FOS Long Term Tracking_PartA_ 5-26-17

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has invested considerable resources in strategies to address family homelessness. Senate Report 109-109 for The FY2006 Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary, HUD, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill directed the Department to focus its energies on homeless families and to “undertake research to ascertain the impact of various service and housing interventions in ending homelessness for families.” In 2008, HUD undertook an evaluation of the Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families, to respond to this mandate.¹ This study is also known as the Family Options Study. The study, conducted by Abt Associates and its partners Abt SRBI and Vanderbilt University, compares the effects of three active interventions—long-term housing subsidy, community-based rapid re-housing, and project-based transitional housing—to one another and to the usual care available to homeless families. This study provides evidence to help federal policymakers, community planners, and local practitioners make sound decisions about the best ways to address homelessness among families.

From September 2010 through January 2012, 2,282 families (with 5,397 children) across 12 communities enrolled in the Family Options Study after spending at least 7 days in emergency shelter. At the time of enrollment families provided their consent to participate in the study and completed a baseline survey (OMB #2528-0259, Expiration Date: 05/31/2013). The study randomized these 2,282 families to one of four interventions distinguished by the type and duration of housing assistance and supportive services.The four interventions are:

SUB (priority access to a permanent housing subsidy),
CBRR (priority access to community-based rapid re-housing),
PBTH (priority access to project-based transitional housing), or
UC (the usual care group without priority access to any program).

Random assignment yielded groups of families with no systematic differences in baseline characteristics.

Exhibit A-1 shows the number of study participants assigned to each intervention by site.

Exhibit A-1

	All RA as of 1/31/2012
	Alameda County	Atlanta	Baltimore	Boston	CT	Denver	Honolulu	Kansas City	Louisville	Minneapolis	Phoenix	Salt Lake City	Total
CBRR	56	73	20	53	73	8	44	30	18	52	62	80	569
PBTH	49	41	17	0	18	23	66	42	24	4	65	19	368
SUB	76	0	0	64	47	76	42	54	32	62	71	75	599
UC	77	75	21	64	76	65	65	50	35	63	81	74	746
Total	258	189	58	181	214	172	217	176	109	181	279	248	2282

The research team used survey data and administrative data to measure the relative impacts of the interventions on housing stability, family preservation, adult well-being, child well-being, and self- sufficiency.^³ The study provides a strong basis for conclusions about the relative impacts of the interventions on family well-being. The study sample, and the rich set of data collected, can support rigorous, longitudinal research about the nature of family homelessness and its long-term consequences for adults and children.

A.1 Circumstances that make the Collection of Information Necessary

A.1.1. Need for Information Collection

The focus of this information collection request is the Family Options Study long-term tracking data collection. No data collection has been conducted with the Family Options Study sample since December 2014 when the 37-month follow-up survey was completed. Renewed efforts to locate and retain the sample and to gather updated contact information will reap substantial benefits for researchers and policy makers who want to examine longer term effects of the interventions as well as dynamics among adults and children in families who experienced homelessness in 2010 to 2012. This request is being submitted as a revision to an existing clearance (OMB #2528-0259), and contains the following instruments for review and approval:

Instrument A- Participant Contact Update Form
Instrument B1- Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent
Instrument B2- Family Options Study Information Release Form
Instrument C- 72-month Tracking Survey

Our data collection will begin with the mailing of the Family Options Study Update (included for reference as Appendix A), a short newsletter designed to remind study families of the study and alert them of upcoming data collection efforts. Included in this mailing will be the Family Options Study Participant Contact Update Form (included as Instrument A). Shortly after the mailing, the research team will begin efforts to reach the full sample of study families in order to administer the 72-Month Tracking Survey (included as Instrument C). Prior to administering the 72-month Tracking Survey, the research team will obtain renewed consent from all respondents, working with families to complete both the Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent form (included as Instrument B1) and Family Options Study Information Release Form (included as Instrument B2). Finally, depending on the response rate received to the tracking survey, it is possible that HUD will administer a second round of outreach to study families by way of a mailing a Participant Tracking Letter (included as Appendix B), and again including the Family Options Study Participant Contact Update Form (included as Instrument A).

The 72-month tracking survey, included as Instrument C, is modeled after the short tracking survey that was administered 6, 12, and 27 months after random assignment, and under this new collection, would be administered to family heads about 72 months after random assignment. We refer to the survey in the supporting statements as the 72-month Tracking Survey. The objective of this new data collection is to conduct sample tracking to locate and re-engage the study sample, and to collect updated contact information. This tracking effort will provide the Department with information needed to assess the feasibility of longer-term data collection with the study sample. During the tracking survey, the research team will also collect information on a small number of key items: housing stability, use of homeless and housing assistance programs, family composition, and employment status. These are the same items collected in previous data collection with the sample during the first three years after random assignment. This data collection will augment the longitudinal database established for the Family Options Study and adds to the research value of the study database. The 72-month Tracking Survey uses items taken from the previous tracking survey and follow-up survey instruments that OMB has previously approved for this study.

A.2 Information Users

A.2.1 How will the Information Collected be Used?

The information collected for this study will be used by policy makers to assess the feasibility of locating Family Options Study participants and re-engaging them in the study almost three years after the last data collection. The results of tracking and updated contact information will inform the Department about the potential for conducting longer-term follow-up data collection with the study sample. This data collection will also provide updated information on key items collected previously to augment the longitudinal database for the study sample. The research team collected contact information for each sample member at baseline and each subsequent data collection, and will begin this revised data collection by sending out a mailing including the Family Options Study Update along with the Family Options Study Participant Contact Update Form, with the objective of gathering updated contact information, where needed. The team will use this contact information to locate each sample member to facilitate the 72-month tracking survey.

