NonSub Change Request Memo - 3rd Learning Session - September 2020

To: Jordan Cohen

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Pooja Gupta Curtin and Katie Pahigiannis

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: September 28, 2020

Subject: NonSubstantive Change Request – Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare Project (FCL) (OMB #0970-0531)

This memo requests approval of nonsubstantive changes to the approved information collection, Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare Project (FCL) (OMB #0970-0531, Formative Data Collections for ACF Program Support).

Background

The purpose of the FCL project is to identify high-priority father and paternal relative engagement strategies and then conduct a one-year pilot study in six sites to test the use of a continuous quality improvement methodology called the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) to strengthen the engagement of fathers and paternal relatives with children involved in the child welfare system. The previous information collections associated with the FCL project received OMB approval on November 5, 2019 under the overarching generic clearance, Formative Data Collections for ACF Program Support (OMB #0970-0531).

In June 2020, ACF received OMB approval for a nonsubstantive change to extend the BSC from 12 months to 18 months to give participating sites more time to test strategies and begin to sustain efforts while receiving support and guidance from the FCL team¹. In light of this extension, ACF is requesting approval for a previously unplanned third learning session to occur, albeit virtually given the current public health emergency. Like prior learning sessions, the FCL team has planned data collection activities to gather feedback on the learning session and to understand sites’ assessments of their progress.

Overview of Requested Changes

For Learning Session 3, the FCL team proposes administration of the following instruments, as conducted during the first two learning sessions:

• Learning Session Day 1 Evaluation (Instrument 8)

• Learning Session Overall Evaluation (Instrument 10)

• Site Self-Assessment (Instrument 11)

The described changes increase the estimated burden approved under this information collection by 123 hours, adding $2,920 to the total annual respondent cost (Table 1).

Table 1. Additional burden hours requested under this information collection

Instrument	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Avg. Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden (in hours)	Average Hourly Wage Rate	Total Annual Respondent Cost
Instrument 8: Learning Session Day 1 Evaluation	36	1	0.16	6	$23.79	$137
Instrument 10: Learning Session Overall Evaluation	60	1	0.25	15	$23.79	$357
Instrument 11: Site Self-Assessment	60	1	1.7	102	$23.79	$2,427
Additional estimated burden				123		$2,920
Revised total estimated annual burden				1,225		$28,994

Time Sensitivities

The BSC is a time-limited methodology typically used for a 12 to 24-month period. With the extension of the FCL BSC to 18-months, this will be the last opportunity to facilitate a learning session and gather these data.

1 The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) contracted with Mathematica and the University of Denver to complete this project.