81 FR 88688 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Requested
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 236 (December 8, 2016)
Administration for Children and Families
Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 236 (December 8, 2016)
| Page Range | 88688-88690 | |
| FR Document | 2016-29406 |
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)] [Notices] [Pages 88688-88690] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2016-29406] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families Submission for OMB Review; Comment Requested Title: RPG National Cross-Site Evaluation and Evaluation Technical Assistance. OMB No.: 0970-0444. Description: The Children's Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeks a renewal of clearance to collect information for the Regional Partnership Grants to Increase the Well-being of and to Improve Permanency Outcomes for Children Affected by Substance Abuse Cross-Site Evaluation and Evaluation-Related Technical Assistance and Data Collection Support for Regional Partnership Grant Program Round Three Sites or ``RPG'' projects. Under RPG, the Children's Bureau has issued 21 grants to organizations such as child welfare or substance abuse treatment providers or family court systems to develop interagency collaborations and integration of programs, activities, and services designed to increase well-being, improve permanency, and enhance the safety of children who are in an out-of-home placement or are at risk of being placed in out-of-home care as a result of a parent's or caretaker's substance use dependence. The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Pub. L. 112-34) includes a targeted grants program (section 437(f) of the Social Security Act) that directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reserve a specified portion of the appropriation for these Regional Partnership Grants, to be used to improve the well-being of children affected by substance abuse. The overall objective of the Cross-Site Evaluation and Technical Assistance projects (the RPG Cross-Site Evaluation) is to plan, develop, and implement a rigorous national cross-site evaluation of the RPG Grant Program, provide legislatively-mandated performance measurement, furnish evaluation-related technical assistance to the grantees in order to improve the quality and rigor of their local evaluations, and support their participation in the cross-site evaluation. The project will evaluate the programs and activities conducted through the RPG Program. The evaluation is being undertaken by the Children's Bureau and its contractor Mathematica Policy Research. The evaluation is being implemented by Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractors, WRMA, Inc., and Synergy Enterprises. The RPG Cross-Site Evaluation includes the following components: 1. Implementation and Partnership Study. The RPG cross-site implementation and partnership study will contribute to building the knowledge base about effective implementation strategies by examining the process of implementation in the 21 RPG projects, with a focus on factors shown in the research literature to be associated with quality implementation of evidence-based programs. This component of the study describes the RPG projects' target populations, selected interventions and their fit with the target populations, inputs to implementation, and actual services provided (including dosage, duration, content, adherence to curricula, and participant responsiveness). It examines the key attributes of the regional partnerships that grantees develop (for example, partnerships among child welfare and substance abuse treatment providers, social services, and family courts). It describes the characteristics and roles of the partner organizations, the extent of coordination and collaboration, and their potential to sustain the partnerships after the grant ends. Key data collection activities of the implementation and partnership study are: (1) Conducting site visits during which researchers interview RPG program directors, managers, supervisors, and frontline staff who work directly with families; (2) administering a survey to frontline staff involved in providing direct services to children, adults, and families; (3) asking grantees to provide information about implementation and their partnerships as part of their federally required semi-annual progress reports; (4) obtaining service use data from grantees, enrollment date and demographics of enrollees, exit date and reason, and [[Page 88689]] service participation, which are entered into a web-based system operated by Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractors; and (5) administering a survey to representatives of the partner organizations. 2. Outcomes Study. The goal of the outcomes study is to describe the changes that occur in children and families who participate in the RPG programs. This study will describe participant outcomes in five domains: (1) Child well-being, (2) family functioning/stability, (3) adult recovery from substance use disorder, (4) child permanency, and (5) child safety. Two main types of outcome data will be used--both of which are being collected by RPG grantees: (1) Administrative child welfare and adult substance abuse treatment records and (2) standardized instruments administered to the parents and/or caregivers. The Children's Bureau is requiring grantees to obtain and report specified administrative records, and to use a prescribed set of standardized instruments. Grantees will provide these data to the cross-site evaluation team twice a year by uploading them to a data system operated by Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractors. 