Supporting Statement PartA_NSCAW_July 2023 clean_fin

Alternative Supporting Statement for Information Collections Designed for

Research, Public Health Surveillance, and Program Evaluation Purposes

National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being-Third Cohort (NSCAW III)

OMB Information Collection Request

0970 - 0202

Supporting Statement

Part A

July 2023

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:

Christine Fortunato

Mary Bruce Webb

Part A

Executive Summary

• Type of Request: This request is for a revision extend approval and to restore an in-person mode to an approved information collection. We are requesting a three-year extension of approval.

• Progress to date: The first cohort of NSCAW began in 1999. NSCAW is the only source of nationally representative, longitudinal, firsthand information about the functioning and well-being, service needs, and service utilization of children and families who come to the attention of the child welfare system. The Phase I submission for NSCAW III, approved November 2016, included recruitment and sampling process data collection activities. The Phase II submission, approved July 2017, is still ongoing. The schedule for Phase II activities was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseline data collection was completed in March 2022, with 3,298 children and families enrolled in the NSCAW III cohort. Follow-up data collection with enrolled children and families is ongoing, as is panel maintenance with NSCAW cohort members. Phase III data collection from the child welfare workforce is complete. Analysis and dissemination activities focused on Phase II baseline and Phase III workforce data have been initiated.

• Timeline: Phase II of the project is progressing. Data collection for Phase III of the project began in January 2021 and was completed in June 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, baseline Phase II in-person baseline data collection was paused for 14 months and follow-up data collection was delayed due to the need to retool data collection procedures and instruments to allow for remote administration. Additional time is needed to complete the Phase II follow-up data collection and to conduct analysis and dissemination activities. A three-year extension of approval is requested.

• Summary of Changes Requested: This request is for an extension with changes (revision) to the Phase II information collection, including changes to materials to restore the previously approved in-person mode as an option for caregiver and child respondents, and an extension to the Phase II information collection. The current request for an extension will allow for the Phase II follow-up data collection and panel maintenance activities to be completed and provide greater flexibility to NSCAW respondents by reinstating a previously approved Phase II in-person interviewing option.

A1. Necessity for Collection

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks an extension to the second phase (Phase II) of the third cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW III) and a reinstatement of in-person interviewing to the Phase II follow-up data collection.

A goal of NSCAW III is to maintain the strengths of previous work, while better positioning the study to address the changing child welfare population. While the previous NSCAW cohorts provided a vastly better understanding of what children and families involved with the CWS face, many knowledge gaps remain. More research is needed about children who enter CWS custody for reasons other than a maltreatment investigation; pathways to reunification, guardianship, and adoption, particularly for children entering CWS as adolescents; and youth’s transition to adulthood, particularly those aging out of foster care. Additional research is also needed on the quality of services received by children in the CWS, including mental health services and psychotropic medication use. While prior NSCAWs relied on child, caregiver, and caseworker self-report, the third NSCAW will link to Medicaid data to better address these service use questions. Also new to the third NSCAW is the collection of data on the child welfare workforce. Information collected directly from agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers in participating NSCAW agencies is intended to provide a better understanding of the strengths and challenges of the current workforce and to support efforts to promote a stable workforce that meets the needs of vulnerable children and families.

OMB approved three previous information collections for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III of the study:

Phase I DHHS/ACF/OPRE National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Third Cohort (NSCAW III): Agency Recruitment – OMB approved Phase I of the study for the purpose of recruitment and gathering information to facilitate sampling of children in November 2016. Phase I is complete.

Phase II DHHS/ACF/OPRE National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Third Cohort (NSCAW III): Data Collection – OMB approved Phase II of the project for the purpose of conducting a baseline and 18-month follow-up data collection in July of 2017. Phase II is in progress. The Phase II schedule was significantly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseline data collection has been completed; follow-up data collection and panel maintenance is ongoing.

Phase III OPRE Study: National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Third Cohort (NSCAW III): Data collection (Phase III – Caseworker Surveys) [Longitudinal Study] – OMB approved Phase III of the project for the purpose of conducting a workforce data collection in September 2020. Phase III data collection is complete; analysis and dissemination is ongoing.

