[Federal Register: February 13, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 7380-7381]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13fe03-57]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects:
Title: DHHS/ACF/ASPE Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ
OMB No.: New Collection
Description: The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ
Demonstration and Evaluation Project (HtE) is the most ambitious,
comprehensive effort to learn what works in this area to date and is
explicitly designed to build on previous and ongoing research by
rigorously testing a wide variety of approaches to promote employment
and improve family functioning and child well-being. The HtE project
will ``conduct a multi-site evaluation that studies the implementation
issues, program design, net impact and benefit-costs of selected
programs'' \1\ designed to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) recipients, former TANF recipients, or low income parents who
are hard-to-employ. The project is sponsored by the Office of Planning,
Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), and the U.S. Department of Labor. The evaluation involves an
experimental, random assignment design in 6 sites, testing a diverse
set of strategies to promote employment for low-income parents who face
serious obstacles to employment, including physical and mental health
problems, substance abuse, human capital deficiencies, and situational
barriers. At least two of the sites included in the evaluation will
feature ``two generation'' models, serving both parents and their
children. Over the next several years, the HtE project will generate a
wealth of rigorous data on implementation, effects, and costs of these
alternative approaches. The data collected will be used for the
following purposes:
[sbull] To study the extent to which different HtE approaches
impact employment, earnings, income, welfare dependence, and the
presence or persistence of employment barriers;
[sbull] To collect data on a wider range of outcome measures than
is available through Welfare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Social Security,
the Criminal Justice System or Unemployment Insurance records in order
to understand the family circumstances and attributes and situations
that contribute to the difficulties in finding employment; job
retention and job quality; educational attainment; interactions with
and knowledge of the HtE program; household composition; childcare;
transportation; health care; income; physical and mental health
problems; substance abuse; domestic violence; and criminal history.
[sbull] To conduct non-experimental analyses to explain
participation decisions and provide a descriptive picture of the
circumstances of individuals who are hard-to-employ;
[sbull] To obtain participation information important to the
evaluation's benefit-cost component;
[sbull] And to obtain contact information for possible future
follow-up, information that will be important to achieving high
response rates for the 42-month survey.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ From the Department of Health and Human Services RFP No.:
233-01-0012.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Respondents: The respondents of the baseline survey are Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, former TANF
recipients, or low-income individuals who are hard-to-employ from six
states likely to be participating in the HtE Project: California,
Georgia, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Survey
respondents can be grouped according to 4 target populations: prisoners
with children; low-income mothers with mental health problems;
populations connected to the TANF system; and programs working with
two-generations (parents and their children). Prior to random
assignment, basic demographic information for all survey respondents
will be obtained wherever possible from the program's automated system.
In addition, all survey respondents will receive a core set of
questions that will be administered by Audio-Computer Assisted Self
Interview (ACASI-Core). In the site operating a program aimed
[[Page 7381]]
specifically at ex-offenders, an additional supplementary module will
be administered by Audio-CASI. Similarly, an additional supplementary
module will be administered by Audio-CASI in the site operating a
program aimed at survey respondents with mental health problems.
Finally, in the two-generation sites (two of the six sites), survey
respondents will complete a two-generation survey administered by a
Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). Approximately 12,000
respondents will complete the core survey, 2,000 will complete the
criminal justice module, 2,000 will complete the mental health module,
and 4,000 will complete the two-generation CAPI survey.
Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Instrument Number of responses per Average burden hours Total burden
respondents respondent per response hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audio-CASI Core....................... 12,000 1 10 minutes or .17 hrs... 2,000
Criminal Justice Module............... 2,000 1 10 minutes or .17 hrs... 333.33
Mental Health Module.................. 2,000 1 10 minutes or .17 hrs... 333.33
Two Generation........................ 4,000 1 30 minutes or .5 hrs.... 2,000
-----------------
Estimated Total Annual Burden .............. .............. ........................ 4,666.66
Hours.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC
20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. 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.
Dated: February 6, 2003.
Gerald L. Fralick,
Director, Office of Information Systems.
[FR Doc. 03-3446 Filed 2-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M