SSA - OPRE Discussions with AANHPI Experts

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) Discussions with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Experts

Administration for Children and Families Generic for Engagement Efforts

0970 – 0630

Supporting Statement Part A

Justification

October 2024

Submitted By:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4^th Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building

330 C Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20201

A1. Necessity for the Data Collection

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks approval to gather input from individuals with expertise in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations. This feedback would be gathered during an expert convening that is planned to gain understanding on AANHPI population characteristics, experiences, and needs related to ACF mission and identify gaps in knowledge and actionable opportunities to better inform ACF’s service delivery for AANHPI populations. The learnings from this expert convening will ultimately inform an OPRE research agenda focused on promoting the well-being of AANHPI populations served by ACF. Experts to actively engage include individuals from programmatic, research, policy, and advocacy areas that are embedded in AANHPI communities.

Background

Executive Order (EO), Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (EO 13985) emphasizes the need to pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. The EO on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government followed in 2023 and built on EO 13985, calling upon agencies to increase engagement with underserved communities and to “collaborate with OMB, as appropriate, to identify and develop tools and methods” to meet this goal.

In accordance with the goals and priorities outlined in EO 13985, ACF is interested in developing a research agenda to lead and support the investigation of the needs of AANHPI populations served by ACF and identification of promising approaches to promote social and economic well-being among AANHPI children and families. This research agenda is intended to inform ACF efforts to assess policies, program implementation, and practices that may (1) contribute to disparities in access to services, enrollment in services, or in service delivery outcomes, or (2) reduce disparities.

To help inform the specific activities and priorities of the research agenda, it is important to gather input and learn from experts that are embedded in AANHPI communities. This proposed information collection will allow ACF to learn from subject matter experts, thought leaders, and community advocates to gain a better understanding of the AANHPI population and identify current gaps in knowledge to inform the needs of ACF’s service delivery for AANHPI populations.

Legal or Administrative Requirements that Necessitate the Collection

There are no legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. ACF is undertaking the collection at the discretion of the agency.

A2. Purpose of Survey and Data Collection Procedures

Overview of Purpose and Use

The primary purpose of this information collection is to engage subject matter experts, thought leaders, and community advocates that are embedded in AANHPI communities. Specifically, the goal is to learn from a range of perspectives to gain understanding of the lived experiences of AANHPI populations, learn of existing or ongoing research, resources, and services available for AANHPI children and families that align with ACF’s mission, explore possible barriers and facilitators to the economic and social well-being of AANHPI children and families, and discuss opportunities for further inquiry that are relevant for ACF programs (e.g., potential research questions, best practices, methodological approaches).

The feedback from this information collection will help OPRE staff engaged in AANHPI work to develop specific activities and priorities of the proposed research agenda focused on AANHPI children and families and inform the development of resources and public materials related to this research agenda.

This proposed information collection meets the goals and uses of the ACF generic clearance for engagement efforts (0970-0630):

• Gathering information from individuals with diverse experiences and perspectives to inform ACF policies and programs.

• Informing planning for new funding

Overview of Information Collections

Information Collection Title	Respondent, Content, Purpose of Collection	Mode and Duration
AANHPI Convening Discussion Prompts	Respondents: subject matter experts from programmatic, research, policy, and advocacy areas Content: discussion questions, interactive activities Purpose: To learn more about the AANHPI population and discuss opportunities that are relevant for ACF programs.	Mode: Web Duration: 2 hours

Processes for Information Collection

Invitations will be made to a select number of experts from programmatic, research, policy, and advocacy areas for AANHPI populations. The participants will be engaged by facilitators during the invite-only virtual convening using discussion prompts and questions. Specifically, information will be collected through small group discussions in breakout sessions and a series of activities using technological applications such as Mural, Menti, and/or other applications to gather and discuss responses to a set of questions posed to participants. Notetakers will record the participant responses in writing during the information collection. In addition, the virtual convening will be recorded with participant consent and the recording will be summarized for data analysis purposes.

A3. Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden

All information will be gathered electronically and, pending participant consent, will be recorded. Virtual technology will be utilized to gather input through polling, virtual sticky note exercises, or other approaches.

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

No similar data are gathered or maintained by the agency or available from other sources known to the agency. To the maximum extent possible, we will make use of existing data sources before we attempt to utilize the additional fieldwork sought under this clearance.

A5. Involvement of Small Organizations

Participants may include individuals from small organizations or businesses. ACF will minimize burden on participants based on needs. For example, because participants are located across a wide range of physical locations and time zones, the information collection will take place virtually at a time during business hours for the largest group of individuals to minimize scheduling burden and avoid travel time. Participants will be informed on multiple occasions that their participation is voluntary.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection

This is a one-time data collection.

A7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances for the proposed data collection efforts.

A8. Federal Register Notice and Consultation

Federal Register Notice and Comments

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR Part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29, 1995), ACF published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of this information collection request for a new umbrella generic clearance. The notice was published on December 11, 2023, (88 FR 85890), and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. ACF did not receive any comments on the first notice. A second notice was published, allowing a thirty-day period for public comment (89 FR 12352), in conjunction with submission of the request to OMB. ACF did not receive any comments on the second notice.

