[Federal Register: February 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 32)]
[Notices]               
[Page 7795-7796]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18fe03-68]                         


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Administration for Children and Families


 
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request


Proposed Projects


    Title: Building Strong Families Demonstration and Evaluation.
    OMB No.: New collection.
    1. Description: The Building Strong Families (BSF) project is an 
important opportunity to learn whether well-designed interventions can 
help couples fulfill their aspirations for a healthy marriage and a 
strong family. The project will assess the net impact of interventions 
with low-income, unwed couples beginning around the time of a child's 
birth. The programs will be designed to help such couples strengthen 
their relationship, achieve a healthy marriage if that is the path they 
choose, and thus enhance child and family well-being. The programs will 
be designed around two main components. First, the programs will 
provide instruction and support to improve marriage and relationship 
skills and enhance couples' understanding of marriage. This focus is 
the distinctive component of the BSF project. In addition, BSF programs 
will provide a variety of other services that could help low-income 
couples sustain a healthy relationship (e.g., employment assistance). 
The early project period will be used to gather information from 
multiple sources in order to develop program models to be tested and 
evaluated. One important source of information will be low-income unwed 
parents and newly married couples.
    2. Respondents: The respondents for the Focus Group Protocols and 
information sheets are low-income, unmarried, expectant or recent 
parents and newly married couples with children who volunteer to 
participate in focus groups. The attendance goal for each group is 
eight to 12 people in a total of 26 focus groups for a total of 208 to 
312 respondents. Eight types of focus groups are planned: mothers 
alone, fathers alone, unwed couples, and recently married couples in 
each of two settings. The planned settings are: (1)


[[Page 7796]]


Selective settings (i.e., venues selected in which we have or can 
establish relationships with organizations that can identify and 
encourage participation by low-income couples/parents) in order to gain 
information and insights early in the project development period; and 
(2) site-specific settings, after programs become part of the formal 
study, to help inform site-specific program designs to address needs 
among the target population. The selective settings will be the focus 
of the first round of information collection.


                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Number of    Average burden
                   Instrument                       Number of     responses per     hours per      Total burden
                                                   respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus Group Protocol...........................             144               1            1.5             216
Information Sheet..............................             144               1             .10             14.4
                                                -----------------
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours........................................................            230.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    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 10, 2003.
Bob Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-3858 Filed 2-14-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-01-M