Fast Track PRA Submission Short Form

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Request for Approval under the “Administration for Children and Families Generic for Information Collections Related to Gatherings”
(OMB Control Number: 0970-0617)


TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Administration for Children and Families 2026 RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event: Discussion Guide and Feedback Survey

PURPOSE: This information collection is intended to provide information to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on attendees of the Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event at the 2026 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS). Specifically, ACF is interested in collecting information for two purposes: 
    1. Information about professional development interests and mentorship to inform and be used to facilitate meeting activities and collaboration. 
    2. Post-attendance feedback from attendees at the 2026 RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event to inform future planning.

RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event Discussion Guide
The goal of the proposed information collection is to gather and share information focused on professional development among individuals (mentors and mentees) attending the 2026 RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event in the current year (FY26). The discussion guide includes the following information fields: pursuing a career in academia, pursuing a career outside of academia, strategies for successful grant writing and funding, preparing for the academic job market, getting published and navigating the peer-review process, building professional networks and collaborations, conducting policy-relevant research, emerging directions and opportunities in poverty and economic mobility research, and work-life balance. This information will allow ACF to facilitate discussion among mentors and mentees attending the Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event at RECS.

RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event Feedback Survey
The goal of the RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event Feedback Survey is to gather information about individuals’ experiences attending the 2026 RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event in the current year (FY26). This Mentoring Event Feedback Survey form includes the following information fields: participant’s role, attendance, current position (mentees only), discussion topic, satisfaction, usefulness, networks/connections facilitated, methods of improvement, other topics, and recommendation of event. This information will allow ACF to understand participants’ experiences at the Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event at RECS to inform and improve future mentoring events. 

The data collected and reported by the contractor to ACF will be descriptive in nature and will be used for internal planning purposes only. Form completion is voluntary.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Individuals attending the 2026 RECS Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event.

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 information collected is not intended to be disseminated to the public1.		
    5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions. 

Name and affiliation: Elizabeth Karberg, ACF__________________


To assist review, please provide the following information:

BURDEN HOURS 

The included discussion guide provides a universe of questions, which will be selected from based on participants in a specific group. Groups will be selected based on responses to the registration survey (approved under this OMB#) and discussions will take place over one hour. 

Instrument Title
Category of Respondent
No. of Respondents
Participation Time
Burden
2026 Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event: Discussion Guide
Individuals
100
1 hour
100 hours
2026 Emerging Scholars Mentoring Event: Registration Form
Individuals
100
5 minutes (.083 hours)
8.3 hours
Totals
100
1.083
108.3 hours

FEDERAL COST:  The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $1,379.  The estimated cost to the government is related to an existing contractor programming, testing, and distributing of the survey and discussion guide, administrative monitoring of the survey results and discussion, analysis, and reporting results internally to ACF.

Administration of the Instrument
    1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media 
[  ] Telephone	
[X] In-person	
[  ] Mail 
[  ] Other, Explain

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