Consultation with Outside Experts

The team has consulted with a few groups to discuss the information collection plan. These include the contractor for the OPRE AANHPI Work Group, as well as three expert planning partners from a university, an advocacy organization, and a TA center. These groups were always fewer than nine individuals, and the conversations focused on getting input on how best to engage in this information-gathering process.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation for Respondents

It is extremely important to provide those with lived experience with equitable compensation or tokens of appreciation for participation. As noted in a 2022 report by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, this “helps ensure a diverse population with varied views can participate.”¹ While no tokens of appreciation for respondents are proposed for this information collection, we do plan to provide honoraria to members of tripartite boards, as described in section A13.

A10. Privacy of Respondents

Participants will be recruited by email invitation using contact information found through publicly available sources. The discussion questions do not include a request for personally identifiable information.\. Information will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which data are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.

Participants will be asked if they agree to being recorded. Once recorded, the responses of the participants will be summarized. At no point will any reporting of findings identify individuals and their responses or provide information in which respondents could be identified such as through identification of a title or role that few hold.

Information collected will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. Respondents will be informed of all planned uses of data, that their participation is voluntary, and that their information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. ACF complies with all Federal and Departmental regulations for private information. Any data stored electronically will be secured in accordance with the most current National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements and other applicable Federal and Departmental regulations.

A11. Sensitive Questions

There are no sensitive questions in this data collection.

A12. Estimation of Information Collection Burden

Burden Estimates

OPRE will invite experts from programmatic, research, policy, and advocacy areas for AANHPI populations with the goal of having about 20 experts in attendance.

We estimated burden for all activities based on commonly accepted practices, including considering the number and types of questions asked, time allocated for effective discussion, and size of group that allows for effective discussion. The information collection will be no longer than 2 hours. Estimated burden for participants is reported in Table A12.

Cost Estimates

The basis for the hourly wage was determined by the average salary of individuals in locales around the country who fit into the potential respondents described above. Therefore, an estimated hourly wage of $43.64 per hour is used, based on May 2023 BLS data for the following occupation labor categories: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other (19-3099; $49.14) and Social and Community Service Managers (11-9151; $38.13). https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm. To account for fringe benefits and overhead, the wage rate is multiplied by two, which is $87.28.

Instrument	Total Number of Respondents	Total Number of Responses Per Respondent	Average Burden Hours Per Response	Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Cost
Semi-Structured Discussion	20	1	2	40	$87.28	$3,491

A13. Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

Directly engaging the communities ACF serves and including these individuals in ACF research is in line with the following priorities of the current Administration and HHS:

• Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (EO 13985)

• Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

• Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policy Making

• ACF Evaluation Policy

• HHS Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026,

• ASPE’s Methods and Emerging Strategies to Engage People with Lived Experience (2021)

• ASPE’s Recruiting Individuals with Lived Experience (2022)

Consistent with the guidance documents referenced, and to ensure involvement with a variety of people with diverse experiences and perspectives in relevant fields, we propose to offer participants an honorarium for their time spent providing their expertise and experience. Specifically, experts will be offered honoraria for their time spent providing their expertise and experience. The time specific to these feedback activities is $200.

Equitable compensation is in line with leading practices for ethical engagement of those with lived expertise and advancing equity for populations who have been historically underserved (as noted in section A1, advancing equity is a priority, as highlighted in the referenced EOs in that section). Providing equitable compensation recognizes the value of the time provided by participants, helps to remove barriers to participation, and affirms that the contributions from those with lived experience are as valuable as those from other experts.

As noted in the 2022 report by ASPE this “helps ensure a diverse population with varied views can participate.” Additionally, in an earlier report it was noted that “Providing [those with lived experience] with compensation commensurate with the rates that other experts—i.e., experts engaged based on their expertise as practitioners or researchers, rather than lived experience—receive helped recognize the valuable and unique expertise that people with lived experience lend, which promoted meaningful engagement.” The report goes on to specify that not doing so could result in “unintended consequences….when lived experience engagements have scarce resources and experts are undercompensated, which can undermine, disregard, and/or marginalize people with lived experience.”

A14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government

The total cost for the data collection activities under this current request is estimated to be around $9,160.

A15. Change in Burden

This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella generic clearance for ACF engagement activities (0970-0630).

A16. Plan and Time Schedule for Information Collection, Tabulation and Publication

Information collection is scheduled to take place on October 29 and October 30. Information collected through this generic request will be used to inform OPRE’s activities related to a research agenda focused on AANHPI children and families. A summary of the meeting and key takeaways may be shared to the public.

A17. Reasons Not to Display OMB Expiration Date

Not applicable.

A18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.

1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. “Recruiting Individuals with Lived Experience,” by Jasmine Forde, Sonia Alves, Lauren Amos, Ryan Ruggiero, Annalisa Mastri, Kate Bradley, Nkemdiri Wheatley, Tonyka McKinney, Dana Jean-Baptiste, Jeremiah Donier, Madison Sandoval-Lunn, Wilnisha Sutton, Roger De Leon, Kataney Prior, Laura Erickson, Amanda Benton, and the HHS staff peer learning community on equitably engaging people with lived experience. Washington, District of Columbia: 2022. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/recruiting-individuals-lived-experience

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