SSA Prog Supp GenIC - Survey on Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Practices for Collecting and Monitoring Outreach and

Survey on Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Practices for Collecting and Monitoring Outreach and Recruitment Data

Formative Data Collections for Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Program Support

OMB Information Collection Request

0970 - 0531

Supporting Statement

Part A

January 2025

Submitted By:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

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

Project Officers:

Rebecca Hjelm, Social Science Research Analyst, OPRE

Rebecca.Hjelm@acf.hhs.gov

Harmanpreet Bhatti, Social Science Research Analyst, OPRE

Harmanpreet.Bhatti@acf.hhs.gov

Part A

Executive Summary

• Type of Request: This request is for a generic information collection (GenIC) under the umbrella generic, Formative Data Collections for Program Support (0970-0531).

• Description of Request: This GenIC requests approval for a web-based survey to gather formative input from the current cohort of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grant recipients. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will use the responses to the survey to understand programs’ current practices for collecting and monitoring data on outreach and recruitment and to identify opportunities for future enhancements to the management information system that grant recipients use to collect and report on HMRF-funded activities. ACF does not intend for this information to be used as the principal basis for public policy decisions.

• Time Sensitivity: Grant recipients will be asked to complete the survey upon OMB approval, so the findings can be used to support planning for the potential next cohort of HMRF grants that would be awarded in September 2025.

A1. Necessity for the Data Collection

ACF requires that the 2020 cohort of HMRF grant recipients collect data from clients enrolled in and served by their programs and report on grant-level performance to ACF on a quarterly basis (OMB No. 0970-0566). ACF requires HMRF grant recipients to use the nFORM (Information, Family Outcomes, Reporting, and Management) management information system to collect data and report on their grant-funded activities. At this time, grant recipients are limited in the types of information they can enter into nFORM on grant-funded activities that take place prior to client enrollment, such as outreach to and recruitment of potential clients.

This generic information collection (GenIC) is to request approval for a formative, web-based survey on grant recipients’ current and preferred practices for collecting and monitoring data on outreach and recruitment. This information will help inform potential updates to the nFORM system. ACF has contracted with Mathematica to complete this work.

There are no legal or administrative requirements that necessitate this collection. ACF is undertaking the collection at the discretion of the agency.

A2. Purpose of Survey and Data Collection Procedures

Overview of Purpose and Approach

The primary purpose of this data collection is to understand how nFORM can be optimized to support grant recipients’ use of outreach and recruitment data as well as ACF’s program performance monitoring. More specifically, programs may use information on outreach activities, such as participation in community events, and on the characteristics of potential clients, to track whether they are reaching their target population. Collecting this data in nFORM could provide grant recipients and ACF with more consistent information and better tools for program monitoring and continuous quality improvement.

Grant recipients will provide input on their current experiences with collecting this type of information and how they could best use this data in the future. The study team will summarize survey findings and implications for potential updates and additions to nFORM’s current functionality for ACF’s consideration; findings may also be included in a public report. Once ACF determines what changes should be made to performance measures and the nFORM system for the potential next cohort of grant recipients, ACF will prepare an information collection request for full OMB review.

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

• Obtaining input on the development of program performance measures (PM) from grantees or experts in a relevant field (such as development of PMs for youth-focused programs).

• Obtaining feedback about processes and/or practices to inform ACF development or support

The information collected is meant to contribute to ACF planning for the potential next cohort of HMRF grant recipients. It is not intended to be used as the principal basis for a decision by a federal decision-maker and is not expected to meet the threshold of influential or highly influential scientific information.

Study Design and Universe of Data Collection Efforts

Staff from Mathematica, the contractor to ACF for the Building Usage, Improvement, and Learning with Data in HMRF Programs (BUILD-HMRF) project, will email all nFORM users with either a site administrator, case manager, or general user account type (as these accounts are only available to grant recipient staff) following OMB clearance. The email will contain a link to the web-based survey. To increase response rates, the study team will send one reminder email one week after the initial invitation is sent to individuals who were invited but have not yet responded to the survey.

