early 
Head Start-Child Care Partnerships will include two components: (1) 
Surveys of 311 partnership grantee and delegate agency directors and a 
randomly selected sample of 933 child care partners, and (2) in-depth 
follow-up case studies of 12 purposively selected partnerships.
    The goal of this work is to collect descriptive information about 
partnership grantees and delegate agencies, child care partners, and 
services and quality improvement activities implemented as part of the 
partnerships and explore how particular partnership models operate. 
These data will be used to describe the national landscape of 
partnerships, fill a knowledge gap about partnership models implemented 
in the field, lay the groundwork for future research, and provide 
information to inform technical assistance and actions aimed at 
informing the Early Head Start-child care partnerships grant 
initiative.
    Respondents: Partnership grantee and delegate agency directors; 
child care partner managers/owners; partnership staff who focus on 
coordinating activities among partners, monitoring compliance with the 
Head Start Program Performance Standards, and providing technical 
assistance and training; frontline staff; parents; and other state and 
local stakeholders (such as staff from child care resource and referral 
agencies or child care subsidy administrators).
    Annual Burden Estimates: The following instruments are proposed for 
public comment under this 60-Day Federal Register Notice.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Number of     Average burden
         Instrument           Total number of   Annual number    responses per      hours per     Annual burden
                                respondents     of respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Partnership grantee and                311              156                1            1                 156
 delegate agency director
 survey.....................
2. Child care partner survey              933              467                1            0.50              234
3. Interview topic guide:
    Partnership grantee and                12                6                1            1.5                 9
     delegate agency
     directors..............
    Partnership staff.......               36               18                1            1                  18
    State and local                        48               24                1            1                  24
     stakeholders...........
4. Parent focus group guide.               96               48                1            1.5                72
5. Child care center                       96               48                1            1.5                72
 director focus group guide.
6. Child care center teacher               96               48                1            1.5                72
 focus group guide..........
7. Family child care                       48               24                1            1.5                36
 provider focus group guide.
8. Partnership grantee and                 12                6                1            2                  12
 delegate agency director
 questionnaire..............
9. Child care partner                     180               90                1            0.33               30
 questionnaire..............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 735.
    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Email 
address: [email protected]. All requests should be 
identified by the title of the information collection.
    The Department 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.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer, Administration for Children and Families.
[FR Doc. 2015-13698 Filed 6-4-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-22-P