[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66645-66646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27759]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects
Title: DHHS/ACF Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration
Evaluation Project 18-Month Survey.
OMB No.: New Collection.
Description: the Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration
Evaluation Project, which was developed and funded by the
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a national evaluation to
determine the benefits and cost-effectiveness of methods designed to
aid current or former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
recipients or other low-income families as they transition from welfare
to the employment arena. This evaluation chiefly attempts to address
four research questions:
[sbull] What are the issues and challenges associated with
operating the new welfare-to-work services and policy approaches being
studied?
[sbull] How effective are the welfare-to-work programs under the
project in increasing employment and earnings and in improving other
measures?
[sbull] What are the net costs of the welfare-to-work programs, and
do the programs' benefits outweigh the costs?
[sbull] What approaches should policymakers and program managers
consider in designing strategies to improve the efficacy of welfare-to-
work strategies for families in rural areas?
The evaluation employs a multi-pronged approach to answer the
research questions. These approaches include: (1) An impact study,
which will examine the differences between control and intervention
groups with respect to factors such as employment rates, earnings, and
welfare receipt; (2) a cost-benefit analysis, which will calculate
estimates of net program cost-effectiveness; and (3) an in-depth
process study, which will identify implementation issues and
challenges, examine program costs, and provide details on how programs
achieve observed results. The data collected during the conduct of this
study will be used for the following purposes:
[sbull] To study rural welfare-to-work programs' effects on factors
such as employment, earnings, educational attainment, family
composition;
[sbull] To collect data on a wider range of outcome measures--such
as job acquisition, retention, and advancement, job quality,
educational attainment, and employment barriers--than is available
through welfare or unemployment insurance records, in order to
understand how individuals are being affected by the demonstration
programs;
[sbull] To support research on the implementation of welfare-to-
work programs across sites;
[sbull] To obtain program participation and service use information
important to the evaluation's cost-benefit component; and
[sbull] To obtain contact information for a future follow-up survey
that will be important to achieving high response rates for that
survey.
Respondents: The respondents of the 18-month follow-up survey are
current and former TANF recipients, or individuals in families at risk
of needing TANF benefits (working poor, hard-to-employ) from the three
states participating in the evaluation (Illinois, Nebraska, and
Tennessee). The survey will be administered to both intervention and
control groups in each participating site. The estimated sample size
for the survey is 3,400 individuals, including projected samples of
2,200 in Tennessee, and 600 each in Illinois and Nebraska. The survey
will be conducted primarily by telephone, with field interviews
conducted with those individuals who cannot be interviewed by
telephone.
Respondents of the process study data collection efforts
(interviews, case studies, and focus groups) include State and local-
level agency staff from welfare agencies and other organizations. These
individuals include program directors and site managers, program line
staff, workforce development staff, TANF agency staff, and community
partners and employers. Approximately 105 staff members per site are
expected to participate in semi-structured interviews, 21 in case
conferences, and 108 in focus groups, across the three demonstration
sites.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Number of
Instrument Number of responses per Average burden hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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18-Month Follow-up Survey............ 963 1 45 minutes or .75 hours. 723
Process Study Data Collection Staff 105 1 75 minutes or 1.15 hours 120.8
Interviews.
Process Study Data Collection Staff 21 1 30 minutes or .5 hours.. 10.5
Case Conferences.
Process Study Data Collection Staff 108 1 90 minutes or 1.5 hours. 162
Focus Groups.
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1016.3.
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,
[[Page 66646]]
DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. 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: October 23, 2002.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 02-27759 Filed 10-31-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M