A.2.2 Purpose of the Data Collection

The 72-month tracking data collection to be conducted under this request for clearance offers a vital opportunity to re-establish contact with the study sample, update the contact information for all participants, collect additional information on key outcomes of interest, and ultimately, assess the feasibility of future research efforts. This request for clearance covers the instrument for the 72-month tracking survey, which is drawn largely from the tracking instrument first approved under OMB 2528-0259 and the Participant Contact Update Form, approved under the same clearance request. The 72-month tracking survey includes the same questions used to measure key outcomes at 20 and 37-months: experience of homelessness, housing status and receipt of assistance, family composition, and employment status.

A.2.3 Who Will Use the Information

The primary beneficiary of the planned tracking efforts will be HUD. HUD will use the information from the tracking activities and tracking survey in conjunction with information collected through all prior data collection efforts, and the various passive tracking activities, to add to the study database and to assess the feasibility of conducting future follow-up evaluations of Family Options Study participant outcomes. Other non-Federal researchers working with the Family Options Study data will also benefit, as the additional data collected under the 72-month tracking effort will be appended to the existing Family Options Study dataset.

HUD, policy makers, and local homeless providers have benefitted greatly from the data collected for this study under earlier data collection efforts included under OMB Approval Number: 2528-0259. The study data collected to date were used in the following reports, all of which can be found on the study webpage located at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/family_options_study.html:

Interim Report published in March 2012 (Daniel Gubits et al., Interim Report, Family Options Study (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, March 2013).
The Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families (Gubits et al., 2015), presents findings from the 20-month impact analysis;
The Family Options Study: Three-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families (Gubits et al., 2016) presents findings from the 37-month impact analysis; and
A series of academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

A.2.4 Item-by-Item Justification

This section provides justification for each item included in this request for clearance:

Instrument A- Participant Contact Update Form
Instrument B1- Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent
Instrument B2- Family Options Study Information Release Form
Instrument C- 72-month Tracking Survey

Instrument A- Participant Contact Update Form. Study participants have generally been very engaged in the Family Options Study research during the first three years of the follow-up period. Experience with past data collection efforts showed that once located during a data collection effort, most participants have been willing to complete the data collection activities. Given the length of time since the last contact with study participants (at least three years) we think it will be important to provide background information to remind the families about the study and to encourage them to re-engage with the research team. As such, we intend to begin our data collection efforts by sending all study families the Family Options Study Update along with the Participant Contact Update Form, to attempt to gather updated contact information, where needed. The Family Options Study Update (included for reference as Appendix A), is intended to remind the study participants that they are part of an important research study, to thank them for their prior participation and cooperation on the past data collection efforts, and to share highlights about the study accomplishments. The intent is that this summary of accomplishments and reminder of their prior participation will encourage participants to agree to participate in future data collection efforts. The Family Options Study Update will be accompanied by a Participant Contact Update Form. This form asks study participants to confirm or update their information and return it to the research team.

Depending on the response rate achieved for the 72-month tracking survey, it is possible that HUD will administer a second round of outreach to study families by way of a mailing a Participant Tracking Letter (included as Appendix B), and again including the Participant Contact Update Form. The same Participant Contact Update Form will be used for both the re-engagement effort and tracking letter requests to minimize respondent burden. This form allows study participants to update or confirm their information and return it to the research team. Should HUD decide to conduct the additional round of outreach following the completion of the 72-month tracking survey, the Participant Tracking Letter will be sent to study participants once, approximately one year after completing the 72-month Tracking Survey.

Instruments B1/B2- Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent/ Family Options Study Information Release Form. Study participants completed a participation agreement at the time of random assignment, providing their informed consent to participate in all aspects of the research study—follow-up surveys and administrative data collection. The original participation agreement did not specify a time limit for consent, and we believe the consent remains in force throughout the study period. At the time of the 20- and 37-month data collection efforts, adult respondents renewed their consent to participate in the study. The purpose of renewed consent was to facilitate data collection from administrative data sources. Renewed consent is not strictly necessary to pursue administrative data collection because the prior consent forms all provided permission for this type of data collection. However, our experience was that some providers of administrative data such as child welfare agencies require more recent participant consent than what was provided at the time of enrollment, between September 2010 and January 2012 or at the 20-month follow up survey from 2012- 2013. As part of the 37-month follow-up data collection period, the research team also obtained consent to release personally identifiable data collected through the study to HUD.

Under this OMB submission, HUD seeks approval to collect updated study consent and release of information consent forms for study participants. Seeking renewed study consent at the time of the 72-month tracking survey will position HUD well should the Department decide to pursue a long term follow-up data collection in the future. The revised informed consent documents are presented as Instruments B1: the Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent form and Instrument B2: the Family Options Study Information Release Form.

Instrument C- 72-month Participant Tracking Survey. The 72-month tracking survey will be administered to all study participants. The primary purpose of the 72-month tracking survey is to verify and update contact information for the respondent and the secondary contact individuals. The 72-month tracking survey collects the respondents current address, phone number, and email information. It also confirms or updates the contact information for friends or relatives that will always know how to reach the respondent. The Department will use this information if it chooses to conduct a longer-term follow-up study to collect detailed information on family outcomes.

The 72-month tracking survey also collects a small number of key outcomes measures, to supplement the information collected through the prior follow-up data collection efforts and to augment the rich longitudinal database developed for the study. The 72-month Tracking Survey seeks to capture key data of interest while avoiding undue burden on the respondents. The 72-month tracking survey will capture data on three key outcomes using the same items collected in previous surveys:

Housing Stability
1. Current housing status
2. Current receipt of housing assistance
3. Homelessness and doubling up in the past 6 months
4. Participation in homeless and housing assistance programs in the past 6 months
Self Sufficiency
1. Current employment status
2. Length of time since last employed
Family Preservation
1. Current family composition
2. Status of family members present at previous survey

We estimate that the 72-month tracking survey will take, on average, 15 minutes to administer. The tracking survey will be translated into Spanish. Appendix C shows the item-by-item justification for each question in the survey.