Data Collection Activity	Respondent, Content, Purpose of Collection	Mode and Duration
HMRF Grant Recipient Survey on Tracking Outreach and Recruitment	Respondents: Grant staff with nFORM user accounts Content: HMRF program practices for collecting and monitoring data on outreach and recruitment Purpose: To help understand how nFORM could be modified to collect additional and/or potentially different information on outreach and recruitment to improve monitoring by both grant recipients and ACF	Mode: Web Duration: 0.25 hours per respondent

Other Data Sources and Uses of Information

To follow up on responses to the web survey, the study team may invite nine or fewer grant staff to a virtual listening session where participants can provide more in-depth information on their experiences and ideas for collecting and monitoring data on outreach and enrollment. ACF staff who directly support HMRF grant recipients are also providing input on potential updates to the nFORM system to improve monitoring of grant recipients’ outreach and recruitment practices.

A3. Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden

The study team will use information technology to reduce survey respondent burden. The survey will be programmed in QuestionPro, a secure survey platform. The team will email each grant recipient a link to the short web-based survey so that they can simply click on the link and respond directly to each item.

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

There are no other sources of information about grant recipients’ current experiences with collecting and monitoring outreach and recruitment data. No superfluous or unnecessary information is requested of grant staff in completing the survey, and the survey does not ask for information that can be reliably obtained through other sources.

A5. Involvement of Small Organizations

The potential exists for completion of the survey to involve grant recipients that are small entities. The survey and poll are designed to minimize the burden on all organizations involved, including small businesses and entities, by collecting only critical information needed for potential nFORM modifications.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection

Not applicable; the study team plans to administer the survey just one time to all grant recipient staff with active nFORM user accounts.

A7. Special Circumstances

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

A8. Federal Registrar 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 the overarching generic clearance for formative information collection. This 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, in conjunction with submission of the request to OMB. ACF did not receive any comments on the second notice.

Consultation with Experts Outside of the Study

Not applicable; the survey was developed based on input from ACF staff who work directly with HMRF grant recipients and technical assistance provided to HMRF grant recipients.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation for Respondents

No tokens of appreciation are proposed.

A10. Privacy of Respondents

The information collected will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. Respondents will be informed of all planned uses of data, that their participation is voluntary, and that their information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. All members of Mathematica’s study team are required to complete annual training on data privacy. Mathematica also requires that all staff sign a pledge to protect the confidentiality of information on projects.

The study team will use the secure QuestionPro platform to administer the survey and will store responses to the survey on a secure drive. Grant recipients will not provide confidential or personally identifiable information in survey responses, and responses will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which they are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.

A11. Sensitive Questions

Not applicable; the grant recipient survey will not include any sensitive questions.

A12. Estimation of Information Collection Burden

Explanation of Burden Estimates

The study team will email the survey one time to all grant recipient staff with an nFORM user account. There are currently about 1,500 nFORM user accounts assigned to grant staff. Based on response rates over time to a quarterly customer satisfaction survey of nFORM users who request help desk support (GenIC 0970-0401), we estimate the response rate to this survey will be approximately 33 percent, or 500 respondents. We estimate that each respondent will need 0.25 hours (or 15 minutes) to complete and submit their responses. Total burden hours across respondents will thus be 125 hours.

Estimated Annualized Cost to Respondents

The estimated cost to respondents was calculated using an average hourly wage of $33.08 obtained from May 2023 National OES data (the most recent available) for social workers (OES 21-1029). OES data for burden calculations were obtained from https://www.bls.gov/oes/home.htm. This wage was multiplied by two to account for fringe benefits and overhead, which is $66.16.

Instrument Type	Estimated Total Number of Respondents	Estimated Number of Responses Per Respondent	Average Burden Hours Per Response	Estimated Total Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage	Total Respondent Cost
HMRF Grant Recipient Survey on Tracking Outreach and Recruitment	500	1	0.25	125	$66.16	$8,270

A13. Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

There are no additional costs to respondents or record keepers.

A14. Estimate of Cost to the Federal Government

Based on the estimated annual cost to the Federal government in similar efforts, we estimate this information collection will take approximately 20 hours across federal ACF and contractor staff at the GS-12, GS-13, GS-14 or comparable levels. The estimated cost to the Federal government is thus $1,135.

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

Grant recipients will be asked to complete the survey in January 2025, pending OMB approval. Mathematica will summarize findings for review by ACF in February 2025 so the findings can be used to support planning for the potential next cohort of HMRF grants that would be awarded in September 2025. Findings from the survey may also be included in a public report.

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

Instrument 1: Survey on HMRF Practices for Collecting and Monitoring Outreach and Recruitment Data

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