[Federal Register: March 14, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 48)]
[Notices]               
[Page 12491-12492]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr05-81]                         

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

 
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Proposed Projects:
    Title: Evaluation of the Early Head Start Enhanced Home Visiting 
Pilot Project.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Head Start Reauthorization Act of 1994 established 
a special initiative creating funding for services for families with 
infants and toddlers. In response, the Administration on Children, 
Youth and Families (ACYF) within the Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF) developed the Early Head Start program. Since its 
inception, Early Head Start has expanded to include more than 700 
programs and 70,000 families enrolled nationwide. The program is 
designed to produce outcome sin four domains: (1) Child development, 
(2) family development, (3) staff development and (4) community 
development. The Head Start Bureau has given programs a mandate to 
support the quality of all settings where children receive care by 
providing high-quality services and supporting parents and child care 
providers in caring for their young children.
    In keeping with this mandate, the Head Start Bureau recently funded 
24 Early Head Start programs to participate in the Enhanced Home 
Visiting Pilot Project. The goal of the pilot project is to develop 
program models for supporting relatives and neighbors and who care for 
Early Head Start children in acquiring the knowledge, skills and 
resources they need to support children's healthy development.
    The Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Project evaluation will collect 
and disseminate information about the program models and service 
delivery strategies developed by the pilot sites, as well as the 
characteristics and needs of participating children, families and 
caregivers. The evaluation will collect and analyze information from 
three main sources: (1) Interviews with staff and focus groups with 
parents and caregivers to be conducted during two rounds of visits to 
pilot programs (in spring 2005 and 2006), (2) a program recordkeeping 
system for tracking services to be maintained by the pilot sites and 
(3) observational assessments of the quality of the caregiving 
environment and the interactions between children and caregivers to be 
conducted in spring 2006. All data-collection instruments have been 
designed to minimize the burden on respondents by minimizing the time 
required to respond. Participation in the study is voluntary.
    The results of the research will be used by the Head Start Bureau 
and ACF to identify and disseminate information about promising program 
models and service delivery strategies and lessons learned from the 
experiences of the pilot programs.
    Respondent: Early Head Starts directors, coordinators, specialists 
and home visitors; staff from other community service providers; 
parents of Early Head Start children; and neighbor and relative 
caregivers of Early Head Start children.

Annual Burden Estimates

[[Page 12492]]



            Estimated Response Burden for Respondents for the Enhanced Home Visiting Pilot Evaluation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per    Annual  burden
                   Instrument                       respondents   responses  per     response         (hours)
                                                                    respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Site Visit Protocols (2005):
    Director Protocol...........................              24               1             3.0            72.0
    Coordinator/Specialist Protocol.............              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Community Partner Protocol..................              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Home Visitor Protocol.......................              48               1             1.5            72.0
    Parent Protocol.............................             192               1             1.5           288.0
    Caregiver Protocol..........................             192               1             1.5           288.0
    Case Review Protocol........................              48               1             3.0           144.0
    Recordkeeping System (2005).................              24             a27            b2.0         1,296.0
                                                                                                 ---------------
        Total for 2005..........................  ..............  ..............  ..............        2,232.00
Site Visit Protocols (2006):
    Director Telephone Protocol.................              24               1             1.0            24.0
    Director Protocol...........................              12               1             3.0            36.0
    Coordinator/Specialist Protocol.............              12               1             1.5            18.0
    Community Partner Protocol..................              12               1             1.5            18.0
    Home Visitor Protocol.......................              24               1             1.5            36.0
    Parent Protocol.............................              96               1             1.5           144.0
    Case Review Protocol........................              24               1             3.0            72.0
    Recordkeeping System (2006).................              24             a27            b1.0           648.0
    Caregiver Observations (2006)...............              96               1             2.5           240.0
                                                                                                 ---------------
        Total for 2006..........................  ..............  ..............  ..............         1,236.0
                                                                                                 ---------------
        Total for 2005 and 2006.................  ..............  ..............  ..............        1,734.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a Average expected number of children to be enrolled in the pilot per site. Expected enrollment ranges from 7 to
  60 across the 24 sites.
b Based on an estimated burden of 10 minutes per child per month.

    Additional Information:
    Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the 
Administration for Children and Families, Office of Administration, 
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. E-mail 
address: grjohnson@acf.hhs.gov.
    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 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, Attn: Desk Officer 
for ACF; e-mail address: Katherine_T._Astrich@omb.eop.gov.

    Dated: March 4, 2005.
Robert Stargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-4939 Filed 3-11-05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-01-M