A.3 Improved Information Technology

Improved information technology will be used in support of this information collection in the following ways:

to administer the 72-month tracking survey interview using computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) technology;
to store all information on sample locating and re-engagement efforts in an electronic record of contact; and
to append all data collected to the evaluation database.

The Family Options Study generated a substantial amount of data on participating families under the previously approved information collection activities. For adults, data collection included interviews with enrolled families at baseline, random assignment records, tracking interviews, and the 20 and 37-month follow-up surveys. For focal children (up to two per enrolled family), data collection includes a survey at 20 and 37-month follow-up for focal children 8-17 years of age; direct child assessments of children 3 years 6 months to 7 years 11 months of age (at both 20 and 37-month follow-up); and parental report on child development for children 12-41 months of age (at 20-month follow-up) and 20-66 months of age at the 37-month follow-up. A study database was developed to manage the various sources of data. That same database will house the information collected under this information request: administrative data from HUD, passive tracking data from proprietary vendors, and 72-month tracking survey data.

A.3.1 Information Technology and Survey Administration

Information technology assists in the survey data collection in two ways:

Survey administration; and
Survey data management.

The 72-month tracking survey will be administered using CAPI technology. The CAPI technology ensures that the survey data is of high quality. Data quality is enhanced in three key ways. First, CAPI technology controls the flow of the interview, ensuring that skip patterns are followed properly. It also allows the interviewer to both confirm responses (to minimize data entry errors) and check the logic of some responses by establishing an allowable range of values. CAPI technology also allows interviewers to easily record verbatim responses to open-ended questions. Further, it records the current status of each case to facilitate monitoring of response rates and prompt resolution of problems if necessary.

Contact information for all study participants is retained in an electronic sample database. This database provides interviewers with a history of participant contact information for use in the tracking interview data collection. Interviewers can update existing information and/or add new contact updates as needed. Survey management teams can also review the tracking and locating notes for a case with interviewers in real time, maximizing the field locating efforts.

A.4 Duplication of Similar Information

The Family Options Study is the largest experimental study of interventions serving homeless families that has been conducted to date. The large sample of highly vulnerable families provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of the interventions and to explore family dynamics and well-being over time. The proposed 72-month tracking data collection provides the first opportunity to renew contact with study participants after almost 3 years since the 37-month survey was completed. The proposed 72-month tracking study will offer evidence about the feasibility of renewing contact with the study families and gives the opportunity to collect information about housing stability and family well-being more than 6 years after random assignment. The sample for this data collection is all families that enrolled in the study between 2010 and 2012. Information about the study participants’ current contact information and their experiences with homelessness, employment status, and family composition is not available through any other source.

The research team will avoid duplication by using a centrally maintained database, which will link all data collected in the tracking survey to information collected from study participants previously on the baseline, 6-, 12-, and 27-month tracking surveys, as well as data from the 20- and 37-month follow-up surveys. This eliminates the need to ask about family composition at prior points in the follow-up period that has already been collected for the family. In addition, information collected on the tracking, 20- or 37-month interviews has been stored in the study database and will be referenced during the re-engagement and tracking survey data collection effort. In this way, the 72-month tracking survey will involve verification and correction of previously-provided information on family composition and contact information rather than collecting each item anew.

A.5 Small Businesses (Involvement of Small Entities)

Respondents for this data collection include families who voluntarily enrolled in the study, not business entities. There is no expected burden on small businesses.

A.6 Less Frequent Data Collection

Although the 20-and 37-month follow-up surveys provided valuable data on outcomes over a three-year follow-up period, the sample of highly vulnerable families participating in the Family Options Study provides a unique opportunity to explore family dynamics and well-being over time. In order to determine if a future long-term follow-up data collection is feasible, the Department must first assess the potential for locating and re-engaging this sample.

Under the previously approved information collections, the research team maintained frequent contact with study participants—attempting to contact families on a quarterly basis. The last contact with the study families occurred during the 37-month follow-up survey data collection—between March and December 2014. Thus the key challenge for this 72-month information collection request is to locate study participants and renew contact with them after an extended period of time with no contact. This 72-month data collection effort will allow researchers and the Department to assess the likelihood that study participants can be located and what level of effort would be required to conduct a long-term follow-up effort. It is imperative to attempt to locate families as soon as possible to minimize the length of time elapsed since the last contact with them.

A.7 Special Circumstances

The proposed data collection activities are consistent with the guidelines set forth in 5 CFR 1320.6 (Controlling Paperwork Burden on the Public, General Information Collection Guidelines). There are no circumstances that require deviation from these guidelines. Under this ICR, HUD will not conduct any data collection:

requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly; “Not Applicable”

requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it; “Not Applicable”
requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document; “Not Applicable”
requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records, for more than three years; “Not Applicable”
in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study; “Not Applicable”
requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB; “Not Applicable”
that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or “Not Applicable”
requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law. “Not Applicable”

A.8 Federal Register Notice/ Consultation Outside the Agency

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a notice in the Federal Register on September 26, 2016. The docket number was FR-5915-N-11 and the document number is FR Doc. 2016-23018 Filed 9-23-16. The Federal Register notice appeared on pages 66076-66077. The authority is Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C, Chapter 35, as amended. The notice provided a 60-day period for public comments, and comments were due by November 26, 2016. A copy of the notice is shown in Appendix D.

