Supporting Statement B RHY-HMIS Final 03-22-2024

Runaway and Homeless Youth

Homeless Management Information System (RHY-HMIS)

OMB Information Collection Request

0970 - 0573

Supporting Statement Part B –

Statistical Methods

March 2024

Type of Request: Revision

Submitted By:

Family and Youth Services Bureau

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

The respondent universe for this information collection is all youth who receive emergency shelter, longer-term shelter and comprehensive supportive services under RHY funding and all RHY grant recipients to input the data and then upload their data to the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB). FYSB will not employ any sampling methods for this information collection. Instead, each RHY grant recipient is required to submit youth-level data on all RHY youth served on a quarterly basis. There are currently 675 grant recipients. Over the past two years, the number of youth served ranged from 49,961 in FY 2021 to 48,664 in FY 2022.

2. Procedures for the Collection of Information

1. Upon receipt of funding award, each new RHY grant recipient must contact their local Continuum of Care that presides over their jurisdiction to become a member in order to use the local HMIS. Each RHY grant recipient must work with their HMIS Lead to set up their respective projects (i.e., BCP, TLP/MGH, SOP) in HMIS.

2. Each grantee is required to receive training on the use of the local HMIS to enter youth data into the system.

3. RHY grantees then gain access (login/password) to the local HMIS data entry system and will receive RHY-HMIS instructions, definitions manual, and technical assistance, as needed.

4. Each grant recipient will have access to both online self-directed and webinar-based tutorials for training on the use of the local HMIS and the RHY-HMIS data standards, as required by FYSB.

5. RHY grant recipients will be notified of the upcoming data collection period 90 days before the required date of data submission.

6. During the data submission period, RHY grant recipients work with the HMIS Lead to extract their data and upload their de-identified, youth-level data to the ACF/FYSB repository.

7. Youth-level data are received and validated by the RHY-HMIS contractor that works directly with RHY grant recipients in the event their data submission has challenges.

8. A final compilation of RHY-HMIS data are submitted to FYSB for use in the Report to Congress, the RHY performance measures, presentations and other products, and ad hoc analyses (e.g., frequencies and descriptives, regression, factor analysis, reliability analysis).

9. As new RHY grant recipients are brought on, they will follow the same process for data collection and data submission.

3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

As awareness of the data entry and data submission process continues, RHY grant recipients become more familiar with the process, and training materials become increasingly refined to serve grant recipients, FYSB believes that response rates will continue to increase. RHY grant recipients work to build rapport with youth to support collection of accurate data. Many grant recipients approach data collection as a conversation with youth in their programs. RHY grant recipients also work closely with the RHY-HMIS contractor that provide regular communication to the recipients. The procedures for notification include:

1. Grant recipients receive periodic reminders of upcoming data submission dates via emails from the RHY-HMIS contractor.

2. RHY-HMIS contractor staff work with grant recipients to resolve any identified technical issues.

3. In situations when a grant recipient is consistently negligent in meeting their data submission obligation, they receive notification of their obligation to submit data as a condition of funding and a corrective action plan may be put in place.

4. Test of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

This is not applicable. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act mandates RHY programs provide statistical records profiling the youth and family members whom it serves.

5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

Abt Associates, our RHY-HMIS contractor since 2019, will continue to provide quality technical assistance to grant recipients and remain responsible for coordinating the receipt and validation of data for the RHY-HMIS data collection effort. Additionally, we have had extensive discussions regarding the technical aspects of data system integration to ensure that a majority of our protocols will be preserved. Our principal contacts of individuals collecting and analyzing the RHY data are:

Lori Hunter RHY-HMIS Contract Project Director Abt Associates 6130 Executive Blvd, Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 347-5000 [email protected]

Resa Matthew Director, Division of Data, Performance, and Policy Family and Youth Services Bureau 330 C Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20201 (202) 870-1918 [email protected]