[Federal Register: December 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 232)]
[Notices]               
[Page 68166]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04de07-77]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

 
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request 
Proposed Project

    Title: Building Strong Families (BSF) Demonstration and 
Evaluation--Impact Study Second Follow-up.
    OMB No.: New Collection.
    Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing a data 
collection activity as part of the Building Strong Families (BSF) 
Demonstration and Evaluation. The proposed collection will consist of 
two elements: (1) A telephone survey to be administered to both 
partners in couples enrolled in the BSF research sample about 36 months 
after enrollment, and (2) observational assessments of BSF families and 
their children.
    These data collections are part of the BSF evaluation, which is an 
important opportunity to learn if well-designed interventions can help 
low-income couples develop the knowledge and relationship skills that 
research has shown are associated with healthy marriages. BSF programs 
provide instruction and support to improve marriage and relationship 
skills and enhance couples' understanding of marriage. In addition, BSF 
programs provide links to a variety of other services that could help 
couples sustain a healthy relationship (e.g., employment assistance). 
The BSF evaluation uses an experimental design that randomly assigns 
couples who volunteer to participate in BSF programs to a program or to 
a control group.
     The 36-month data collection effort draws heavily from the 15-
month survey conducted in BSF sites. Materials for the 15-month data 
collection effort were previously submitted to OMB and were approved 
under OMB Control No. 0970-0304.
    Respondents: The respondents for the telephone questionnaire will 
be all couples in the BSF evaluation. The respondents for the 
observational assessments will be a sub-sample of children of the 
couples.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Annual  number     Number of                                 Estimated
              Instrument                      of         responses per  Average burden hours per  annual  burden
                                          respondents     respondent            response               hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36-month telephone survey (female                2,099               1  .9166666 (55 minutes)...           1,924
 partner).
36-month telephone survey (male                  1,978               1  .8333333 (50 minutes)...           1,648
 partner).
Child/family observations.............           1,125               1  .6666666 (40 minutes)...             750
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,322.
    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: November 26, 2007.
Brendan C. Kelly,
OPRE Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-5916 Filed 12-03-07; 8:45 am]

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