The Family Options Study design was developed and is being implemented with the assistance of Abt Associates Inc., the prime contractor. Several subcontractors and consultants have collaborated with the Abt team to develop the study design. Key members of the Abt team include Dr. Stephen Bell, Dr. Jill Khadduri, Mr. Jacob Klerman, Dr. Daniel Gubits, Ms. Michelle Wood, Ms. Brooke Spellman, and Ms. Mary Joel Holin. Dr. Marybeth Shinn (Vanderbilt University), Dr. Dennis Culhane (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Martha Burt (MBR Consulting), Dr. Ellen Bassuk (Center for Social Innovation). Dr. Beth Weitzman (New York University) and Dr. Larry Orr (Johns Hopkins University) also worked with Abt Associates to develop the study design. Ms. Debi McInnis of Abt Associates, along with Ms. Brenda Rodriguez and Mr. Ricki Jarmon of Abt SRBI developed the strategy used to track study participants over the life of the study.

HUD has collaborated on the design of the evaluation with the research team throughout all phases of the study to date. The purpose of such consultation is to ensure the technical soundness and usefulness of the data collection instruments in carrying out the aims of the evaluation.

One public comment regarding this collection was received in response to the 60-Day Federal Register Notice. The commenter noted strong support for the continued data collection effort, and suggested that the proposed data collection include a question related to the number of evictions that respondents had experienced. While HUD acknowledges that eviction is an important topic for study, the initial Family Options Study research design did not specify evictions as one of the outcomes to be measured in the study’s data collection activities and impact analysis. This item has not been collected on any of the previous follow-up surveys or tracking surveys conducted with the Family Options Study sample. In developing the research design and outcome specifications, the research team and HUD chose instead to measure the results of evictions--frequent moves and doubling up—two outcomes analyzed in the 20- and 37-month analyses--because families often move before a formal eviction process begins.

A.9 Payments to Respondents

Incentive payments have been a powerful tool for maintaining low attrition rates in longitudinal studies, and in the Family Options Study in particular. Adult respondents will receive a token of appreciation for participating in the ongoing data collection efforts. Those adult respondents that complete the 72-month tracking interview will receive $25 in recognition of their time needed to respond to the request for information; those who return a completed contact update form to be sent after the 72-month survey will receive $5. This represents a slight variation from the incentive structure on the previous data collection efforts (previously approved under 2528-0259). Under the prior data collection efforts, the study participants received $15 upon receipt of their completed contact update forms or upon completion of a tracking interview. This request for clearance seeks a modest increase in the incentive for completing the tracking interview. Under this effort, the research team will not only complete the 15-minute tracking interview, but the interviewers will also seek to obtain both consent to continue participating in the study and consent to release information to HUD. This informed consent process adds an additional ten minutes to the respondent burden. It has also been about 3 years since the participants were last contacted by the research team. Given the substantial lag in time since last contact and the increased burden the research team seeks to offer $25 in appreciation for completing the tracking survey. This request also includes a reduced incentive for those that respond to the contact update form. Previously study participants received $15 for returning a completed contact update form. Under this request, the Department seeks approval for $5 incentive for those that return the contact update form. Rather than offering $15 for response to the tracking interview and the tracking contact update request, the team believed it would be more effective to offer a higher incentive for the tracking interview response. Thus a participant that responds to both efforts will receive $30— but, the incentive payments are weighted more heavily to the more critical data collection component. The use of incentive payments for the Family Options Study helped to ensure a high response rate to the prior data collection efforts and to ensure unbiased impact estimates (see Appendix D of, Gubits et. al, 2016 for more on the non-response analysis conducted on this study).

Three factors helped to determine the incentive amounts for each survey:

Respondent burden, both at the time of the interview and over the life of the study;
Costs associated with participating in the interview at that time; and
Other studies of comparable populations and burden.

The Family Options Study panel is small (2,282 families) and avoiding attrition is essential to the success of the study. To fully assess the feasibility of a long term follow-up, we believe it is absolutely necessary to take every possible step to minimize panel attrition over the study follow-up period. This minimal attrition rate is the core justification for an incentive system for the follow-up interview. The need to maintain the panel is further complicated by the housing instability likely in this study population.

Our experience with this study population shows that it does respond positively to incentive payments. Previous research has shown that sample members with certain socio-economic characteristics are significantly more likely to become survey respondents when incentive payments are offered. In particular, sample members with low incomes and/or low educational attainment have proven responsive to incentives, as have minority group members. These characteristics are expected to be heavily represented in this study panel (Duffer et al. 1994); Educational Testing Service (1991).

Based upon our prior experience with this study sample, the previously approved incentive structure for and the additional considerations and prior research experience cited here, we believe that that the use of incentives will improve substantially the probability of panel re-engagement, completion of the tracking interview, and accurate assessment of the feasibility of a long term follow-up. Panel re-engagement and retention will ensure the viability and power of this experimental research study. The Family Options Study represents the first experimental research project HUD has initiated to test the effects of various interventions to assist homeless families; the Department thus places a high level of importance on ensuring that the study panel remains of sufficient size so that the intended statistical measures can be used to draw firm policy conclusions. As described further in Part B.3, the research team will monitor response rates by site and intervention groups.

A.10 Confidentiality

The subjects of this information collection and the nature of the information to be collected require strict confidentiality procedures. The information requested under this collection is protected and held confidential in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C.552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974) and OMB Circular No. A-130. A Privacy Impact Assessment is on file with the Department, and a System of Records Notice (SORN) was published in the Federal Register in October 2010 (FR-5386-N-10), and subsequently amended at the time of the 37-month data collection and published in the Federal Register in February 2014 (FR-5763-N-02). As of May 2017, this SORN does not require an amendment. This data collection effort is further protected through a certificate of confidentiality CC-HD-12-32, issued June 13, 2012 and renewed on March 26, 2014 by the Department of Health and Human Services, NICHD. Detailed procedures used to obtain informed consent are discussed below along with data security procedures.

