[Federal Register: January 4, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 2)]
[Notices]
[Page 348-349]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ja06-63]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects
Title: The Office of Community Services (OCS) Evaluation
Initiative.
OMB No.: New Collection.
Description: This questionnaire is part of a contract that
addresses evaluation strategies for three programs administered by OCS:
Community Economic Development (CED), Rural Community Facilities (RF),
and Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI). The
Legislative requirement for two of these programs, i.e., the RF and CED
programs, is in Title IV of the Community Opportunities,
Accountability, and Training and Educational Services Act (COATS Human
Services Reauthorization Act) of Oct. 27, 1998, Pub. L. 105-285,
section 680(b) as amended. This legislative directive states that ``The
Secretary shall require all activities receiving assistance under this
section to be evaluated for their effectiveness. Funding for such
evaluations shall be provided as a stated percentage of the assistance
or through a separate grant awarded by the Secretary specifically for
the purpose of evaluation of a particular activity or group of
activities.''
Under Title V, section 505, of the Family Support Act of 1998, Pub.
L. 100-485, section 505(f), JOLI was initially a demonstration program
that required local evaluations of each project. When JOLI was
reauthorized in 1996 (Pub. L. 104-193--Aug. 22, 1996), it no longer had
demonstration status and evaluation requirements. As a result, a formal
evaluation for the JOLI programs has not been conducted since the 1996
Pub. L. reauthorization. At this time, OCS is interested in a formal
evaluation to assess the JOLI program.
OCS has chosen to evaluate all three of these programs through a
separate contract awarded by the Secretary using the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
in order to critically review the overall design and effectiveness of
each program in its totality. The evaluation initiative contract
provides the central office with the mechanism to ensure that all
programs evaluated will have consistent data that is in agreement with
the direction of OMB and provides the Secretary with information on
program efficiency and effectiveness.
The evaluation survey's primary purpose is to document and
systematically evaluate the program performance of three OCS
discretionary grant programs in qualitative and quantitative terms.
Each of the three OCS discretionary grant programs--CED, RF, and JOLI--
will be assessed using qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods
that capture key information about program and grantee-level
performance in four general areas: (1) Program purpose and design; (2)
strategic planning; (3) program management; and (4) program results.
The evaluation activities will build on the initial year's findings and
methods, with the goal of expanding data collection and analysis to
improve the validity and generalizability of findings.
The questionnaire will be administered online.
Respondents: Active CED and JOLI grantees with grants awarded from
2001 through 2004.
[[Page 349]]
Annual Burden Estimates
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Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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Questionnaire for OCS--CED and JOLI Grantees 172 1 1.5 258
in the U.S.................................
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 258.
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
Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade,
SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. E-mail
address: infocollection@acf.hhs.gov. 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: December 27, 2005.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 06-18 Filed 1-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M