RPG Non-Substantive Change Memo

MEMORANDUM

TO: Robert Sargis, ACF Reports Clearance Officer, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families

FROM: Elaine Stedt and Melissa Lim Brodowski, The Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families

SUBJECT: Non-substantive Change Request to Regional Partnership Grants National Cross-Site Evaluation and Evaluation Technical Assistance (OMB #0970-0444)

DATE: January 14, 2015

The Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeks approval to add four additional grantee sites to an existing OMB approved information collection request entitled Regional Partnership Grants National Cross-Site Evaluation and Evaluation Technical Assistance (known as the Regional Partnership Grants Program or “RPG”) (OMB # 0970-0444). Under RPG, the Children’s Bureau issued 17 grants to organizations such as child welfare or substance abuse treatment providers or family court systems to develop interagency collaborations and integration of programs, activities, and services designed to increase well-being, improve permanency, and enhance the safety of children who are in an out-of-home placement or are at risk of being placed in out-of-home care as a result of a parent’s or caretaker’s substance abuse. In the fall of 2014, the Children’s Bureau awarded four additional grants to RPG partnerships to participate in the ongoing evaluation and technical assistance support project. The four additional grantees will assume the same data collection requirements and reporting structure as the existing cohort of 17 grantees.

Revised Estimate of Burden

Below we detail the estimate of burden and cost for the RPG evaluation previously approved by OMB (table 1) and provide a revised estimate of burden and cost (table 2). The revisions in the burden estimates take into account three main changes: (1) the addition of four grantees, bringing the total up to 21; (2) the reduction from two to only one round of site visits reducing the overall number of interviews with program directors, program managers/supervisors and frontline staff; and (3) the reduction from two to only one round of staff and partner surveys.

The total annualized cost and total annual burden hours increased overall due to the addition of four RPG3 grantees (due to item 1 above), however, the burden hours and cost per grantee lowered (due to items 2 and 3 above). The overall annualized burden hours increased by 4,133 hours, from18,852 hours to 22,985 hours. The overall annualized cost increased by $71,468, from $345,910 to $417,378. However, the per grantee annualized burden hours decreased by 14 hours, a reduction from 1,109 hours to 1,095 hours. The per grantee annualized cost decreased by $473, from $20,348 to $19,875.

The additional grantees will participate in identical data collection activities and reporting requirements and no new information will be added. In addition, the per grantee burden has slightly declined due to small reductions in data collection activities. Due to the negligible changes to burden and cost at the grantee level, the Children’s Bureau requests approval for the addition of four grantees to those 17 grantees currently in the RPG evaluation under the existing OMB approval.

Table 1. Estimate of Burden and Cost for the RPG Evaluation – TOTAL Burden Request

Data collection activity	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses	Average Burden per Response (hours)	Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annualized Cost
Implementation and Partnership Study
Program director individual interview	17	2	2	68	$30.99	22.6	$702.44
Program manager/supervisor group interview	153	2	2	612	$30.99	204	$6,321.96
Program manager/supervisor individual interview	102	2	1	204	$30.99	68	$2,107.32
Frontline staff individual interview	102	2	1	204	$21.26	68	$1,445.68
Semi-annual progress report	17	6	16.5	1,683	$30.99	561	$17,385.39
Case enrollment data	51	90	0.25	1,147.5	$21.26	382.5	$8,131.95
Service log entries	102	2,340	0.05	11,934	$21.26	3,978	$84,572.28
Staff survey	340	2	0.42	283.3	$21.26	94.4	$2,007.89
Partner survey	340	2	0.33	226.7	$55.22	75.6	$4172.18
Data Uploading for Outcomes Evaluation
Administrative Data
Obtain access to administrative data	17	3	42.7	2,175	$38.04	725	$27,579.00
Report administrative data	17	6	144	14,688	$15.11	4,896	$73,978.56
Standardized Instruments
Review and adopt reporting templates	17	1	8	136	$15.11	45.3	$684.99
Enter data into local database	17	6	112.5	11,475	$15.11	3,825	$57,795.75
Review records and submit electronically	17	6	100	10,200	$15.11	3,400	$51,374.00
Additional Data Entry for Impact Evaluation
Data entry for comparison study sites	7	1	217	1,518.9	$15.11	506.3	$7,650.19
Total						18,852	$345,910

Table 2. Revised Estimate of Burden and Cost for the RPG Evaluation – TOTAL Burden Request

Data collection activity	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses	Average Burden per Response (hours)	Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annualized Cost
Implementation and Partnership Study
Program director individual interview	21	1	2	42	$30.99	14	$433.86
Program manager/supervisor group interview	189	1	2	378	$30.99	126	$3,904.74
Program manager/supervisor individual interview	126	1	1	126	$30.99	42	$1,301.58
Frontline staff individual interview	126	1	1	126	$21.26	42	$892.92
Semi-annual progress report	21	6	16.5	2,079	$30.99	693	$21,476.07
Case enrollment data	63	90	0.25	1,417.5	$21.26	472.5	$10,045.35
Service log entries	126	2,340	0.05	14,742	$21.26	4,914	$104,471.64
Staff survey	420	1	0.42	175	$21.26	58.33	$1,240.17
Partner survey	420	1	0.33	140	$55.22	46.67	$2,576.93
Data Uploading for Outcomes Evaluation
Administrative Data
Obtain access to administrative data	21	3	42.7	2,690	$38.04	896.7	$34,110.47
Report administrative data	21	6	144	18,144	$15.11	6,048	$91,385.28
Standardized Instruments
Review and adopt reporting templates	21	1	8	168	$15.11	56	$846.16
Enter data into local database	21	6	112.5	14,175	$15.11	4,725	$71,394.75
Review records and submit electronically	21	6	100	12,600	$15.11	4,200	$63,462
Additional Data Entry for Impact Evaluation
Data entry for comparison study sites	9	1	217	1,952.9	$15.11	651	$9,835.96
Total						22,985	$417,378

An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer