[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2567-2569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-795]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Proposed Collection of Information for the Job Corps Process
Study; New Collection
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a
preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and
Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program
helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired
format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, ETA is soliciting comments on a new information
collection for the Job Corps Process Study (Process Study). A copy of
the proposed information collection request can be obtained by
contacting the office listed below in the addresses section of this
notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before March 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Dan Ryan, Employment and Training
Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Room N-5641, Washington,
DC 20210. Telephone number: (202) 693-3649 (this is not a toll-free
number). Fax number: (202) 693-2766. Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Job Corps is a comprehensive program designed to assist eligible
disadvantaged youth aged 16 to 24 through intensive education and
training services. A total of 125 primarily residential Job Corps
centers operate in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico. Job Corps provides academic instruction to improve students'
reading and math abilities and prepare students for obtaining General
Educational Development certificates or high school diplomas, career
technical training in over 100 programs, and development of
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social skills. In addition, Job Corps provides dormitory-style housing,
meals, medical care, and counseling. Finally, the program assists its
enrollees with career transitions through placement in jobs, higher
education, and the military. Over the course of its 45 years of
operation, Job Corps has served almost 3 million youth.
In the fall of 2010, ETA contracted with IMPAQ International, LLC
(with subcontracts to the Battelle Memorial Institute and Decision
Information Resources, Inc.--henceforth, the IMPAQ team) to conduct
this Process Study to address the following broad questions:
What center practices appear to be associated with center
performance or particular dimensions of performance and what is the
nature of such associations?
How do interactions among center practices and
characteristics mediate these associations? Put differently, do some
strategies or practices work especially well (or especially badly) for
certain kinds of centers?
ETA is requesting clearance for the IMPAQ team to carry out two
principal research activities, integral to the Process Study: (1) Site
visits to 16 Job Corps centers with interviews with senior center and
operator management, instructors, staff, and partners and focus groups
with students and (2) a Web-based survey of all Job Corps center
directors.
The centers for visits will be selected in a purposive fashion to
represent diversity of performance, using established Job Corps
performance metrics on student outcomes both during and after program
enrollment, adjusted for participant and local labor market
characteristics, supplemented by additional measures of job placement
and student satisfaction. Practices identified during the visits will
also be examined through the survey. The ultimate use of the
information collection is to associate practices with performance
outcomes, an analysis which should be useful for programmatic
improvement.
II. Review Focus
The Department is particularly interested in comments, which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
Type of Review: New collection.
Title: Job Corps Process Study.
OMB Number: 1205-0NEW.
Affected Public: Job Corps center management and staff; Job Corps
students; Job Corps partner organizations' staff; and Job Corps center
operators' staff.
Total Respondents: 637.
Frequency: Twice for directors of the 16 visited centers and once
for all other respondents.
Total Responses: 653.
Average Time per Response: 85 minutes.\1\
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\1\ This is the average across all types of information
collection activities.
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Estimated Total Burden Hours: 927.
Total Other Burden Cost for Respondents: $0.
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Total burden
hours for
Data collection activity (interview unless noted as position type
survey) across all
centers
Concerned
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Center Directors...................................... 32
Human Resources Managers.............................. 8
Academic Instruction Managers......................... 24
Career Technical Training (CTT) Managers.............. 24
Work-Based Learning Coordinators...................... 16
Career Preparation Period Managers.................... 16
Counseling Managers................................... 24
Peer Leadership Coordinators.......................... 8
Social Development Managers........................... 16
Center Safety Officers................................ 16
Academic Instructors.................................. 48
CTT Instructors....................................... 48
Residential Advisors.................................. 48
Senior Administration Staff, Including from Operators. 32
Business and Community Liaisons....................... 16
Organizational Partners: Outreach and Admissions and 32
Career Technical Services............................
Community Partners, Other than Employers.............. 32
Employer Partners..................................... 32
Regional Office Project Managers...................... 16
Students.............................................. 64
Center Director Survey................................ 375
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TOTAL............................................. 927
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Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for the Office of Management
and Budget approval of the information
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collection request; they will also become a matter of public record.
Dated: Signed in Washington, DC, on this 11th day of January,
2012.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 2012-795 Filed 1-17-12; 8:45 am]
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