[Federal Register: July 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 133)]
[Notices]
[Page 40370]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13jy05-91]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request;
Proposed Projects: Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) Project Baseline
Data Collection
OMB No.: New collection.
Description: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF),
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has launched a new
demonstration and evaluation called the Supporting Healthy Marriage
(SHM) Project. The first large-scale, multi-site, multi-year, rigorous
test of marriage skills programs for low-income married couples, the
project is motivated by research that indicates that married adults,
and children raised by their married parents, do better on a host of
outcomes. Supporting Healthy Marriage is designed to inform program
operators and policymakers of the most effective ways to help couples
strengthen and maintain healthy marriages. In particular, the project
will measure the effectiveness of programs that provide instruction and
support to improve relationship skills.
This collection is a baseline survey of study participants. The
baseline data collection will serve several key functions in the SHM
study. It will help describe the population being served, which will be
useful to the programs being studied, to other marriage education
program providers, and to policy makers who seek to understand the
characteristics of couples that are interested in marriage education
services. It will allow the SHM team to define and conduct analyses of
key sub-groups, addressing the key study question of who benefits most
and least from marriage education services. A baseline data collection
will also allow the research team to conduct analyses using pre- and
post-intervention measures. Lastly, the baseline data collection is an
opportunity to collect participant contact information, to check the
validity of random assignment, to assess the quality of survey data and
attrition, and to increase the precision of estimated impacts.
Respondents: The target population of the SHM study is low-income
married couples with children. Both members of the couple must be over
18 and both must volunteer to participate in the program. The
respondents for the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project Baseline Data
Collection will be participants in the SHM study. This will include
both those receiving SHM program services and those in the SHM study
control group. The respondents will be both spouses of 1,000 low-income
married couples (2,000 respondents) in each of up to eight
demonstration sites. The total number of respondents could be up to
16,000. The study team will conduct participant intake over the course
of two years, thus yielding about 8,000 respondents per year.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Number of
Number of responses per Average burden Total burden
Instrument respondents respondent hours per hours
(min) response (min)
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Eligibility Checklist........................... 8,000 1 5 667
Informed Consent Form........................... 8,000 1 10 1,333
Baseline Information Form....................... 8,000 1 10 1,333
Self-Administered Questionnaire................. 8,000 1 15 2,000
Contact Information Form........................ 8,000 1 10 1,333
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:...... .............. .............. 50 6,666
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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
Administration, Office of Information Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade,
SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. E-mail
address: grjohnson@acf.hhs.gov. 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: July 7, 2005.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-13713 Filed 7-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-07-M