FCL Non-Substantive Change Request Memo

MEMORANDUM

TO: Stephanie Tatham, OIRA/OMB

FROM: Maria Woolverton, Federal Project Officer

DATE: August 21, 2018

SUBJECT: Non-Substantive Change Request to 0970-0356

This non-substantive change request is for instruments associated with the Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare Project. The purpose of the FCL project is to identify high-priority father and paternal relative engagement strategies and then conduct a pilot study in four sites to test the engagement strategies using continuous learning processes. The project involves partnering with the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and Children’s Bureau to collect data from child welfare agencies and key partners. For the project, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and the University of Denver to review the evidence in the areas of father and paternal relative engagement in child welfare, identify key touchpoints for engagement, and review continuous learning processes. The information collection request (ICR) associated with the FCL project received OMB approval on March 26, 2018.

As explained in the supporting statements for the approved ICR, the FCL study team will use the data collection instruments as discussion guides for telephone calls and in-person conversations at the child welfare agencies and possible partner agencies. The purpose of the discussions is to gather preliminary information from child welfare and possible partner agencies about current practices around father and paternal relative engagement, and explore design options for FCL that may be feasible to implement. In the early stages of the project, ACF and members of the project’s technical work group (TWG) provided feedback to ensure the pilot study design is feasible. Based on the feedback from the TWG and initial outreach activities, we would like to make minor adjustments to refine the study protocols to better understand how agencies implement father and paternal relative engagement strategies, in order to use collaborative continuous learning processes to deepen engagement within the child welfare system during the pilot study.

This non-substantive change request serves three purposes:

1. Modifications to the FCL semistructured protocol for initial agency phone meeting. ACF requests approval for minor modifications to the previously approved protocol for the initial phone meeting with child welfare agencies. The modifications involve collecting more information on agencies’ current plans to change how they engage fathers and paternal relatives and the feasibility of them implementing different engagement strategies. This change reflects ACF’s increased focus on father and paternal relative engagement strategies and community engagement. In some cases, this involved rewording an existing question and in others, adding a new question. Attached to this memo is the revised instrument. To account for the new questions, we removed two questions from the protocol in order to avoid exceeding approved burden (Appendix A).

2. Modifications to the FCL semistructured protocol for teleconference or agency visit. ACF also requests approval for minor modifications to the semistructured protocol for visits or teleconferences with child welfare agencies. The modifications involve collecting more information on agencies’ current plans to change how they engage fathers and paternal relatives and the feasibility of them implementing different engagement strategies. The modifications also involve collecting targeted information on agencies’ capacity to use data to make decisions. This change reflects ACF’s increased focus on father and paternal relative engagement strategies and community engagement. This change also highlights the need to identify agencies that have the data collection and analysis capacity to participate in the pilot study. In some cases, this involved rewording an existing question and in others, adding a new question. Attached to this memo is the revised instrument. To account for the new questions, we removed six questions from the protocol in order to avoid exceeding approved burden (Appendix B).

3. Modifications to the FCL project description. ACF has made minor modifications to the project description. Attached to this memo is the revised project description (Attachment A).

We look forward to receiving your response to this non-substantive change request. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions about the request.

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