Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Evaluation â Long-Term Follow-Up Survey
New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)
No
Regular
12/15/2020
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
1,300
0
429
0
0
0
This Supporting Statement provides information on the proposed Family Self-Sufficiency program (FSS) long-term follow-up effort to further determine the effectiveness of FSS. It builds upon the baseline and interim follow-up data already collected and on the ongoing collection of data
The primary goal of the Family Self-Sufficiency evaluation is to build evidence about the programâs effectiveness at helping housing-assisted populations secure and maintain employment and gain independence from public support programs. In 2018, at the end of the base evaluation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded MDRC an extension to continue the evaluation effort through September 2021, allowing the study to follow participants through the end of their FSS contracts and examine the following types of questions: How do FSS participants fare over the full length of the five-year FSS program? What is the programâs longer-term effect on employment, earnings, and housing assistance outcomes? What are its benefits and costs? What are the program experiences, graduation rates, and escrow disbursements for FSS participants? What are the circumstances of the FSS âexitersâ? The long-term follow-up Survey, the focus of this OMB package, will be the main data source for a number of the long-term outcomes that are hypothesized in the FSS Model that cannot be measured using administrative records alone. These include, for example, material hardship, perceived financial well-being, employment characteristics and educational attainment.
The longer-term follow-up survey, the subject of this OMB submission, is critical for understanding the programâs effects over an extended period, especially after the program has ended for most study participants. In addition to helping examine program effects, the survey will also be used to understand the post-program experiences of former FSS participants, some of whom may have graduated from the program and received an escrow disbursement.
The survey-based impact analysis will draw on questions administered to both the program and control group participants to examine the programâs effects on a wide range of outcomes, some of which can only be determined through use of a survey.
US Code:
12 USC 1701z-1
Name of Law: Research and Demonstrations
Without this survey, the Federal program or related policy activities will not be informed by high quality evidence on a variety of longer-term outcomes central to the FSS intervention. Limiting analysis to only those outcomes available through administrative records will lack the richness and comprehensiveness that the longer-term survey will provide.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.