3. Impact Study. The goal of the impact study is to assess the impact of the RPG interventions on child, adult, and family outcomes by comparing outcomes for people enrolled in RPG services to those in comparison groups, such as people who do not receive RPG services or receive only a subset of the services. The impact study will use demographic and outcome data on both program (treatment) and comparison groups from a subset of grantees with appropriate local evaluation designs such as randomized controlled trials or strong quasi- experimental designs; 5 of the 21 grantees have such designs. Site- specific impacts will be estimated for these seven grantees. Aggregated impact estimates will be created by pooling impact estimates across appropriate sites to obtain a more powerful summary of the effectiveness of RPG interventions. In addition to conducting local evaluations and participating in the RPG Cross-Site Evaluation, the RPG grantees are legislatively required to report performance indicators aligned with their proposed program strategies and activities. A key strategy of the RPG Cross-Site Evaluation is to minimize burden on the grantees by ensuring that the cross-site evaluation, which includes all grantees in a study that collects data to report on implementation, the partnerships, and participant characteristics and outcomes, fully meets the need for performance reporting. Thus, rather than collecting separate evaluation and performance indicator data, the grantees need only participate in the cross-site evaluation. In addition, using the standardized instruments that the Children's Bureau has specified will ensure that grantees have valid and reliable data on child and family outcomes for their local evaluations. The inclusion of an impact study conducted on a subset of grantees with rigorous designs will also provide the Children's Bureau, Congress, grantees, providers, and researchers with information about the effectiveness of RPG programs. A 60-day Federal Register Notice was published for this study on June 24, 2016. This 30-day Federal Register Notice covers the following data collection activities: (1) The site visits with grantees; (2) the web-based survey of frontline staff who provide direct services to children, adults, and families, and their supervisors; (3) the semi- annual progress reports; (4) enrollment and service data provided by grantees; (5) the web-based survey of grantee partners; and (6) outcome data provided by grantees. Respondents. Respondents include grantee staff or contractors (such as local evaluators) and partner staff. Specific types of respondents and the expected number per data collection effort are noted in the burden table below. Annual burden estimates. The following instruments are proposed for public comment under this 30-day Federal Register Notice. Burden for all components is annualized over three years. RPG Cross-Site Evaluation Annualized Burden Estimates ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average burden Total number Number of hours per Estimatedtotal Total annual Data collection activity of respondents responses per response (in burden hours burden hours respondent hours) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Implementation and Partnership Study ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program director individual 4 1 2 8 2.67 interview...................... Program manager/supervisor group 36 1 2 72 24 interview...................... Program manager/supervisor 24 1 1 24 8 individual interviews.......... Frontline staff individual 24 1 1 24 8 interviews..................... Semi-annual progress reports.... 21 6 16.5 2,079 693 Case enrollment data............ 63 90 0.25 1,417.5 472.5 Service log entries............. 126 2,340 0.05 14,742 4,914 Staff survey.................... 80 1 0.42 33.6 11.2 Partner survey.................. 80 1 0.33 26.4 8.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data Entry for Outcomes Study ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Administrative Data: .............. .............. .............. .............. Obtain access to 21 2 18 378 126 administrative data........ Report administrative data.. 21 6 144 18,144 6,048 Standardized instruments: .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. Enter data into local 21 6 112.5 14,175 4,725 database................... Review records and submit... 21 6 100 12,600 4,200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Data Entry for Impact Study ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data entry for comparison study 5 1 .25 1,085 361.6 sites (7 grantees)............. Estimated Total Burden Hours .............. .............. .............. .............. 21,602.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [[Page 88690]] In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Children's Bureau within 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 Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20416, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. Email address: [email protected]. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. 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 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 of Children and Families. Robert Sargis, Reports Clearance Officer. [FR Doc. 2016-29406 Filed 12-7-16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4184-01-P
![88688 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 236 / Thursday, December 8, 2016 / Notices
ANNUAL BURDEN ESTIMATES—CURRENT INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST
Estimated
Total Annual Number of Average annual
Instrument number of number of responses per burden hour burden
respondents respondents respondent per response hours
Classroom sampling form from Head Start staff ................. 360 120 1 0.17 20
Head Start core teacher survey ........................................... 720 240 1 0.50 120
Head Start core program director survey ............................ 180 60 1 0.50 30
Head Start core center director survey ............................... 360 120 1 0.42 50
Early care and education administrators survey for Plus
study (Head Start Program Performance Standards) ...... 540 180 1 0.08 14
Early care and education providers survey for Plus study
(5E—Early Ed) ................................................................. 720 240 1 0.17 41
Total .............................................................................. ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 275
Additional Information: Copies of the information for the Regional Partnership Mathematica Policy Research and its
proposed collection may be obtained by Grants to Increase the Well-being of and subcontractors, WRMA, Inc., and
writing to the Administration for to Improve Permanency Outcomes for Synergy Enterprises.