A.10.1 Informed Consent

Procedures used to enroll adult participants into the study were designed to ensure that participants were able to make a genuinely informed decision about study participation. Vigorous outreach with a clear message and strong supporting materials were used to ensure that those assigned to the interventions tested through the study understood the opportunities available and were likely to take advantage of the intervention’s benefits.

Those families who participate face little risk by agreeing to be part of the evaluation. The outreach effort emphasized this fact. Families with at least one child age 15 or under, residing in an emergency shelter for at least seven days were invited to enroll in the evaluation. The informed consent of each sample member was obtained through a signed consent form, the “Participation Agreement,” which described the evaluation, the process of random assignment, and the information requirements of the evaluation. As part of the 20- and 37-month follow-up data collection efforts, the research team updated the participants’ consent to participate in the study. At the time of the 37-month follow-up, participants were also asked to provide consent to release their information to HUD.

A local site interviewer hired and trained by the research team conducted intake and random assignment in each study site. The site interviewer described the other implications of participating in the study, which related mostly to data collection. Study participants were required to complete the baseline interview and also agreed to be contacted in the future for tracking and follow-up interviews. Families who agreed to enroll in the study also granted the researchers permission to access information about them from other administrative records systems, like HUD’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and HUD’s Public and Indian Housing’s Information Center (PIC), Tenant Rental Assistance Characteristics (TRACS) and from other providers of subsidized housing programs in order to monitor receipt of housing assistance, as well as child welfare data and unemployment insurance wage data. Permission to access data from other sources is necessary to support the collection of other types of administrative data.

Since families will be contacted again for the long term tracking interview, it provides an opportunity to renew consent for all study participants and obtain permission for the Abt research team to share PII with HUD beyond September 2021. The consent forms are included in this request as Instruments B1 and B2.

A.10.2 Data Confidentiality Protections

The data collected previously was used only for the purposes of evaluating the housing and services interventions tested in the evaluation. All communications with study participants included assurances that participation was voluntary, that all information would be kept confidential, and that the respondents' answers would be reported only in aggregate form. An assurance of confidentiality is included in the Consent to Participate-Adult Respondent and Family Options Study Information Release Form (see Instruments B1 and B2, respectively). Members of the research team must sign a pledge of confidentiality as a condition of employment. Separate data files will be maintained for 72-month tracking survey responses and identifying information; linking will be possible by a common identification number. For both 72-month tracking survey data and corresponding HUD administrative data on sample members, computer security will be maintained by restricting access only to project staff members that require direct access to the raw data files for analysis purposes; analysts and authors will have access only to aggregate data.

In addition, all design documents, random assignment protocols, and analysis files must be protected. The study’s data collection plan, this OMB statement, and the proposed survey instrument are also subject to the review and approval of the research team’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The research team’s IRB previously approved the study design, baseline, tracking survey and all adult and child data collection efforts for the 18-month follow-up data collection procedures.

A.10.3 Data Storage and Handling of Survey Data

To ensure data security and enhance data quality, the 72-month tracking survey data collection will be done using CAPI technology. Survey data will be collected using the Confirmit CAPI System. The Confirmit CAPI System has the following security features:

Data on the CAPI console is encrypted with Rijndael algorithm (256 bit key).
CAPI data transfers use Web Services Enhancements (WSE 3.0) for security. The messages sent and received from the console are encrypted. WSE 3.0 provides AES128 + RSA 1.5 as default algorithms for symmetric encryption and key-wrap. The research team has also implemented Secure Conversation with an X509 certificate (which uses 1024 bit key).

In addition to the standard security features offered through the CAPI software, the research team has implemented the following enhancements:

Use of PGP whole disk encryption on all CAPI laptops, and
The file transfers are made to servers running SSL.

Once the 72-month tracking surveys are completed, data will be transferred from the CAPI system to the study’s database. Transfer to the database will be done in a secure manner, using a FIPS-certified encryption algorithm.

A.11 Sensitive Questions

Like the previously approved tracking interview and the 20- and 37-month follow-up surveys, the 72-month tracking survey includes questions about history of homelessness, family separations, and current employment status. Any of these items—individually or taken as a whole—could be considered sensitive. As with all information collected on the interviews, responses will be kept confidential and will be used only for the purposes of evaluating the housing and services interventions tested in the evaluation. To encourage candid responses, respondents will be reminded during the interviews that their responses will be kept confidential. Respondents will also be reminded that they can refuse to answer any question.

The research team has not experienced any difficulty administering these questions under the previous data collection efforts. The interviewers have not reported any negative feedback from respondents on these questions, either.

A.12 Burden Estimates (Total Hours and Wages)

The Family Options Study 72-month Tracking Survey data collection is expected to be conducted during a 6-month period, in order to attempt to re-engage study participants, renew consent to participate in the study, and conduct a tracking interview with study participants approximately three years after the last round of data collection (March-December 2014).

Exhibit A-2 shows the estimated respondent burden for the participant contact update form, the informed consent process, and the 72-month tracking survey. It shows the average time, in hours, estimated to be spent by study participants who complete each data collection component. Burden estimates are based on a total sample of 2,264, the number of families in the sample at the 37-month data collection. Of the 2,282 families in the study, 18 study participants were confirmed deceased before or during the 37-month data collection.

