NonSub Change Memo - IAHT Caseworker Supervisor Individual or Group Interviews

To: Jordan Cohen

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Mary G. Mueggenborg and Christine Fortunato

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: April 9, 2021

Subject: NonSubstantive Change Request – Identifying and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare Agencies (OMB #0970-0563)

This memo requests approval of nonsubstantive changes to the approved information collection, Identifying and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare Agencies (OMB #0970-0563).

Background

In February 2021, OMB approved the new information collection request (ICR) for the OPRE Study: Identifying and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare Agencies (IAHT). The IAHT is a one-time qualitative case study of state and local child welfare human trafficking leaders, casework supervisors, and caseworkers. The goal of the study is to better understand how child welfare agencies select and implement screening tools, train workers on their use, and explore how children and youth identified as trafficked or at increased risk of trafficking are connected to services that meet their needs. Findings will be used to inform child welfare practice by sharing information on widely used approaches to screening and specialized services and those considered to be promising strategies.

Data collection with local level staff has not yet begun. The ICR that OMB approved in February 2021 included only group interviews with local casework supervisors. To reduce coordination burden on child welfare agencies and to ensure data collection is compatible with caseworker schedules, the study team would like to conduct interviews with casework supervisors as either group or individual interviews.

Overview of Requested Changes

We propose the following revisions to introduction and consent language to allow for group or individual casework supervisor interviews.

Changes include:

• Specifying that the interviews could be conducted individually or as a group

• Identifying group interview specific language that should be excluded for individual interviews:

  • Language within the introduction around expectation of different perspectives within a group

  • Language within the consent about the limits of privacy in group interviews should be excluded for individual interviews.

• Adding language for individual interviews clarifying that the information collected will be kept private to the extent permitted by law.

(Please see Appendix F Casework Supervisor Advance E-mail and Instrument 3 Casework Supervisor Interview Guide)

Time Sensitivities

To stay on track with the study timeline, we would like to begin local-level data collection by May 2021 and therefore request a response as soon as possible.