Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

Proposed Projects

Title: Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES).

OMB No.: New Collection.

Description: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families

(ACYF), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is requesting Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for interview instruments to be

used in the Head Start Family and Child Experience Survey (FACES). This

study is being conducted under contracts with Abt Associates Inc.

[[Page 60106]]

(with The CDM Group, Inc. as their subcontractor (#105-96-1930)) to

collect descriptive information on Head Start families, and Westat,

Inc. (with Ellsworth Associates as their subcontractor (#105-96-1912))

to collect information on Head Start performance measures. The design

calls for three rounds of data collection. A nationally representative

group of 2,400 families with children enrolled in approximately 160

centers in 40 Head Start programs will be identified in Spring, 1997.

At that time, Head Start staff and parents will be interviewed,

classroom observations will be completed, and children will be

assessed. The second data collection period will occur in Fall, 1997.

Again, staff and parents will be interviewed, and children will be

assessed and observed in their classrooms. At that time children from

the Spring, 1997 sample that left Head Start to enter kindergarten

following the 1996-97 Head Start year will be replaced by a

representative sample of children just entering Head Start. All

families, including those whose children entered kindergarten in Fall,

1997 will be tracked through the school year. The final data collection

effort will occur in Spring, 1998 and involve all families and children

identified in the earlier two data collection periods.

A subgroup of 120 families will be identified from the Spring and

Fall, 1997 samples for participation in the Validation Substudy. The

Validation Substudy data collection will require home visits to

participating families at each major data collection point and a series

of monthly contacts between data collections periods. The monthly

contacts will begin with the Spring, 1997 data collection and continue

through December, 1998.

This schedule of data collection is necessitated by the mandates of

the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Public Law

103-62), which requires that the Head Start Bureau move expeditiously

toward development and testing of Head Start Performance Measures, and

by the 1994 reauthorization of Head Start (Head Start Act, as amended,

May 18, 1994, Section 649 (d)), which requires assessment of Head

Start's quality and effectiveness.

Respondents: Federal Government, Individuals or Households, and

Not-for-profit institutions.

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Number of Average

Number of responses burden Total

Instrument respondents per hours per burden

respondent response hours

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Spring, 1997..................................................... 7,840 1 0.652 5,110

Fall, 1997....................................................... 8,400 1 0.648 5,440

Spring, 1998..................................................... 11,460 1 0.654 7,500

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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 9,025.

In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and

Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the

information collection described above. Copies of the proposed

collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded

by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of

Information Services, Division of Information Resource Management

Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447, Attn:

ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the

title of the information collection.

The Department specifically requests comments on: (a) Whether the

proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the

information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of

information; (c) 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.

Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted

within 60 days of this publication.

Dated: November 20, 1996.

Bob Sargis,

Acting Reports Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-30145 Filed 11-25-96; 8:45 am]

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