Prog Supp GenIC - Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Data Capacity and Continuous Quality Improvement Plan Template

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Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Data Capacity and Continuous Quality Improvement Plan Template

Formative Data Collections for ACF Research and Evaluation 

OMB Information Collection Request
0970 - 0531


Supporting Statement
Part A
March 2026







Submitted By:
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, SW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20201



Overview of Request


Type of Request: This request is for a generic information collection under the umbrella generic, Formative Data Collections for Program Support (0970-0531, expiration 9/30/2028).  

Description of request: This generic information collection request (GenIC) seeks approval of a data collection plan template that helps Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grant recipients organize and implement their required performance measures (PM) data collections, so they can consistently collect and report high quality data. An earlier version of the template was first developed by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the 2020 cohort of HMRF grant recipients (OMB #0970-0531, expiration date 09/30/2025). The template has been updated for the 2025 cohort to incorporate planning for grants’ continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts. HMRF grant recipients in the 2020 cohort completed separate plans for their CQI efforts (OMB #0970-0566, expiration date 3/31/2027). 

By integrating HMRF data collection and CQI planning into one activity and document, ACF has significantly reduced burden for each respondent. Non-essential items from both 2020 cohort plan templates have been eliminated and instructions and processes have been streamlined. For the 2020 cohort, the approved burden was six hours per response for the data collection plan template and four hours per response for the CQI plan template. For the 2025 cohort, the combined template represents a 40 percent reduction in burden per response across the two information collections, with an estimated time per response of six hours.      

A separate, full, information collection request is being sought from OMB for the HMRF PM data collection and reporting instruments (0970-0566). Grant recipients will use the information in their completed data capacity and CQI plans for their own operational purposes; grant recipients will submit their plans to the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) but the information will not be published.  

We do not intend for this information to be used as the principial basis for public policy decisions.

Time Sensitivity: Grant recipients in the 2025 grant cohort will be asked to complete their initial data capacity and CQI plans and review them with their OFA Family Assistance Program Specialists (FPSs) in Spring 2026, pending OMB approval. Grant recipients will update their plans and begin implementing them in advance of the start of PM data collection and CQI.  


A1. Necessity for the Data Collection
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requires that the 2025 cohort of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grant recipients collect data from clients served by their programs and report on grant-level performance to ACF on an annual basis. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval is being sought for performance measures (PM) data collection and reporting instruments under a separate, full, information collection request (ICR; OMB #0970-0566). 

HMRF grant recipients in the 2025 cohort are expected to develop data capacity and CQI plans and update them on an annual basis to reflect changes in their data collection, reporting, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes. This generic information collection (GenIC) request is specific to a voluntary template to help HMRF grant recipients organize their data collection, reporting, and CQI processes so that they can consistently collect and report high quality data and engage in continuous improvement of their programs. This version of the template is a revised version of the HMRF Grantee Data Collection Plan Template which was approved by OMB for the 2020 cohort on December 17, 2020 under this umbrella generic (OMB #0970-0531).  

This data collection supports efficient program administration of the HMRF grant program. As outlined in ACF’s values, ACF focuses on “outcomes that matter for children and families, using data and proven practices to improve performance and discontinue what doesn’t work.” This plan template provides a standardized approach for grant recipients to plan data collection, reporting, and CQI activities, thus allowing grant recipients to collect information that will support service delivery and program improvement while reducing variability across recipients and minimizing the need for duplicative or inefficient systems. Additionally, the template reduces administrative costs and burden on recipients, enabling grant recipients to direct more resources toward service delivery, and limits the need for ongoing, individualized technical assistance.  

Without this data collection, recipients would be more likely to develop inconsistent or incomplete data and CQI processes, increasing burden for both recipients and the federal government and requiring additional resources to address issues later in the grant period. The absence of a standardized planning tool would reduce efficiencies, increase costs, and limit ACF’s ability to effectively monitor program performance and support CQI.

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 Approach
The primary purpose of this GenIC is to help the 2025 cohort of HMRF grant recipients plan for and implement high quality performance measures data collection, reporting, and CQI to optimize the usefulness of grants’ data and program improvement efforts, as well as ACF’s program performance monitoring. Grant recipients will use the template to develop and implement consistent data collection, reporting, and CQI processes and train staff on them. Grant recipients will submit their plans to OFA and will consult with their Family Assistance Program Specialist (FPS) on their plans, before initial plans are finalized and when revisions are made. 

This proposed information collection meets the following goals of ACF’s generic clearance for formative data collections for program support (0970-0531): 
    • Delivery of targeted assistance and workflows related to program implementation or the development or refinement of program and grant recipient processes, and the development and refinement of recordkeeping and communication systems.

The information collected is meant to contribute to effective and consistent data collection, reporting, and CQI among HMRF grant recipients, which will contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of program implementation and the body of knowledge on ACF programs. It is not intended to be used as the principal basis for a decision by a federal decision-maker and is not expected to meet the threshold of influential or highly influential scientific information.  

