PPA OMB Package - Supporting Statement Part B - 9-8-08

Evaluation of Pregnancy Prevention Approaches

(PPA)

Supporting Statement

for OMB Clearance Request

PART B

Submitted by

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

7^th floor, West, Aerospace Building

370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW

Washington, DC 20447

Project Officer:

Seth Chamberlain

Part B

Statistical Methods (used for collection of information employing statistical methods)

This section provides supporting statements for each of the five points outlined in Part B of the OMB guidelines, in order to collect information for initial activities of the Pregnancy Prevention Approaches (PPA) demonstration and evaluation. As noted in Part A, the study will be carried out in two phases. This submission seeks clearance for the first phase of information collection activities only: collecting information from experts and stakeholders to inform site selection. A subsequent OMB submission will seek clearance for the second step of activities.

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

The Pregnancy Prevention Approaches (PPA) evaluation is designed to test promising approaches to preventing teen pregnancy. In order to produce findings that will be of maximum use, this information collection must provide details on a wide range of interventions to be considered, identify major research themes and questions that are most pressing to the field, and focus the selection process on the programs that are of most interest to practitioners and policymakers. Proposed information collection activities, thus, involve informal discussions with stakeholders (and, as necessary with program participants, focus groups) in order to obtain their feedback about strategies worth studying in terms of effectiveness and impact on pregnancy prevention. We propose to engage in informal interviews the following groups of stakeholders:

• Researchers, Policy Experts, and Coordinators—individuals who study and/or are experts on issues related to pregnancy prevention – including experts in the fields of abstinence education, comprehensive sex education, STD/HIV education and prevention, positive youth development, etc.; policy analysts and policy makers who are instrumental in applying research on pregnancy prevention approaches to inform and, in some cases, craft public policies related to such approaches; and state-level or other coordinators;

• Practitioners—directors or staff of pregnancy prevention programs, including school- and community-based programs as well as local and state agencies, as appropriate; we also propose to observe program activities, e.g. classroom activities, as appropriate;

• As appropriate, participants—students or youth (or, in some cases, parents) who participate in programs: these discussions will likely be focus groups.

• As appropriate, school administrators—individuals who coordinate, oversee, or otherwise work with pregnancy prevention programs within educational settings.

Respondents will be identified through several means. Literature reviews and existing studies will be consulted (and, where necessary, additional review will be conducted) to assess what is currently known about pregnancy prevention programs; one specific study currently underway, Exploration of Approaches to Preventing Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students,¹ is expected to provide useful information: this is a descriptive study that is documenting the range of programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy and developing a classification system to categorize those approaches. Members of constituent groups (e.g. the Abstinence Clearinghouse) and national organizations (e.g. the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) will be important stakeholders from the practitioner and policy communities. Finally, we will use a “snowball” sampling technique that relies on referrals from initial respondents, to generate additional respondents. Thus, we anticipate that stakeholders identified either through the literature or national organizations will recommend other individuals with whom we should conduct interviews.

B2. Procedures for Collection of Information

Informal discussions with stakeholders (and, as appropriate with program participants, focus groups) will be conducted by telephone and in-person. Discussions will be conducted commencing with the receipt of OMB clearance or award of the Pregnancy Prevention Approaches (PPA) contract (expected September 30, 2008), whichever comes later, and will occur most heavily in the first year of the contract but may extend into the second year. Discussions will be conducted by senior members of the selected PPA evaluation contractor.

Contractor staff will contact potential discussants and obtain their consent to setting up an appointment for a telephone or in-person discussion. Contractor staff will use the approved instruments (see Appendices A through E) to guide the discussion and help ensure that appropriate topics are covered, given the type of stakeholder being interviewed. Contractor staff will takes notes during the discussion, obtain relevant written materials that are readily available, and prepare written summaries of each discussion and group of discussions for submission to ACF.

Participants in focus groups will first be required to submit an assent/consent form (both will be necessary when the participant is either a minor or is a high school student). A separate section of the assent/consent form will request consent for audio recording; if consent is obtained from participants and their parents/guardians, focus groups will be recorded, but the recordings will be destroyed after review.)

We anticipate that the discussions will vary depending on the respondent and that not more than 500 respondents will be interviewed over two years (i.e. 250 respondents per year).

Exhibit B2.1 Estimated Response Time
Instrument	Number of Respondents over Two Years	Average Burden Hours Per Response
Discussion Guide for Use with Researchers, Policy Experts, and Coordinators	100	1
Discussion Guide for Use with Program Directors	50	2.5
Discussion Guide for Use with Program Staff	100	2
Focus Group Discussion Guide for Use with Program Participants	200	1.5
Discussion Guide for Use with School Administrators	50	1
Total	500	-

B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

We expect to obtain a very high response rate (95 percent) among stakeholders who will be interviewed. Several factors will help ensure a high rate of cooperation among respondents. First, senior staff members of the study team who are familiar with the issues will conduct the discussions. Second, it is expected that staff conducting the discussions will personally know many of the respondents through their professional connections. Finally, the stakeholders who will be interviewed are all heavily invested in the issues surrounding pregnancy prevention and thus will be interested in contributing to the development of the interventions to be tested in the study.

B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

As discussed in Section A12, the discussion guides (with the exception of the participant discussion guide) were pre-tested with ACF staff and the burden was estimated from these tests. The information collection instruments are similar to discussion protocols that have been used successfully in prior studies.

B5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

The information will be collected by the contractor selected to conduct the Pregnancy Prevention Approaches (PPA) evaluation, and its subcontractors, on behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF). With ACF oversight and approval, the contractor will be responsible for the finalizing the study design, data collection, analysis, and report preparation. Key input to the current data collection instruments was received from the following individuals:

Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Family and Youth Services Bureau

• Stan Koutstaal, Acting Deputy Director

Division of Abstinence Education

• Scott Riggins, Acting Director

• Melodye Watson, Program Analyst

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

• Nancye Campbell, Senior Research Analyst

• Seth Chamberlain, Research Analyst

• Naomi Goldstein, Director

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

• Lisa Trivits, Research Analyst

Inquiries regarding statistical aspects of the study design should be directed to:

Seth Chamberlain

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.

Washington, DC 20477

202-260-2242

Mr. Chamberlain is the project officer and has overseen the design of the data collection instruments.

1 This study is currently underway; Abt Associates Inc. is conducting the study, under contract to the Office of the HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). Draft materials will be shared with the contractor of the Pregnancy Prevention Approaches contract.