81 FR 13370 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 49 (March 14, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13370-13371]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05605]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Title: Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services 
(STREAMS) Evaluation.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the 
Administration for Children and Familes (ACF) at the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services has issued grants to 46 organizations to 
provide healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) services. 
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within ACF 
proposes data collection activity in six HMRE grantees as part of the 
Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) 
evaluation. The purpose of STREAMS is to measure the effectiveness and 
quality of HMRE programs designed to strengthen intimate relationships. 
In particular, the evaluation will examine HMRE programs for youth in 
high school, at-risk youth, and adults. The study will fill knowledge 
gaps about the effectiveness of HMRE programming for youth and adults 
and strategies for improving program delivery and participant 
engagement in services. The STREAMS evaluation will include two 
components, an impact study and a process study.
    1. Impact Study. The goal of the impact study is to provide 
rigorous estimates of the effectiveness of program services and 
interventions to improve program implementation. The impact study will 
use an experimental design. Eligible program applicants will be 
randomly assigned to either a program group that is offered program 
services or a control group that is not. Grantee staff will use an add-
on to an existing program MIS (the nFORM system, OMB no. 0970-0460) to 
conduct random assignment in sites enrolling at-risk youth and adults. 
STREAMS will use classroom-level or school-level random assignment for 
programs serving youth in high school. STREAMS will collect baseline 
information from eligible program applicants prior to random assignment 
and administer a follow-up survey to all study participants 12 months 
after random assignment.
    2. Process study. The goal of the process study is to support the 
interpretation of impact findings and document program operations to 
support future replication. STREAMS will conduct semi-structured 
interviews with program staff and selected community stakeholders, 
conduct focus groups with program participants, administer a paper-and-
pencil survey to program staff, and collect data on adherence to 
program curricula through an add on to an existing program MIS (nFORM, 
OMB no. 0970-0460).
    This 30-Day Notice includes the following data collection 
activities: (1) A topic guide for semi-structured interviews with 
program staff and community stakeholders, (2) focus group guides for 
adult program participants, (3) focus group guides for youth in 
schools, (4) a staff survey, (5) the MIS functions for collecting data 
on adherence to program curricula (6) introductory script that program 
staff will use to introduce the study to participants, (7) the MIS 
functions for conducting random assignment, (8) a baseline survey for 
youth, (9) a follow-up survey for youth, (10) a baseline survey for 
adults, and (11) a follow-up survey for adults.
    Respondents: Program applicants, study participants, grantee staff, 
and local stakeholders (such as staff at referral agencies).

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Total  number  Annual  number     Number of        Average
           Instrument                   of              of         responses per   burden hours   Annual  burden
                                    respondents     respondents     respondent     per response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Topic guide for staff and                 150              50               1               1              50
 stakeholder interviews.........
2. Focus group guide for adults.             120              40               1             1.5              60
3. Focus group guide for youth                60              20               1             1.5              30
 in schools.....................
4. Staff survey.................             120              40               1              .5              20
5. Study MIS session adherence                48              48             104             .08             399
 form...........................
6a. Introductory script, grantee               8           \1\ 8             219             .08             140
 staff..........................
6b. Introductory script, program           5,250           1,750               1             .08             140
 applicants.....................
7. Study MIS to conduct random                 8           \1\ 8             208             .08             133
 assignment.....................
8. Baseline survey for youth....           3,600           1,200               1              .5             600
9. Follow-up survey for youth...           3,240           1,080               1              .5             540
10. Baseline survey for adults..           4,000           1,333               1              .5             667
11. Follow-up survey for adults.           3,200           1,067               1             .75             800
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,579.
    Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be 
obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, 
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20201, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. All 
requests should be identified by the title of the information 
collection. Email address: [email protected].
    OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning 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

[[Page 13371]]

within 30 days of publication. Written comments and recommendations for 
the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the 
following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction 
Project, Email: [email protected], Attn: Desk Officer for the 
Administration for Children and Families.

Robert Sargis,
ACF Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-05605 Filed 3-11-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-73-P