Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement for the opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic summaries of proposed projects being developed for submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, e-mail

paperwork@hrsa.gov

or call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1129.

Comments are invited on:

(a) The proposal to continue collection of information for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Proposed Project: Ryan White Treatment and Modernization Act Part A Minority AIDS Initiative Report (the

Part A MAI Report

) (OMB No. 0915-0304): Extension

HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) administers Part A of Title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act as amended by Congress in October 2009 (Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009). Part A provides emergency relief for areas with substantial need for HIV/AIDS care and support services that are most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including eligible metropolitan areas (EMA) and

Transitional Grant Areas (TGAs). As a component of Part A (previously Title I), the purpose of the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) Supplement is to improve access to high quality HIV care services and health outcomes for individuals in disproportionately impacted communities of color who are living with HIV disease, including African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (Section 2693(b)(2)(A) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act). Since the purpose of the Part A MAI is to expand access to medical, health, and social support services for disproportionately impacted racial/ethnic minority populations living with HIV/AIDS, who are not yet in care, it is important that HRSA is able to report on minorities served by the Part A MAI.

The Part A MAI Report

is a data collection instrument in which grantees report on the number and characteristics of clients served and services provided. The

Part A MAI Report,

first approved for use in March 2006, is designed to collect performance data from Part A Grantees that will not change, and it has two parts: (1) A Web-based data entry application that collects standardized quantitative and qualitative information, and (2) an accompanying narrative report.

Grantees submit two

Part A MAI Reports

annually:

Part A MAI Plan

(

Plan

) and the

Part A MAI Year-End Annual Report

(

Annual Report

). The

Plan

and

Annual Report

components of the report are linked to minimize the reporting burden, and include drop-down menu responses, fields for reporting budget, expenditure and aggregated client level data, and open-ended responses for describing client or service-level outcomes. Together the

Plan

and

Annual Report

components collect information from grantees on MAI-funded services, expenditure patterns, the number and demographics of clients served, and client-level outcomes.

The MAI

Plan

Narrative that accompanies the

Plan

Web-forms provides (1) an explanation of the data submitted in the

Plan

Web forms; (2) a summary of the

Plan,

including the plan and timeline for disbursing funds, monitoring service delivery, and implementing any service-related capacity development or technical assistance activities; and (3) the plan and timeline for documenting client-level outcome measures. In addition, if the EMA/TGA revised any planned services, allocation amounts or target communities after their grant application was submitted, the changes must be highlighted and explained. The accompanying MAI

Annual Report

Narrative describes (1) progress towards achieving specific goals and objectives identified in the Grantee's approved

MAI Plan

for that fiscal year and in linking MAI services/activities to Part A and other Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program services; (2) achievements in relation to client-level health outcomes; (3) summary of challenges or barriers at the provider or grantee levels, the strategies and/or action steps implemented to address them, and lessons learned; and (4) discussion of MAI technical assistance needs identified by the EMA/TGA.

This information is needed to monitor and assess:

(1) Changes in the type and amount of HIV/AIDS health care and related services being provided to each disproportionately impacted community of color; (2) the aggregate number of persons receiving HIV/AIDS services within each racial and ethnic community; and (3) the impact of Part A MAI-funded services in terms of client-level and service-level health outcomes. The information also is used to plan new technical assistance and capacity development activities and inform the HRSA policy and program management functions. The data provided to HRSA does not contain individual or personally identifiable information.

The annual estimated response burden for grantees is as follows:

Form

Estimated number of

respondents

Responses per

respondent

Total

responses

Hours per

response

Total burden hours

Part A MAI Report

56

2

112

5 hrs

560

Note:

Data collection system enhancements have resulted in a shortened response burden (from 6 to 5 total hours per response) for respondents since the previous OMB approval request.

E-mail comments to

paperwork@hrsa.gov

or mail the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer, Room 10-33, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Dated: January 6, 2010.

Sahira Rafiullah,

Deputy Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.

[FR Doc. 2010-364 Filed 1-11-10; 8:45 am]

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