2023-26580. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: Home Visiting Assessment of Implementation Quality Study: Better Addressing Disparities Through Home Visiting

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than February 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to [e-mail] or mail the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14N39, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, email [e-mail] or call Joella Roland, the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, at (301) 443–3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the ICR title for reference.

Information Collection Request Title: Home Visiting Assessment of Implementation Quality Study: Better Addressing Disparities through Home Visiting, OMB No. 0915–xxxx—[NEW]

Abstract: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, authorized by Social Security Act, title V, section 511 (42 U.S.C. 711) and administered by HRSA in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families, supports voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services during pregnancy and for parents with young children up to kindergarten entry. States, tribal entities, and certain nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive funding from the MIECHV Program and have the flexibility to tailor the program to serve the specific needs of their communities. Funding recipients may subaward grant funds to local implementing agencies (LIAs) to provide home visiting services to eligible families in at-risk communities.

Through the Home Visiting Assessment of Implementation Quality Study, HRSA aims to examine specific components of the Home Visiting Implementation Quality Conceptual Framework to inform strategies for implementing high quality home visiting programs. One of the three quality components the study will focus on is addressing disparities. HRSA will explore how families that experience disparities in outcomes targeted by the MIECHV Program experience home visiting services. The requested information collection is an initial step in understanding those experiences and will provide a better understanding of how MIECHV-funded home visiting programs currently address disparities and promote equity. Data collection activities include interviews, focus groups, online surveys, program observations, and review of documents and management information systems data.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: HRSA is seeking additional information about families' experiences within home visiting and strategies the MIECHV Program has used to address disparities in their work with families. HRSA intends to use this information to identify actionable strategies that MIECHV awardees and LIAs could take to remove potential obstacles to family enrollment in home visiting services and to help address health disparities.

Likely Respondents: MIECHV Program awardees that are states, nonprofit organizations, and tribes; LIA staff (program directors, coordinators, supervisors, and home visitors); and families that experience greater disparities in maternal and newborn health (families participating in MIECHV-funded home visiting services).

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours ¹

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Request for Information about LIAs	28	1	28	0.25	7
LIA and Family Nomination Form	70	1	70	2.00	140
Family Online Survey	210	1	210	0.50	105
Family Focus Group Protocol	52	1	52	1.00	52
Home Visitor Group Interview Protocol	10	1	10	1.00	10
LIA Leadership Interview Protocol	6	1	6	1.00	6
Family Case Study Focus Group Protocol	12	1	12	1.00	12
Total	388		388		332
1  There may be variation in the number of study participants ( e.g., some programs may have fewer home visitors). The total burden hours presented here provide information assuming the maximum number of respondents in each community.

HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

Maria G. Button,

Director, Executive Secretariat.