Study Design and Universe of Data Collection Efforts
All 109 grant recipients in the 2025 HMRF grant cohort will be asked to complete their initial data capacity and CQI plan templates and review them with their FPS before they begin serving clients (pending OMB approval of the PM ICR). This is further described in the response to A12. 
Data Collection Activity
Instrument
Respondent, Content, Purpose of Collection
Mode and Duration
Organizing and documenting performance measures data collection, reporting, and CQI processes
Plan template
Respondents: Grant recipient staff

Content: Data capacity and CQI plans

Purpose: To help ensure effective and consistent data collection, reporting, and CQI processes. 
Mode: Word Document and Email

Duration: 6 hours per respondent per year

A3. Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden
Grant recipients will use the data capacity and CQI plan template to create a tailored plan that is specific to their grant program and populations served. Grant recipients will be provided a template in a Microsoft Word file so they can easily adapt the template to their own programs and submit electronically to OFA. Given the tailored nature of the grant recipient-specific data capacity and CQI plans, there are no applicable uses of information technology other than email to reduce burden at this time.  

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
There are no other sources of information that would help HMRF grant recipients develop data capacity and CQI plans in a consistent, efficient method across all grant recipients in the 2025 cohort. No superfluous or unnecessary information is requested of grant recipient staff in completing the template, and the template does not ask for information that can be reliably obtained through other sources.

A5. Involvement of Small Organizations
The potential exists for completion of the data capacity and CQI plan template to affect grant recipients that are small entities. The data capacity and CQI plan template is designed to minimize the burden on all organizations involved, including small businesses and entities, by collecting only critical information needed to plan for effective and consistent data collection, reporting, and CQI processes. 

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection
The data capacity and CQI plans that grant recipients will develop using this template are “living” plans to be prepared once at the beginning of their grants and updated annually thereafter. Annual updates are necessary to reflect changing circumstances in grant programs, lessons learned from the prior year, and implications for staff training and resource allocation. If plans are updated less frequently, they may not reflect the processes needed to ensure effective and consistent collection and reporting of client and program data, and implementation of improvement processes. 

A7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances for the proposed information collection.

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 to extend approval of the umbrella generic with minor changes. The notice was published on April 28, 2025, (90 FR 17603) 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, in conjunction with submission of the request to OMB. 

Consultation with Experts Outside of the Study
Not applicable; the data capacity and CQI plan template is based on templates and technical assistance provided to grant recipients in the 2020 (prior) cohort.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation for Respondents
Tokens of appreciation for respondents are not proposed for this information collection.

A10. Privacy of Respondents
Not applicable; grant recipients will not collect or capture client-level personally identifiable information in their data capacity and CQI plan templates. The plans are intended to document data collection, reporting, and CQI processes for program improvement purposes only; they will not be published.

A11. Sensitive Questions
Not applicable; grant recipient data capacity and CQI plans will not include any sensitive information.  

A12. Estimation of Information Collection Burden
Burden Estimates
The estimated burden is based on experiences since initial approval in 2020 and the number of grant recipients in the 2025 HMRF grant cohort. This proposed template is based on previously approved data collections that have been streamlined and integrated into this version of a single template. This includes a data collection plan template approved under this generic (OMB #: 0970-0531) in December 2020 and a separate CQI plan template, most recently renewed in 2024 under OMB #0970-0566. 

While completion of the two separate templates was estimated to take about 10 total hours, this integrated version is estimated to take an average of 6 hours per response, total. A 40% reduction in estimated time per response.

All 109 grant recipients in the 2025 cohort will develop data capacity and CQI plans and update them on an annual basis to reflect changes in their data collection, reporting, and CQI processes. It is anticipated that all 109 grant recipients will use this voluntary template as it provides clear guidance and will alleviate staff burden. Given the scope of these processes for HMRF programs, we estimate that grant recipients will continue to need six hours for initial plan development and six hours per year for updates.

Total Annual Cost
The associated average hourly wage rate for the data capacity and CQI plan template would be $41.39 obtained from May 2024 National OES data (the most recent available) for Social and Community Service Managers (OES 11-9151), found at https://www.bls.gov/oes/home.html. To account for fringe benefits and overhead, this amount was multiplied by two: $82.78.

Instrument Type
Number of Respondents (total over request period)
Number of Responses Per Respondent (total over request period)
Average Burden Per Response
(in hours)
Total Burden
(in hours)
Annual Burden
(in hours)
Average Hourly Wage
Total Annual Respondent Cost 
Data capacity and CQI plan template
109
3
6
1,962
654
$82.78
$54,138.12

A13. Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers
There are no additional costs to respondents. 

A14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government
The annual estimated costs to the federal government associated with this information collection once approved by OMB is approximately $80,000.  

A15. Change in Burden
This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella formative generic clearance for program support (0970-0531).  The template is based on two previously approved information collections and the expected time per response for this single revised version is 40% less than the total time to complete those other information collections. 

A16. Plan and Time Schedule for Information Collection, Tabulation and Publication
Grant recipients will begin collecting client and program data and conducting CQI in Spring 2026, pending OMB approval of revisions to OMB #0970-0566.  (91 FR 3892). They will be asked to begin preparing data capacity and CQI plans using the template proposed through this GenIC in early 2026, pending OMB approval, for review with their FPS in Spring 2026. Grant recipients will begin implementing the plan in advance of the start of PM data collection and reporting.  Grant recipient plans will be developed iteratively, over an estimated 6 hours, as grant recipients prepare to launch their programs. It is expected that annual updates will also happen iteratively over an estimated 6 hours, as changing circumstances lead to changes in plans.  


A17. Reasons Not to Display OMB Expiration Date
All instruments will display the expiration date for OMB approval.


A18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.	

Attachments

Instrument 1: HMRF Data Capacity and CQI Plan Template