Children and Families, Office of Children Affected by Substance Abuse The RPG Cross-Site Evaluation
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 330 Cross-Site Evaluation and Evaluation- includes the following components:
C Street SW., Washington, DC 20201, Related Technical Assistance and Data 1. Implementation and Partnership
Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Collection Support for Regional Study. The RPG cross-site
All requests should be identified by the Partnership Grant Program Round Three implementation and partnership study
title of the information collection. Email Sites or ‘‘RPG’’ projects. Under RPG, the will contribute to building the
address: OPREinfocollection@ Children’s Bureau has issued 21 grants knowledge base about effective
acf.hhs.gov. to organizations such as child welfare or implementation strategies by examining
OMB Comment: OMB is required to substance abuse treatment providers or the process of implementation in the 21
make a decision concerning the family court systems to develop RPG projects, with a focus on factors
collection of information between 30 interagency collaborations and shown in the research literature to be
and 60 days after publication of this integration of programs, activities, and associated with quality implementation
document in the Federal Register. services designed to increase well-being, of evidence-based programs. This
Therefore, a comment is best assured of improve permanency, and enhance the component of the study describes the
having its full effect if OMB receives it safety of children who are in an out-of- RPG projects’ target populations,
within 30 days of publication. Written home placement or are at risk of being selected interventions and their fit with
comments and recommendations for the placed in out-of-home care as a result of the target populations, inputs to
proposed information collection should a parent’s or caretaker’s substance use implementation, and actual services
be sent directly to the following: Office dependence. The Child and Family provided (including dosage, duration,
of Management and Budget, Paperwork Services Improvement and Innovation content, adherence to curricula, and
Reduction Project, Fax: OIRA_ Act (Pub. L. 112–34) includes a targeted participant responsiveness). It examines
SUBMISSION@OMB.EOP.GOV, Attn: grants program (section 437(f) of the the key attributes of the regional
Desk Officer for the Administration for Social Security Act) that directs the partnerships that grantees develop (for
Children and Families. Secretary of Health and Human Services example, partnerships among child
to reserve a specified portion of the welfare and substance abuse treatment
Mary Jones, appropriation for these Regional providers, social services, and family
ACF/OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Partnership Grants, to be used to courts). It describes the characteristics
[FR Doc. 2016–29373 Filed 12–7–16; 8:45 am] improve the well-being of children and roles of the partner organizations,
BILLING CODE 4184–22–P affected by substance abuse. The overall the extent of coordination and
objective of the Cross-Site Evaluation collaboration, and their potential to
and Technical Assistance projects (the sustain the partnerships after the grant
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND RPG Cross-Site Evaluation) is to plan, ends. Key data collection activities of
HUMAN SERVICES develop, and implement a rigorous the implementation and partnership
national cross-site evaluation of the RPG study are: (1) Conducting site visits
Administration for Children and Grant Program, provide legislatively- during which researchers interview RPG
Families mandated performance measurement, program directors, managers,
furnish evaluation-related technical supervisors, and frontline staff who
Submission for OMB Review;
assistance to the grantees in order to work directly with families; (2)
Comment Requested
improve the quality and rigor of their administering a survey to frontline staff
Title: RPG National Cross-Site local evaluations, and support their involved in providing direct services to
participation in the cross-site children, adults, and families; (3) asking
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Evaluation and Evaluation Technical
Assistance. evaluation. The project will evaluate the grantees to provide information about
OMB No.: 0970–0444. programs and activities conducted implementation and their partnerships
Description: The Children’s Bureau through the RPG Program. The as part of their federally required semi-
within the Administration for Children evaluation is being undertaken by the annual progress reports; (4) obtaining
and Families of the U.S. Department of Children’s Bureau and its contractor service use data from grantees,
Health and Human Services seeks a Mathematica Policy Research. The enrollment date and demographics of
renewal of clearance to collect evaluation is being implemented by enrollees, exit date and reason, and
VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:28 Dec 07, 2016 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\08DEN1.SGM 08DEN1](https://thefederalregister.org/doc/81_FR_88924/page/1.svg)
![88690 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 236 / Thursday, December 8, 2016 / Notices
In compliance with the requirements Committee (IMPAC II), Contract 402–6201. Fax: (301) 402–0169. Mail or
of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Information (DCIS), and Cooperative hand-delivery: NIH Privacy Act Officer,
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Agreement Information, HHS/NIH.’’ The Office of Management Assessment,
Children’s Bureau within the new system of records will cover National Institutes of Health, 6011
Administration for Children and records used by NIH throughout the Executive Boulevard, Suite 601, MSC
Families is soliciting public comment research and development award 7669, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
on the specific aspects of the lifecycle, from application to scientific Comments received will be available for
information collection described above. peer review, post-award monitoring, public inspection at this same address
Copies of the proposed collection of and close-out. from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday
information can be obtained and Elsewhere in today’s Federal Register, through Friday, except Federal holidays.
comments may be forwarded by writing NIH has published a Notice of Proposed Please call 301–496–4606 for an
to Administration for Children and Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to appointment.
