[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 22611-22612] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-10448] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Emergency Clearance: Public Information Collection Requirements Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the following request for emergency review. We requesting an emergency review because the original OMB clearance for this project expired on 12/31/98 and the collection of this information is essential to the mission of the Department. Without emergency approval of the proposed information collections described below, the Department can not complete this study that will answer key questions about assisted living and help inform state and federal policy-makers. The bulk of the data collection for this project has been successfully completed and preliminary analysis has begun but the remaining data collection is critical. To understand whether or not assisted living is meeting the needs of the frail elderly, we must get a clearer picture of the discharged residents. Policy makers currently have no information on this vulnerable population of frail elderly. The proposed data collection will provide information such as their length of stay, why they left assisted living, and what type of care setting they moved into after their discharge. This information is key because it will help answer crucial questions about whether assisted living meets its promise of allowing resident to ``age in place'' (thereby avoiding serious disruptions to their lives) and the degree to which assisted living serves as a viable alternative to nursing homes. These are important and timely policy issues that should benefit greatly from the study's findings. And delay in our ability to collect these data is likely to compromise both response rates and data quality. Any increase in the time between re-contact and the original assessment of the resident, when consent for re-contact and contact information was obtained, will reduce the response rate. Contact information becomes less accurate as time passes, and delay will mean that project staff will simply not be able to find as many of the discharged residents. Data quality will be compromised because of increases in the time between their decision to leave the facility and project queries asking them to reconstruct the logic of that decision. In addition, with delay, mortality will be higher in the discharged resident sample, requiring the use of more proxy respondents, whose recollections or perceptions may be less reliable then responses from the residents themselves. DHHS is requesting that OMB grant emergency approval for 180 days. We are requesting approval by April 30, 1999. Title and Description of Information Collection: The data collection for which emergency clearance is sought is for the study ``National Study of Assisted Living for the Frail Elderly (OMB 0990- 0217).'' Facilities included in the original field data collection will be contacted again. Project staff will determine which of the residents included in the original resident sample in the facility have left the facility. Using contact information obtained during the initial assessment, project staff will contact those respondents (or their proxy respondents) for a telephone interview. The interview will include inquiries about the respondents' reasons for selecting the original facility, changes over time in their preferences for different features of assisted living, their length of stay, specific reasons for leaving facility, and a description of their current residential setting. Respondents: Discharged residents or their proxies; Number of Respondents: 306; Number of Responses per Respondent: one; Average Burden Per Response: 19 minutes; Total Burden: 97 hrs. To request more information or a copy of the proposed data collection, please contact Pam Doty on (202) 690-6443. Comments are invited 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) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of information technology. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collections should be immediately sent directly to the OMB Desk Officer designated at the following address: OMB Human Resource and Housing Branch, Attention: Allison Eydt, New [[Page 22612]] Executive Office Building, Room 1000235, Washington, D.C. 20503 Comments may be faxed to Ms. Eydt at (202) 395-5167. Please send a copy of your comments to Cynthia Agens Bauer, OS Reports Clearance Officer, Room 503H, Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 200201. Dated: April 16, 1999. Dennis P. Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Budget. [FR Doc. 99-10448 Filed 4-26-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4150-04-M