[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10531-10532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4051]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Permanency Innovations Initiative Evaluation: Phase I.
    OMB No.: New collection.
    Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to collect 
data for an evaluation of the Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII). 
This 5-year initiative, funded by the Children's Bureau (CB) within 
ACF, is intended to build the evidence base for innovative 
interventions that enhance well-being and improve permanency outcomes 
for particular groups of children and youth who are at risk for long-
term foster care and who experience the most serious barriers to timely 
permanency.
    Six grantees are funded to identify local barriers to permanent 
placement and implement innovative strategies that mitigate or 
eliminate those barriers and reduce the likelihood that children will 
remain in foster care for three years or longer. The first year of the 
initiative focused on clarifying grantees' target populations and 
intervention programs. In addition, evaluation plans were developed to 
support rigorous site-specific and cross-site studies to document the 
implementation and effectiveness of the grantees' projects and the 
initiative overall.
    Data collection for the PII evaluation includes a number of 
components being launched at different points in time. The purpose of 
the current document is to request approval of data collection efforts 
needed for a first phase of data collection and to request a waiver for 
subsequent 60 day notices for later components of the evaluation. The 
first phase includes data collection for a cross-site implementation 
evaluation and site-specific evaluations of two PII grantees (Washoe 
County, Nevada, and the State of Kansas) that will begin implementing 
interventions during the second year of the PII grant period. The 
second phase includes a cost evaluation and site-specific evaluations 
of four PII grantees expected to implement interventions in the third 
year of the PII grant period.
    Data for the evaluations will be collected through: (1) Direct 
assessment of caregivers; (2) service providers' clinical assessments 
of children and families; (3) interviews and focus groups with grantee 
staff during site visits and through telephone interviews; (4) web-
based data collection from service providers and key informants; and 
(5) retrieval and submission of data from grantee data systems.
    Respondents: Children and their parents or permanent or foster 
caregivers, caseworkers, supervisors, service providers, and key 
informants such as grantee project directors, data managers, and 
representatives of partner agencies.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                  Annual  number     Number of        Average
                   Instrument                           of         responses per   burden hours    Total annual
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response    burden hours
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                                         CROSS-SITE IMPLEMENTATION STUDY
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Baseline Survey of Organization/System Readiness              60            1                .75              45
Implementation Drivers Web Survey...............             150            2.0              .75             225
Grantee Case Study Field Visit Discussion Guide.              60            1               2.0              120
Fidelity Data (Implementation Quotient Tracker).               2            8               1.5               24
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[[Page 10532]]

 
Cross-site implementation study annual burden hours                                                          414
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                                         KANSAS SITE-SPECIFIC EVALUATION
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Caregiver Initial Information Form..............             300            1               0.1               30
Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale             300            2               1.0              600
Family Assessment Battery.......................             300             .52            1.5              234
Caseworker interviews for NCFAS completion......              45           54               0.5            1,215
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Kansas annual burden hours                                                                                 2,079
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                                     WASHOE COUNTY SITE-SPECIFIC EVALUATION
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Family Assessment Battery.......................             249            1.33            1.5              497
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Washoe annual burden hours                                                                                   497
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,990.
    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 
Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 
Washington, DC 20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Email 
address: [email protected]. 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.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-4051 Filed 2-21-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P