Following the approval of Phase III, OMB also approved the following non-substantive changes relevant to the current request. Most notably, approved changes allowed the Phase II follow-up survey to be administered remotely during the pandemic.

Updates to Token of Appreciation and Related to COVID-19 – In January 2021, OMB approved modifications to survey instruments to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; modifications to burden and materials to reflect a slightly higher child interview administration time; and modifications to materials to allow for telephone administration of the caseworker survey, to reflect the addition of a non-monetary incentive for adolescent participants ages 11-17, and to reflect language update requests by the Institutional Review Board and HIPAA Privacy Officer with oversight of the study.

Remote Option Wave 2 – In September 2021, OMB approved modifications to the follow-up survey instruments and materials to allow for remote administration, to collect information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families, to reflect a delayed interval between the baseline and follow-up interview due to the pandemic, and to reflect a reduced follow-up survey administration time.

Social Media Information – In May 2022, OMB approved modifications to the survey instruments to collect social media information from respondents to support tracking and panel maintenance efforts.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Question Updates and Panel Maintenance – In September 2022, OMB approved modifications to the follow-up survey instrument to update the sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) items, and to allow for panel maintenance contacts with NSCAW cohort members.

The current request for an extension will allow for the Phase II follow-up data collection and panel maintenance activities to be completed and provide greater flexibility to NSCAW respondents by reinstating a previously approved Phase II in-person interviewing option (July 2017). It will also maximize the utility of the Phase II and III data collected by providing additional time for analysis and dissemination activities.

Study Background

Child welfare turnover is costly and can have a negative impact on the safety and permanency outcomes of children and families being served by the child welfare system (e.g., Fluke et al., 2016; Graef & Hill, 2000; Pietrowiak & Gambino, 2003; Strolin-Goltzman et al., 2010). Recent research leveraging 2003 to 2015 data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting System (NCANDS; Edwards & Wildeman, 2018) examined workload and workforce instability among child welfare agencies in 46 states. Findings indicated a 14-22% median turnover rate among front-line caseworkers and a 20% median turnover rate among supervisors nationwide. On average, caseworkers had an active caseload for 1.8 years before exiting the child welfare system.

While prior data collection efforts have yielded insights into the child welfare workforce, they have generally focused on one type of worker (e.g., caseworkers or directors), have not been nationally representative, and have been limited to focus groups or qualitative surveys (e.g., Hughes & Lay, 2012; Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development, 2019). These new data collection activities will provide nationally representative information on the job responsibilities, available supports, and overall work experiences of the public child welfare workforce, including agency directors, caseworkers, and supervisors.

Legal or Administrative Requirements that Necessitate the Collection

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

A2. Purpose

Purpose and Use

The purpose of this information collection is to gain a better understanding of issues specific to the child welfare workforce, including child welfare workers’ characteristics and work experiences. The information collection is not intended to focus on the child welfare system itself, but rather on the perceptions and experiences of staff serving children and families within the system. A limited number of items focused on the impact of COVID-19 on child welfare workforce practices have been included in the information collection. These items were crafted to focus specifically on ways the pandemic may have altered the work and practice of agencies and their staff. The information collection will be used to inform policy, programs, and practice related to the public child welfare workforce. Workforce data will also be made available to the research community for analysis.

The information collected is meant to contribute to the body of knowledge on ACF programs. 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.

Research Questions or Tests

Previously approved Phase II research questions are provided for reference in Appendix A. The research questions for the current information collection request are outlined in Table 1. Research questions are organized in three content domains: 1) workforce characteristics and competencies, 2) training and professional development, and 3) organizational factors.

Table 1. Research Questions

Workforce Characteristics and Competencies

What are the demographic and educational characteristics of the child welfare workforce, including caseworkers, supervisors, and agency directors?

What are the primary roles and responsibilities of the child welfare workforce?

What personal characteristics and competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) do child welfare staff members possess and/or demonstrate?

Training and Professional Development

What training did child welfare staff possess when they were hired? Did their training include any courses in child welfare? What recruitment practices do agencies use to attract and hire child welfare candidates? What onboarding practices do agencies have for new child welfare workers?

What types of training and professional development opportunities are offered to child welfare staff? What factors influence child welfare staffs’ abilities to engage in training and professional development opportunities?