Exhibit A-2. Estimated Respondent Burden Hours and Costs

Instrument	Total # of Respondents*	Frequency of Responses	Total Annual Responses Hours	Burden Hours per Response (in minutes)	Total Annual Burden Hours	Avg. Hourly Wage	Total Annual Cost
Instrument A- Participant Contact Update Form	2,264	2	4,528	.08 hours (5 minutes)	362.24	$10.15	$3,676.74
Instrument B1/B2- Consent to Participate- Adult Respondent/ Family Options Study Information Release Form	2,264	1	2,264	.17 hours (10 minutes)	384.88	$10.15	$3,906.53
Instrument C- 72-month Tracking Survey	2,264	1	2,264	.25 hours (15 minutes)	566.00	$10.15	5,744.90
Total Burden Hours and Costs			9,056		1,313.12		$13,328.17

The table also shows the annualized cost burden for respondents that participate in the data collection effort. The cost burden was calculated by determining an average hourly wage with benefits. The average hourly wage was calculated for each adult respondent group based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics⁴ for the federal minimum wage.

The average hourly rate⁵ for each respondent group was calculated as follows:

Study participant: the minimum hourly wage ($7.25) plus an assumed 40 percent for fringe benefits, or $10.15 per hour.

Using the average times, the total burden of the Family Options Study 72-month tracking data collection from survey respondents is 1,313 hours The total annual cost burden is estimated at $13,328.

A.13 Capital Costs (Maintenance of Capital Costs)

This data collection effort involves no recordkeeping or reporting costs for respondents other than the time burden to respond to questions on the data collection instruments as described in item A.12 above. There is no known cost burden to the respondents.

A.14 Costs to the Federal Government

The estimated cost to the federal government of the planned 72-month Family Options Study Follow Up is $780,538. The subtotal of the cost of the long term tracking contract for the data collection costs specifically, including costs associated with tracking data collection—locating, informed consent, incentives, and the tracking interview, is $527,440.

Exhibit A-3 shows the costs to the federal government of the planned 72-month tracking data collection activities. HUD’s current evaluation contractor, Abt Associates, prepared these estimates. These costs are entirely federal costs.

Exhibit A-3. Estimated Costs to the Federal Government

Data Collection Activity	Cost to the Federal Government
Participant Surveys
Informed Consent, Tracking Interview, and Memo	$483,761
Tracking Contact Update Form and Memo	$43,679
(Data Collection Costs Subtotal)	$527,440
Data Analysis, Report Writing, Data Delivery	$253,098
Total Cost to Government	$780,538

A.15 Program or Burden Changes

This request for clearance reflects a change in burden due to a reduction in the number of burden hours because of a reduction in the number of questions to be asked of respondents. This is a revision to an existing collection (2528-0259). The revision covers a repeat of the tracking interview section only, with minor modifications, administered 3 years after the 37-month data collection. It also includes the request for clearance for the previously approved participant contact update form and informed consent materials.

A.16 Publication and Tabulation Dates

The data collected for the Family Options Study will be analyzed, tabulated, and reported to HUD by the evaluation contractor, Abt Associates Inc, and Abt’s team of subcontractors and consultants.

A.16.1 Time Schedule for Analysis and Reporting

Data Collection Under This Information Collection Request

Re-engagement Tracking October 2016 – March 2017

Long-term (72-month) Tracking Interview April-October 2017

Analysis October-December 2017

Analysis and Recommendation Memo January 2018

Tracking Contact Update (optional task) June 2018

Data collection for the 72-month tracking survey is expected to start in April 2017, pending approval of this information request. Analysis of the tracking data collected from the 72-month tracking survey will run from October 2017-December 2017. A final memo summarizing the 72-month tracking and locating experience with recommendations is due to HUD in January 2018. Should HUD choose to pursue an additional round of tracking, the tracking letter and participant contact update form would be mailed in June 2018.

A.16.2 Analytic Techniques, Tabulations, and Reporting

The ultimate goal of the study is to assess the feasibility of conducting a long term follow-up evaluation. Although the tracking interview will capture some updated information on key outcomes, there are no plans to update the impact analysis conducted for the 20- or 37-month analysis. The updated outcome data will be reviewed for accuracy and appended to the study database for future analysis.

A.17 Expiration Date

All data collection instruments created for the Impact of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families evaluation, or Family Options Study, will display prominently the expiration date for OMB approval.

A.18 Certification Statement

This submission describing data collection requests no exceptions to the Certificate for Paperwork Reduction Act (5 CFR 1320.9).

References

Duffer, Allen P. et al., Effects of Incentive Payments on Response Rates and Field Costs in a Pretest of a National CAPI Survey, (Research Triangle Institute, May 1994).

Gubits, Daniel et al., Interim Report, Family Options Study, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, March 2013. http://www.huduser.org/portal/publications/homeless/hud_503_FOS_interim_report.html

Gubits, Daniel, Marybeth Shinn, Stephen Bell, Michelle Wood, Samuel Dastrup, Claudia D. Solari, Scott R. Brown, Steven Brown, Lauren Dunton, Winston Lin, Debi McInnis, Jason Rodriguez, Galen Savidge, and Brooke E. Spellman. 2015. Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Gubits, Daniel, Marybeth Shinn, Michelle Wood, Stephen Bell, Samuel Dastrup, Claudia D. Solari, Scott R. Brown, Debi McInnis, Tom McCall, and Utsav Kattel. 2016. Family Options Study: Three-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

National Adult Literacy Survey Addendum to Clearance Package, Volume II: Analyses of the NALS Field Test (Educational Testing Service, September 1991), pp. 2-3.

