Fast Track Memo Focus Groups

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0990-0379)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

HHS Office of Population Affairs Adolescent Health National Strategic Plan Focus Groups

PURPOSE:

The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is requesting permission to conduct up to twenty-five focus groups purposed in the collection of youth-serving stakeholder perspectives and insights that will be used to aid the development of a national strategic plan and research agenda on adolescent health to increase the well-being of adolescents nationwide. This plan – the first plan of its kind – will impact adolescent populations, adolescent health organizations, providers, and related systems nationwide. This plan strives to address factors related to equity, access, quality, and organizational capacity. Given the broad reach and influence, OPA wants the strategic plan and research agenda to be stakeholder driven. This framing acknowledges the diverse and intersectional experiences of the youth populations served by stakeholder organizations and professionals, and increases stakeholder support, buy-in and ownership of the strategy and research agenda. Thus, input from the likely end-users and impacted populations (e.g., youth-serving professionals, experts, advocates, researchers, caregivers, and diverse youth from underrepresented groups) is vital to the successful development of a robust national strategic plan and research agenda.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents represent a cross-section of entities that work with adolescents or conduct research in the areas of adolescent health and well-being, including caregivers, health providers, mental health experts, sexual health advocates, researchers, nonprofit organizations, philanthropies, educators, religious organizations, community-based organizations, organizations representing and serving diverse youth voices (e.g., BIPOC¹, LGBQTIA+², and disabled young people), and adolescents and young people. Participants will be arranged with others of common perspectives in order to obtain depth in each focus group. There will be a total of 250 participants arranged into up to 25 focus groups.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[X] Focus Groups [ ] Other: _______________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Jessica Swafford Marcella

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X ] No

2. If yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No [X] N/A

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No [X] N/A

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X] Yes [ ] No

We are giving a nominal token of $25 per hour to each young person participating in a focus group. We anticipate up to 30 young people in a total of 3 focus groups. The youth-serving organizations connecting us with young people advised that a small honorarium paid directly to participants would be an appropriate acknowledgement of the young person’s time and contribution, and would garner greater participation and input. The honorarium will only be paid to this stakeholder group.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Focus Group	250	2 hours each	500 hours
Totals	250	2 hours each	500 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government for Federal Staff is $1,877.75.

Federal Staff: For cost calculations, we estimate 35 hours of time for a GS-14, Step 7. These hours account for OPA staff to provide oversight to the contractor.

Contractor Staff: The contractor is responsible for organizing and facilitating the focus groups and analyzing the results of discussions. For the contractor, we estimate 2 contractor staff per focus group (one facilitator, one note taker) allocating 325 hours to: prepare for the focus groups (1 hour each session), conduct the sessions (4 hours each session), analyze results (4 hours each session), and contribute to a final report of findings (60 hours overall).

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Sampling Plan. We want to understand the current state, experiences, and needs of young people and of organizations and professionals working in adolescent health and well-being to inform a national strategic plan that better support their efforts. It is the intent of OPA to ensure marginalized groups and those who are typically underrepresented are included and are centered in the development of the national strategic plan.

Participants will include a cross section of experts, groups, and organizations in various areas of adolescent health and health equity. Participants were identified based on their unique knowledge of adolescent health and understanding of the population being served. The creation of the stakeholder list was informed by a multi-method approach that included: (1) reviewing an initial stakeholder list utilizing recommendations from OPA leadership and referrals from adolescent health experts; and (2) conducting general research to identify and fill gaps to include key groups for an inclusive, broad, and representative assessment of the state of adolescent health and well-being.

Focus group participants were selected using a purposive sampling methodology (e.g., expert sampling) for each focus group. This method allowed for the identification of stakeholders/experts to facilitate an increased understanding of the subject matter and provide targeted feedback. In addition to organizations focused on typically underrepresented youth, we considered other characteristics such as youth and caregivers, geographic diversity, faith-based communities, rural communities, and organizations with experience co-designing with young people, or those known for authentic youth engagement. Those selected include a wide variety of organizations and participants who can speak about adolescent health from their various lenses. Many of them are experts in their respective fields.

The participants for the youth-centered focus groups (ages 15-24) are being identified by youth- serving community organizations. Each of the 25 focus groups will include 10 participants chosen from the domain areas found in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Adolescent Health Area/Domains

Domain / Area Relevant to Adolescent Health

Academic adolescent experts

Caregivers, parents, and trusted adults

Caregiver organizations

Schools and education

Brain development

Mental health

Sexual health

Sexual education

Organizations focused on underrepresented youth (e.g., black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) & Immigrant)

Organizations focused on underrepresented youth (e.g., lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, (questioning), intersex, asexual, and (agender) (LGBQTIA+))

Organizations focused on underrepresented youth (e.g., those with adverse experiences, such as foster care, violence, homelessness, poverty, substance use, addiction)

Organizations focused on underrepresented youth (e.g., disability)

Foundations / philanthropic organizations

Youth (ages 15-19)

Youth (ages 20-24)

Future pathways / workforce

Faith based organizations

Community based organizations

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of social media (e.g., WebEx)

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Note from OPA: Please see attached list of questions for the focus groups

1 Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)

2 Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, (Questioning), Intersex, Asexual, and (Agender) (LGBQTIA+)

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