E9-3053. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Title: Building Strong Families (BSF) Demonstration and Evaluation—Impact Study Second Follow-up.

OMB No.: 0970-0304.

Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), anticipates continuing data collection for the 15-month follow-up surveys of the Building Strong Families (BSF) Demonstration and Evaluation. Data collection will continue for an additional 6 months beyond the current date of expiration (July 31, 2009).

This data collection is a part of the BSF evaluation, which is an important opportunity to learn if well-designed interventions can help low-income couples develop the knowledge and relationship skills that research has shown are associated with healthy marriages. The BSF evaluation uses an experimental design that randomly assigns couples who volunteer to participate in BSF programs to a program or control group.

Materials for the original 15-month data collection effort, previously submitted to OMB, covered impact and implementation data collections. Data collection for the impact study is complete. ACF anticipates collecting data for an additional 6 months in order to complete data collection for the entire sample of participants.

Respondents: Couples enrolled in the BSF evaluation, including program and control groups.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Annual number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Estimated annual burden hours
15-month telephone survey (female partner)	1,434	1	.91	1,305
15-month telephone survey (male partner)	1,434	1	.83	1,190

Total Burden Hours: 2,495

Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. E-mail address: [e-mail].

OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Fax: [phone], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and Families.

Dated: February 6, 2009.

Brendan C. Kelly,

Clearance Officer.