SSA - CCDF Application for Intensive Consultation - IT Strategic Roadmap Development

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

Application for Intensive Consultation -

Information Technology Strategic Roadmap Development

Formative Data Collections for Program Support

0970 – 0531

Supporting Statement

Part A - Justification

October 2024

Submitted By:

Office of Child Care

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4^th Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building

330 C Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20201

A1. Necessity for the Data Collection

The Office of Child Care (OCC), under the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), seeks approval to collect information from Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies who voluntarily request support to develop a strategic roadmap to improve their existing and planned data and information technology (IT) systems, including associated policies, practices, and funding. The IT strategic roadmap will serve as a comprehensive plan to modernize data and IT systems over the next two to three years with the goal of improving child care services to families and providers and improving Lead Agency compliance with the 2024 CCDF Final Rule¹.

Background

ACF is focused on improving accessibility and quality of child care for families and improving and simplifying administrative processes for child care providers. IT, including data and IT systems, plays a significant role in these goals, such as enabling a family to search online for child care opportunities, applying for and receiving CCDF payments, and enrolling online with child care providers that fulfill their needs. Similarly, child care providers use IT to understand CCDF requirements, apply to become a CCDF child care provider, enroll in the program, receive CCDF payments, and provide data and reports to Lead Agencies about their child care operations.

When data and IT systems are not integrated across these business processes, the experience for families and child care providers is compromised causing them to enter data multiple times, which causes data to become outdated across systems, and inhibits their ability to receive critical services that ensure the safety and quality of child care when needed. When data and IT systems are not integrated across processes, child care providers may become frustrated with the bureaucracy, which discourages them from participating in the CCDF Program. All of this may result in a poor experience for families and child care providers, but, most importantly, children suffer when high quality child care is not available.

Additionally, “The 2024 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule updates regulations (45 CFR Part 98) to help working families afford child care and broadly support child care quality and accessibility in communities. Policies included in this final rule are designed to:

• Lower child care costs for families;

• Improve payments to child care providers;

• Increase child care options for families;

• Make enrollment easier and faster for families; and

• Increase clarity in CCDF requirements.”²

The OCC has contracted with the Data and Information System Consultation Center (DISCC) to support efforts in this area generally, and DISCC is specifically working to support efforts related to updates and improvements to data and IT systems. To comply with the 2024 CCDF Final Rule, most Lead Agencies will need to make changes to existing data and IT systems, and some may need to put in place new data and IT systems. DISCC IT and consulting specialists will use the information from this proposed information collection along with data from previously approved information collections to provide supportive consultation to those Lead Agencies in identifying, prioritizing, and planning data and IT system improvements.

Following this development work, Lead Agencies will have the opportunity to submit a follow-on application (to be submitted through a future information collection request later in the year)to apply to work with IT and consulting specialists to implement the roadmap that is developed as part of the work done under this information collection.

Legal or Administrative Requirements that Necessitate the Collection

There are no legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. ACF is collecting this information at the agency's discretion.

A2. Purpose of Survey and Data Collection Procedures

Overview of Purpose and Use

The purpose of the Application for Intensive Consultation - IT Strategic Roadmap Development, or application, is to identify and gather information about Lead Agencies that are interested in receiving targeted support from DISCC IT and consulting specialists. The information collected from Lead Agencies will be used by OCC/DISCC to select interested Lead Agencies and to inform DISCC about the specialized support necessary to develop IT strategic roadmaps for improving data and IT systems used to administer their CCDF Programs, which in turn improves child care outcomes identified in the 2024 CCDF Final Rule. DISCC will ensure specialists with the necessary technology skills are provided to work with Lead Agencies. The IT strategic roadmaps will help Lead Agencies identify resource needs and scheduling to ensure they properly plan IT modernization projects for implementation over the next two to three years.

This proposed information collection meets the following goals of ACF’s generic clearance for formative data collections for program support (0970-0531):

• Delivery of consultation related to improving data and IT systems used for CCDF Program implementation.

• Delivery of consultation related to the development and implementation of IT-related policies and processes (e.g., the development and refinement of data governance and data management practices to improve data quality and analytic and reporting outcomes).

• Planning for programmatic-related consultation (e.g., development of strategic IT roadmaps and methods to improve IT procurement and delivery oversight).

• Obtaining input on the development of key performance indicators (KPIs) used by Lead Agencies to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of their data and IT systems (e.g., cost of ownership and methods for measuring user satisfaction).

• Assessing effectiveness of consultation to improve data and IT systems through cyclical measurement.

• Improving the maturity of data and IT systems through cyclical measurement to demonstrate improved business outcomes.

• Obtaining feedback about processes and/or practices to inform OCC program development or support (e.g., identifying areas where best practices can be deployed to improve outcomes or subsets of Lead Agencies that can benefit from similar solutions that improve data and IT systems).

• Development of learning agendas and research priorities to improve and expand knowledge in best practices for data and IT system planning, acquisition, development, testing, deployment, operations, and maintenance.

Processes for Information Collection

DISCC will use Qualtrics, a commercial software tool hosted by ACF to field the application. Qualtrics enables Lead Agencies to receive an email with a link to the application and provides Lead Agencies access to complete the application online from a laptop, mobile device (e.g., smartphone), or combination of laptop and mobile device. Responses are not required, and respondents may provide all, or portions, of the information requested.

DISCC will provide webinars and materials to orient Lead Agencies and prepare them to complete the application using the CCTAN/DISCC website. DISCC will use Microsoft Teams and Zoom to conduct webinars, host virtual office hours, and conduct meetings with groups of Lead Agencies, individual Lead Agencies, and individual respondents to address their questions about the application. The webinar registration and related feedback surveys are included as part of a separate request under the ACF Generic for Information Collections related to Gatherings (0970-0617; title: Data and Information System Consultation Center Universal Technical Assistance Surveys).