Instruments

Instrument A-Family Options Study Participant Contact Update Form

Instrument B1-Family Options Study Consent to Participate –Adult Respondent

Instrument B2-Family Options Study Information Release From

Instrument C-72-Month Tracking Survey

(NOTE: Instruments are submitted under separate cover to OMB and are thus not included in this document)

Appendices

Appendix A-Family Options Study Update
Appendix B- Family Options Study Participant Tracking Letter
Appendix C- Family Options Study Item by Item Justification 72-Month Tracking Survey
Appendix D-Federal Register Notice

Appendix A

Appendix B: Family Options Study Tracking Letter

DATE

«familyid»

«r1» «r1a» «r1b»

«r3» «r3a» «r3b»

«r3c», «r3d» «r3e»

Dear «r1»:

Hello again from the Family Options Study team! You became a participant in the Family Options Study in [RA MO/YR], when we interviewed you at «shelter» in «Site_Name_» as part of the study of housing and services interventions for families who experienced homelessness. The study is funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and Abt Associates and Abt SRBI, private research and survey firms are conducting the study.

In September 2016, HUD awarded researchers at Abt Associates and Abt SRBI a contract to continue working with you—the Family Options Study participants—to learn more about your experiences since you enrolled in the study. We are now planning the next stages of this study.

We need your help! We would love to be able to interview you again to see how your life has changed since you first enrolled in the study. Your experiences are unique and we want to be sure you are represented. We can’t interview you if we can’t contact you.

To help us contact you for the next interview we have enclosed a form that we would like you to review. Please check your address and telephone number on the following page. If your address or telephone number is different from the information listed on the page please make the appropriate corrections in one of the following ways:

Return the completed form to us by mail, using the enclosed envelope.
Call us toll-free at 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX and make sure to use your personal PIN [FAMILYID].
Visit [WEBLINK] and enter your username: [USERNAME] and PIN [FAMILYID].

Also, please provide us with the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of one person outside your household who usually know where to reach you. We would call these friends or relatives only if we cannot locate you at your address. Once we receive your updated contact information, we will mail you $5 in appreciation for your time.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Brenda Rodríguez Senior Project Director

Appendix C. Item by Item Justification: 72-Month Tracking Survey

Q Number	Question	Source	Uses	Justification
Module A
Housing Location, History and Stability			A1-A2j: It is important to capture data on where the respondent is living at the time of interview to help measure housing stability and mobility and enhance the contact information in the sample database for future tracking and locating efforts. A3-A12f: To capture updated information on key outcomes of the study interventions--housing stability beyond the 37-month follow-up period, data collected will measure housing status, incidence of homelessness, and receipt of housing assistance.
A1.	Can you please confirm the address where you are living/staying now?		Used to verify and update contact information to help locate the respondent	Current address is used both for contact information for future contacts, and can be used to assess neighborhood quality by geocoding address to Census data.
A1a.	Was there a complex/building name?
A1b.	Was there an apartment number?
A1c.	What city did you live in?
A1d.	What state did you live in?
A1e.	What is the zip code?
A2	Is [A1ADDRESS] the best address to reach you at?			A2-A2j confirm the best contact information to reach participant at for future follow-up efforts.
A2a-e	If A1 <>Yes: What is the best address to reach you at?
A2f	What is your home phone number?
A2g A2h	What is your cell phone number? Do we have your permission to text you at this number?
A2i	What is your email address?
A2j	What is the best way for us to reach you for future data collection efforts?
A3.	Which of the following best describes your current living situation?	Family Options Study 20-and 37-month Follow-up Surveys; (originally from Transitional Housing Study-Modified)	Used to track housing situation over the follow up period and to measure housing stability	A3e-A3h: For living situations that are formal programs (TH, DV, etc.) names are collected to provide measures of participation in housing programs over the follow up period.
A4.	How long have you lived in this place (current living situation)	Family Options Study Tracking Survey	Outcome: Housing stability	The study interventions may affect housing stability by providing housing subsidy and supportive services to promote stability. Questions on length of time in current housing at each tracking interview can be used to track housing stability at various points in the follow up period.
A5	Do you currently receive any governmental housing assistance, such as through public housing or Section 8?	A4-A5b Family Options Study 20- and 37-month Follow-up Surveys (originally from HOPE VI Interim Assessment adapted; Effects of Housing Vouchers on Welfare Families )	Outcome: receipt of housing assistance	Used to document differences in receipt of housing assistance –financial or residential—across interventions. This will also be used to assess the extent to which participants assigned to any of the interventions eventually received housing assistance.
A6	Are you paying lower rent because the Federal, state, or local government is paying for part of your rent?
A6a	What is the name of the program that provides your housing assistance?
A6b	Is this assistance: public housing, a Section 8 Certificate or Voucher, a Section 8 project, or some other type of assistance?
A7	Now, I’d like you to think about the last six months—that is, since [MONTH/YEAR SIX MONTHS AGO]. Were there any times when you were homeless in the last six months?	A6-A9 Family Options Study 20- and 37-month Follow-up Surveys (Originally from CMHS/CSAT adapted; Family Options Study Baseline and Tracking Survey)	Outcome: Housing stability	A6-A9 The study interventions may affect housing stability and measuring incidence of homelessness over the follow up period is needed to assess whether the interventions reduce homelessness among study participants and the relative effect of each intervention on this outcome.
A8	How many times were you homeless in the last six months?
A8a	Thinking about all of the times you have been homeless in the past 6 months,] What would you say is the total number of days, weeks, or months that you have been homeless in the past 6 months?
A9	Again, please think about the last six months. Were there any times when you were living with a friend or relative because you could not find or afford a place of your own?
A10	Altogether, how much time in the past six months, would you say you spent living with a friend or relative because you could not find or afford a place of your own?
A11	Now I’d like you to think about the past 6 months, that is [MONTH 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO INTERVIEW] and today, have you participated in any housing program other than where you are living now? This could be a housing program where you lived or a program that helped you pay some or all of the rent in your own apartment or house.	Modified A6 of Family Options Study Tracking surveys	Receipt of housing assistance—receipt of housing interventions	Used to document receipt of intervention assistance and crossover
A12a-f	During the past six months, that is between [MONTH 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO INTERVIEW] and today we are interested in knowing if you participated in any of the following types of programs. When answering these questions, please do not include the place you are living now. During the past six months… spend at least one night in shelter because you did not have your own place to stay? Participate in a permanent supportive housing program—a program that offered both housing and services? spend at least one night in a transitional housing program? you received assistance paying your rent with temporary rental assistance. This temporary assistance could be a rapid rehousing or the HPRP program? Spend any time living in a place where your rent was partially covered by a rent subsidy such as public housing, Section 8 or a Housing Choice Voucher? Receive any other form of housing assistance??	New	Receipt of housing assistance—receipt of housing interventions	Used to document receipt of intervention assistance and crossover
Module B
Family Composition			To measure outcomes of the study interventions, the data collected in Module B will provide an assessment of changes in family composition over time.
B1x–B4x	The last time we talked, [MM/YYYY LAST INTERVIEW] [LIST FIRST NAMES AND CURRENT AGES OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH RESPONDENT AT TIME OFLAST INTERVIEW] were living with you/staying with you: Can you please tell me if each of them are staying with you now? If not, please tell me where they are currently staying, and how long they’ve been staying there.	Questions B1—B4 are from the Family Options Study Tracking Interview	For the tracking interview, family composition is assessed to measure outcomes of the study interventions on family preservation. Composition of the family was documented at each of the prior tracking interviews, and both the 20- and 37-month follow-up surveys to measure changes in family composition over time.	Family preservation is one of the main outcomes of interest for this study. The interventions being studied are hypothesized to promote family preservation by increasing housing stability and addressing other needs of the family which make it more likely for family members to remain together. It is thus important to gather detailed information about family composition at each tracking interview, to track changes in family composition that occur as family members join or leave the family.
B5	Are there any other people that you consider part of your family, living with you right now whom we haven’t talked about?
B5a1 B5b1	How many of the people who we haven’t talked about yet, but are living with you right now, are adults 18 years or older? How many are children, 17 years old or younger?
B6	Please tell me the first names of the adults who are living with you now whom we haven’t talked about. By adults I mean people 18 years old or older. Do not include yourself
B7	Please tell me the first names of the children who are living with you now whom we haven’t talked about. By children I mean people 17 years old or younger. Please do not include children 18 years old or older
B8	What is [B6a/B7a]’s relationship to you?
B9	Is [B6a/B7a] male or female?
B10	What is [B6a/B7a]’s Date of Birth?

