2015-22545. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), the Health Resources and Services Administration (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 Information Collection Request must be received no later than November 9, 2015.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to [e-mail] or mail the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 10C-03, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 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 the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

Information Collection Request Title: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Performance Measurement Information System.

OMB No. 0906-xxxx—New

Abstract: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), administered by HRSA in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), supports voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services during pregnancy and to parents with young children up to kindergarten entry. States and Tribal entities 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.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: HRSA will use the proposed information to demonstrate program accountability and continuously monitor and provide oversight to Home Visiting Program grantees. The information will also be used to provide quality improvement guidance and technical assistance to grantees and help inform the development of early childhood systems at the national, state, and local level. HRSA is seeking to collect demographic, service utilization, and select clinical indicators for participants enrolled in home visiting services. In addition, HRSA will collect a set of standardized performance and outcome indicators that correspond with the statutorily identified benchmark areas.

Demographic, Service Utilization, and Clinical Indicators Data

These data will describe the population served by the MIECHV Program, including the unduplicated count of the number of participants and participant groups by primary insurance coverage. These data will provide other socio-demographic characteristics of program participants and their utilization of services, such as program retention. Additionally, these data will describe several select clinical indicators of program participants, such as the percent of eligible participants who deliver their child preterm. This information will be collected from participants once, at enrollment in home visiting services and aggregated and reported to HRSA by state/territory grantees once annually.

Performance and Outcome Benchmark Data

These data constitute a discrete set of standardized performance and outcome indicators that correspond with the statutorily identified benchmark areas. These data will provide aggregate totals, percentages, and rates for performance and outcome indicators that are salient to the MIECHV Program, home visiting services more generally, and the at-risk populations served. These data will be collected from participants based on the appropriate measurement period defined for each measure and aggregated and reported to HRSA by state/territory grantees once annually.

This information will be used to demonstrate accountability with legislative and programmatic requirements. It will also be used to monitor and provide continued oversight for grantee performance and to target technical assistance resources to grantees. In the future, it is anticipated the MIECHV funding decisions may be allocated based on grantee performance, including on benchmark performance areas.

Likely Respondents: Home Visiting Program grantees.

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 Information Collection Request are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Form 1:
Demographic, Service Utilization, and Clinical Indicators Data	56	1	56	650	36,400
Performance and Outcome Benchmark Data	56	1	56	200	11,200
Total	56		56		47,600

HHS 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.

Jackie Painter,

Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.