A3. Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden

DISCC will use Qualtrics, a commercial survey and analytics tool hosted by ACF, to collect responses to the application, which will permit Lead Agencies to respond online from a laptop, mobile device (e.g., smartphone), or combination of laptop and mobile device. The responses will be retained online in a database within the Qualtrics application. Data may be exported to additional data analytic and visualization tools, such as Excel, Power-BI, or Tableau, for more complex analysis and visualizations that may identify opportunities for best practices and synergies for Lead Agency collaboration.

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

The information to be collected on the application does not exist currently. Through this application, Lead Agencies will voluntarily identify their needs for support to develop an IT strategic roadmap.

A5. Involvement of Small Organizations

No small businesses will be requested to respond to this information collection. ACF/OCC has contracted with a small business to develop and conduct the application.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection

The application for intensive consultation to develop an IT strategic roadmap will occur one time.

A7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances for the proposed data collection efforts.

A8. Federal Register Notice and Consultation

Federal Register Notice and Comments

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR Part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29, 1995), ACF published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of this information collection request to extend approval of the umbrella generic with minor changes. The notice was published on January 28, 2022, (87 FR 4603), and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. ACF did not receive any comments on the first notice. A second notice was published, allowing a thirty-day period for public comment, with submission of the request to OMB. ACF did not receive any comments on the second notice.

Consultation with Outside Experts

ACF/OCC has contracted with Keith L. Scott and Associates (KLSA), to collect information from Lead Agencies about their data and IT systems; identify, design, and deliver T/TA to assist Lead Agencies in improving their data and IT systems; benchmark the current condition of Lead Agency data and IT systems; develop and implement IT strategic roadmaps through intensive consultation with Lead Agencies; and measure effectiveness of T/TA to improve Lead Agency data and IT systems over time. Contract staff provided the expertise in the development of this information collection.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation for Respondents

No tokens of appreciation for respondents are proposed for this information collection.

A10. Privacy of Respondents

Individual responses will not be released publicly. Privacy of Lead Agencies and individual respondents within the Lead Agencies will be maintained. Lead Agencies will be informed of all planned uses of data, that their participation is voluntary, and that their information will be kept private.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will be collected for the sponsor who will act as the primary champion within the Lead Agency for developing the IT Strategic Roadmap. This will allow the DISCC specialists to contact the right person within the agency. The sponsor will work with staff and partners both within and outside the Lead Agency to identify CCDF Program IT goals and priorities. Data will not be retrieved or reported by an individual’s personal identifier. The following information will be collected for the sponsor:

• Name (first and last)

• Position title

• Lead Agency organization name

• Email address

• Phone number

A11. Sensitive Questions

There are no sensitive questions in this data collection.

A12. Estimation of Information Collection Burden

Burden Estimates

DISCC estimates receiving approximately 29 responses from Lead Agencies as follows: 30% of the 50 State Lead Agencies (which includes the District of Columbia), or 15; 25% of the 4 Territory Lead Agencies, or 1 and 0.5% of the 264 Tribes, or 13 (rounded). Up to 25 Lead Agencies will be selected by ACF to receive intensive consultation over the next 9 months (approximately) to develop IT strategic roadmaps.

Estimated time to complete the application is 15 minutes (0.25 hours). The application will be open to CCDF Program Administrator of the Lead Agencies in 50 States, the District of Columbia (considered a State for this purpose), 5 Territories, and 259 Tribes.

DISCC anticipates that Administrators for Lead Agencies will want to engage with staff members to reflect the most accurate information possible when responding to various portions of the application. DISCC estimates Administrators will engage an average of two (2) additional staff members to complete the application. These staff members may be the IT Director/Manager, IT professionals, and staff who administer specific business functions within the CCDF Program. Administrators with larger programs may engage more than 2 staff members while Administrators with smaller programs may engage fewer than 2 staff members. These staff members are estimated to spend approximately 10 minutes (or 0.17 hours) each while assisting their Administrators.

Cost Estimates

The cost to respondents was calculated using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job code for Child, Family, and School Social Workers for State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation) [21-1021] and wage data from May 2023, which is $27.44 per hour. To account for fringe benefits and overhead the rate was multiplied by two (2) which is $54.88.

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm

Instrument	Total Number of Respondents	Total Number of Responses Per Respondent	Average Burden Hours Per Response	Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Cost
Application – Administrators	29	1	0.25	7.25	$54.88	$397.88
Application – Staff Members	58	1	0.17	9.86	$54.88	$541.12
Total Burden and Cost Estimates:				17.11	$54.88	$939.00

A13. Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

There are no additional costs to respondents.

A14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government

The total cost for the data collection activities under this current request is estimated to be $13,125, including approximately 5 hours Federal labor to support review of the application and 50 hours contractor labor to support collection and analysis of data.

A15. Change in Burden

This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella formative generic clearance for program support (0970-0531).

A16. Plan and Time Schedule for Information Collection, Tabulation and Publication

After OMB approval, ACF/OCC plans to release the Application for Intensive Consultation - IT Strategic Roadmap Development and will provide approximately 30 work days for Lead Agencies to complete the application. This date may fluctuate based on the needs of the Lead Agencies. Just before releasing the application, DISCC will conduct webinars to orient Lead Agencies to the application and roadmap development processes.

A17. Reasons Not to Display OMB Expiration Date

All instruments will display the expiration date for OMB approval.

A18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.

Attachments

Attachment A: Application for Intensive Consultation - IT Strategic Roadmap Development

1 2024 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)

2 2024 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule Fact Sheet | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)