Families, Office of Planning, Research, exempt confidential source-identifying FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: NIH
and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., material in the new system of records Privacy Act Officer, Office of
Washington, DC 20416, Attn: ACF (i.e., material that would Management Assessment (OMA), Office
Reports Clearance Officer. Email inappropriately reveal the identities of of the Director (OD), National Institutes
address: infocollection@acf.hhs.gov. All referees who provide letters of of Health (NIH), 6011 Executive
requests should be identified by the title recommendation and peer reviewers Boulevard, Suite 601, MSC 7669,
of the information collection. who provide written evaluative input Rockville, Maryland 20852, or
OMB is required to make a decision and recommendations to NIH about telephone (301) 402–6201.
concerning the collection of information particular funding applications under
between 30 and 60 days after SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
an express promise by the government
publication of this document in the that their identities in association with I. Background on the NIH Electronic
Federal Register. Therefore, a comment the written work products they authored Research Administration (eRA)
is best assured of having its full effect and provided to the government will be Records System
if OMB receives it within 30 days of kept confidential) from certain
publication. Written comments and The new system of records
requirements of the Privacy Act,
recommendations for the proposed established in this Notice, ‘‘NIH
specifically, from the provisions
information collection should be sent Electronic Research Administration
pertaining to providing an accounting of
directly to the following: Office of (eRA) Records, HHS/NIH/OD/OER’’
disclosures, access and amendment and
Management and Budget, Paperwork (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘NIH eRA
notification. The exemptions and the
Reduction Project, Email: Records’’ system), will cover records
promises of confidentiality are
OIRASUBMISSION@OMB.EoP.GOV, used throughout the research and
necessary to protect the integrity of NIH
Attn: Desk Officer for the development award lifecycle, including
extramural peer review and award
Administration of Children and pre-award stages of application
processes and ensure that NIH efforts to
Families. submission, scientific peer review,
obtain accurate and objective
award processing, post-award
Robert Sargis, assessments and evaluations of funding
monitoring, and close-out. Many of the
applications from referees and peer
Reports Clearance Officer. records in the system will contain
reviewers is not hindered. The
[FR Doc. 2016–29406 Filed 12–7–16; 8:45 am] information about more than one
exemptions will become effective when
BILLING CODE 4184–01–P individual or type of individual (e.g.,
NIH publishes a Final Rule, which will
applicants, awardees, faculty members
not occur until the 60-day comment
of applicant and awardee entities,
period provided in the NPRM has
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND application reviewers). By design, any
expired and any comments received on
HUMAN SERVICES of the records can be (and in practice
the NPRM (or on this System of Records
will be) retrieved using the name or
National Institutes of Health Notice) have been addressed.
other personal identifier of any of the
DATES: The comment period for this individuals whose information is
Privacy Act of 1974; Notice To System of Records Notice (SORN) is co- contained in the records, to the extent
Establish an Exempt System of extensive with the 60-day comment required to help ensure that award
Records period provided in the NPRM; i.e., proceedings are carried out by the NIH
AGENCY: National Institutes of Health written comments on the SORN should in accordance with all applicable
(NIH), Department of Health and Human be submitted within 60 days from federal statutes and regulations.
Services (HHS). today’s publication date. The new The eRA information technology (IT)
system, including the routine uses and system associated with this system of
ACTION: Notice to establish an exempt
the exemptions, will become effective records is an HHS-designated Center of
system of records.
when NIH publishes a Final Rule, Excellence, and is used as a grants
SUMMARY: In accordance with the which will not occur until the 60-day management line of business system by
requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, comment period provided in the NPRM other federal agencies to manage their
as amended, the National Institutes of has expired and any comments received award records. Records pertaining to
Health (NIH) proposes to establish a on the NPRM (or on this SORN) have awards of other agencies in the eRA IT
new system of records, to be numbered been addressed.
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
system are not covered under SORN 09–
and titled: SORN 09–25–0225 ‘‘NIH ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 25–0225, but would be covered under
Electronic Research Administration identified by the Privacy Act System of SORN(s) those agencies publish, if their
(eRA) Records, HHS/NIH/OD/OER,’’ Records Number (09–25–0225), by any records require a SORN.
which will be related to, but separate of the following methods: Email:
from, the system of records covered in privacy@mail.nih.gov and include PA II. The Privacy Act
SORN 09–25–0036 ‘‘NIH Extramural SOR number (09–25–0225) in the The Privacy Act governs the
Awards and Chartered Advisory subject line of the message. Phone: (301) collection, maintenance, use, and
VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:28 Dec 07, 2016 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\08DEN1.SGM 08DEN1](https://thefederalregister.org/doc/81_FR_88924/page/3.svg)
Document Created: 2016-12-08 00:27:10
Document Modified: 2016-12-08 00:27:10
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| FR Citation | 81 FR 88688 |
2025 Federal Register | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
USC | CFR | eCFR