[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75437-75439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30686]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Title: Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program.
OMB No.: 0970-0394.
Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF),
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing data
collection activities as part of the Health Profession Opportunity
Grants (HPOG) program. ACF has developed a multi-pronged research and
evaluation approach for the HPOG program to better understand and
assess the activities conducted and their results. The proposed data
collection activities described in this notice will provide data for
three evaluation components, the National Implementation Evaluation of
the Health Profession Opportunity Grants to Serve TANF Recipients and
Other Low-Income Individuals (HPOG-NIE) and the Impact Studies of the
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG-Impact), and the Innovative
Strategies for Increasing Self Sufficiency (ISIS) evaluation.
Two data collection efforts related to HPOG research were approved
by OMB, including approval of a Performance Reporting System (PRS)
(approved September 2011) and for collection of additional baseline
data for the HPOG-Impact study (approved October 2012). One data
collection of ISIS was approved (November 2011) and follow up data
collection instruments are currently under review.
This 60-day notice describes the remaining data collection efforts
for both HPOG-NIE and HPOG-Impact. Two of the proposed instruments will
collect data from all of the ISIS sites. Information collection
described under 1 through 9 will be included in the next OMB submission
for review. Information collections 10 through 14 will be submitted in
a future information collection clearance request.
The goal of HPOG-NIE is to describe and assess the implementation,
systems change, and outcomes and other important information about the
operations of the 27 HPOG grantees focused on TANF recipients and other
low-income individuals. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to
collect data about the HPOG program designs and implementation, HPOG
partner and program networks and indicators of systems change,
employers' perceptions of HPOG programs, the composition and intensity
of HPOG services received, participant characteristics and HPOG
experiences, and participant outputs and outcomes.
The goal of HPOG-Impact is to evaluate the effectiveness of
approaches used by 20 of the HPOG grantees to provide TANF recipients
and other low[hyphen]income individuals with opportunities for
education, training and advancement within the health care field. HPOG-
Impact also is intended to evaluate variation in participant impact
that may be attributable to different HPOG program components and
models. The impact study design is a classic experiment in which
eligible applicants will be randomly assigned to a treatment group that
is offered participation in HPOG and a control group that is not
permitted to enroll in HPOG. Data collected from the HPOG participants
served by these 20 grantees will also be used for the HPOG-NIE study.
The goal of ISIS is to test a range of promising career pathways
strategies to promote education, employment, and self-sufficiency.
Three HPOG grantees are in the ISIS evaluation along with 6 additional
non-HPOG sites.
The information collection activities to be submitted in the next
request package include:
(1) The HPOG-NIE sample frame questionnaire will ask respondents
from each of the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantees to identify and
provide contact information for potential respondents to the surveys
described in items 2-4.
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(2) The HPOG-NIE grantee survey will be administered to staff of
the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantees and their major collaborators.
The survey will collect information about the HPOG program context and
about program administration, activities and services.
(3) The HPOG-NIE survey of HPOG program management and staff will
collect information from HPOG staff in the 27 TANF and low-income HPOG
grantee sites about their approaches to delivering key program services
and activities, as well as beliefs and attitudes about the HPOG program
and mission and priorities in serving its target population.
(4) The HPOG-NIE stakeholder/network survey will collect
information about partner organizations' and stakeholders' roles,
responsibilities, levels of investment, and perceptions of the
viability and productivity of the program and stakeholder network in
all 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantee sites and the 6 additional non-
HPOG ISIS sites.
(5) The HPOG-NIE employer survey will collect information about
employers' perceptions of the overall healthcare labor market, firm-
specific conditions and hiring practices, and their perceptions of and
experience with the program in all 27 TANF and low-income HPOG grantee
sites and the 6 additional non-HPOG ISIS sites.
(6) HPOG-Impact in-person implementation interviews with HPOG
personnel will collect information about the grantees' rationale for
applying for HPOG funding, administrative challenges, and challenges
implementing programs as planned, as well as information about staff
roles and responsibilities and perceptions of the program. The study
will use the interviews to supplement and validate sections of the
HPOG-NIE grantee survey (described above) in the 27 TANF and low-income
HPOG grantee sites.
(7) HPOG-Impact additional in-person implementation interviews with
HPOG personnel at systematic variation grantees will collect
information about the implementation of HPOG program components that
may be associated with variation in participant impacts in the 27 TANF
and low-income HPOG grantee sites.
(8) The HPOG-Impact follow-up survey of both treatment and control
group members will be administered approximately 15 months after
baseline data collection and random assignment. The survey will collect
data about outcomes of interest, including certifications and
educational achievements, job placement, wages, and benefits. It also
will collect some information about HPOG participants' tenure and
experience in HPOG programming in all 20 HPOG Impact sites.
(9) The HPOG-NIE supplemental participant follow-up survey will be
the same as the instrument developed for the HPOG-Impact follow-up
survey but will be administered to participants from the four HPOG
grantees focused on TANF recipients and other low[hyphen]income
individuals that are not included in the HPOG-Impact study or the
Innovative Strategies for Increasing Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project.
Data collection activities to submit in a future information
collection request include: (10) The HPOG-NIE follow-up stakeholder/
network survey; (11) the HPOG-Impact second follow-up survey of both
treatment and control group members; (12) the HPOG-NIE second
supplemental participant follow-up survey; (13) HPOG-Impact follow-up
data collection on children of HPOG-Impact study participants; and (14)
the HPOG-NIE in-person interviews with HPOG managers and staff.
Respondents: Individuals enrolled in HPOG interventions; control
group members; HPOG program managers; HPOG program staff, including
instructors and case managers; representatives of partner agencies and
stakeholders, including support service providers, education and
vocational training providers, Workforce Investment Boards, TANF
agencies, and local health care employers.
Annual Response Burden Estimates
[This information collection request is for a two-year period]
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Number of Average burden
Instrument Total number responses per hours per Total burden Annual burden
of respondents respondent response hours hours
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1. HPOG-NIE sample frame 54 1 4 216 108
questionnaire..................
2. HPOG-NIE grantee survey...... 135 1 0.67 90 45
3. HPOG-NIE survey of HPOG 540 1 0.5 270 135
program management and staff...
4. HPOG-NIE stakeholder/network 610 1 0.5 305 153
survey.........................
5. HPOG-NIE employer survey..... 244 1 0.5 122 61
6. HPOG-Impact in-person 216 1 1 216 108
implementation interviews with
HPOG personnel.................
7. HPOG-Impact additional in- 100 1 1 100 50
person implementation
interviews with HPOG personnel
at systematic variation
grantees.......................
8a. HPOG-Impact follow-up survey 3,416 1 .75 2562 1281
of HPOG participants...........
8b. HPOG-Impact follow-up survey 1708 1 0.5 854 427
of control group members.......
9. HPOG-NIE supplemental 600 1 0.75 450 225
participant follow-up survey...
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Estimated Annual Response Burden Hours: 2,593.
In compliance with the requirement of section 3506 (c) (2) (A) of
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children
and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services, 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 in 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
[[Page 75439]]
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,
ACF Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-30686 Filed 12-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-09-P