Module C
Employment Status			Employment is one of the long-term outcome goals of the study. Questions on employment status and internet usage help capture a snapshot of current employment status. Internet usage tells us a bit about the feasibility of contacting families online in the future.
C1.	Last week, did you do any work for pay?	C1-C2 Family Options Study 20- and 37-month follow-up surveys	Outcome: Self-sufficiency, employment.	The study interventions, particularly those offering supportive services in conjunction with housing assistance, are hypothesized to affect employment rates and earnings of study participants. Questions in Section C provide current measures of employment and earnings outcomes that will be used in the impact analysis.
C2.	If C1=NO: When was the last time (Month and Year) that you worked for pay?
C3	Do you have a computer with internet access in the place you are living now?			C3-C5 help assess the respondent’s internet usage and comfort level in order to determine if an online protocol would be well-received.
C4	Do you have access to the internet through your phone, or an iPad or tablet device?
C5	How often do you access the internet?
Module D
Secondary Contact Information			It is important to capture data on where the respondent is living at the time of interview to help measure housing stability and mobility and enhance the contact information in the sample database for future tracking and locating efforts.
Contact Information			Should HUD choose to pursue longer term data collection with the study participants, it is important to capture updated contact information for this highly mobile study population.
D1	When we last spoke on [RA MMYYY or Last Intvw MMYYYY] you said that [CONTACT #1] was a person who would always know where you are and how to reach you. Is [CONTACT#1] still a person who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you	D10-D16 Adapted from Family Options Study Tracking Interviews	Additional contact information	In order to retain the panel for subsequent follow-up data collection, it is imperative to maintain good secondary contact information.
D2	If D10=NO: Could you please tell me the name of a person who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you?			If CONTACT X is no longer a good contact, D11 determines if there is another person to add to the list of secondary contact
D2a	What is his/her first name?
D2b	What is his/her middle name?
D2c	What is his/her last name?
D2d	Does his/her name have a suffix?
D3	What is (his/her) street address?
D3a.	Is there a complex/building name?
D3b.	Is there an apartment number?
D3c.	In what city?
D3d.	In what state?
D3e.	What is the zip code?
D4.	What is (his/her) home phone number, starting with the area code?
D5.	What is (his/her) cell phone number, starting with the area code?
D6.	What is (his/her) email address?
D7.	What is (his/her) relationship to you?

Appendix D-Federal Register Notice

1 Senate Report 109-109 to accompany HR 3058. July 26, 2005 (page 176). The report is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_reports&docid=f:sr109.pdf, accessed on June 11, 2009.

2 The baseline data collection was approved under OMB approval number 2528-0259 (expiration date 5/31/2013). The 20-month data collection was approved under 2528-0259 (expiration date 3/31/2015) and the 37-month follow-up effort was approved under OMB Approval Number 2528-0259 (expiration date 3/31/2017).

3 Three previous reports provide information about the Family Options Study: the Interim Report: Family Options Study (Gubits et al., 2013), documented study implementation findings and baseline characteristics of the research sample. The Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families (Gubits et al., 2015), presented findings from the 20-month impact analysis. The Family Options Study: Three-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families (Gubits et al., 2016) presents results of the impact and cost analysis three years after random assignment.

4 http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

5 Assuming 2080 FTE hours worked.

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