What training and professional development opportunities do child welfare staff engage in? How does this training and professional development influence job satisfaction, retention, turnover, increased knowledge, and practice?

Organizational Factors

What is the public child welfare agency landscape? This includes the number of child welfare staff, caseload size, turn-over rates, ratio of supervisors to workers, vacancy rates, salary levels and benefits, and union/non-union.

To what extent are public–private child welfare partnerships taking place? What is the extent of privatization and contracting out?

What is the organizational culture and climate within the public child welfare agency? How do organizational culture and climate influence workforce issues, including role conflict, burnout, turnover, supervision, caseload/workload, or education and training requirements?

How do child welfare staffs’ perspectives about organizational culture and climate influence workforce issues?

Study Design

As with prior NSCAWs, NSCAW III employs a stratified, two-stage sample design where the primary sampling units (PSUs) are U.S. counties or contiguous areas of two or more counties, and the secondary sampling units are children involved with the child welfare system during the sample recruitment period. Public child welfare agencies were selected with probability proportional to size, based on their distributions in the child welfare system. Selected child welfare agencies were recruited for study participation. Participating agencies, in turn, provide lists of children and families recently investigated for maltreatment for sampling purposes. Sampled children and their caregivers who participate at baseline comprise the NSCAW III cohort.

Previously Approved Requests

Phase I Agency Recruitment – OMB approved Phase I of the study for the purpose of recruitment and gathering information to facilitate sampling of children in November 2016. In Phase I of the project 61 child welfare agencies were recruited. The 61 participating agencies will submit, on a monthly basis for 15 months, files containing information about children with a closed maltreatment investigation in the prior month, as well as children who entered CWS custody without a maltreatment investigation.

Phase II Data Collection - For Phase II of the project, OMB approved baseline and 18-month follow-up data collection, which includes face-to-face interviews and assessments with 4,565 children (aged birth to 17 ½ years), their adult caregivers (e.g., biological/adoptive parents, foster parents, kin caregivers, group home caregivers), and their assigned caseworkers. Baseline data collection began in November 2017 and was on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to May 2021. Data collection resumed in June 2021 and was completed in March 2022. The 18-month follow-up data collection began in September 2019 and was placed on hold in March 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a pause in face-to-face interviewing for the safety of interviewers and sampled respondents, the follow-up interviews for some baseline cases will occur later than 18 months. Because of the pandemic delays and the need to complete follow-up data collection within the contract period, an OMB approved remote interview option is being offered to children and young adults ages 11 and older, adult caregivers, and caseworkers. Remote interviews with children, young adults, and adult caregivers are conducted by telephone and web or in person; remote interviews with caseworkers are conducted by telephone. NSCAW cohort members (I, II, and III) will be contacted 9 months or more after their last interview with a panel maintenance request to update or confirm their contact information.

Phase III Data Collection – For Phase III of the project, OMB approved workforce data collection which includes telephone and/or web surveys with agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers in child welfare agencies participating in NSCAW III. In Phase III of the project surveys collected information on workforce characteristics and competencies, training and professional development opportunities, and organizational and agency factors. The surveys also collected information about the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on child welfare workforce practices. Surveys were completed with 48 agency directors, 126 supervisors, and 183 caseworkers from agencies participating in NSCAW III.

The current request is for an extension with changes (revision). To date, follow-up surveys with adolescents, young adults, and caregivers have been completed remotely via telephone and web. With the abatement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project team plans to restore the option of completing the survey in person with a field interviewer for caregiver and child respondents. While the current OMB approval allows for in-person interviewing, the currently approved remote respondent materials require minor modifications to add this mode option. The in-person mode is most likely to be used in the following situations: 1) a respondent has been located during field locating efforts by a field interviewer and the respondent agrees to participate, and/or 2) a respondent does not have access to the internet, computer, or mobile telephone and is unable to complete the survey remotely. The current request includes: 1) minor changes to caregiver and child lead letters, facts sheets, consent/assent forms and survey instruments to restore the in-person mode option and 2) an extension of OMB approval to allow for the completion of the follow-up data collection, panel maintenance, and analysis/dissemination activities.

Phase III

Phase III represents a one-time survey of agency directors/administrators, supervisors, and caseworkers employed within the 61 public child welfare agencies currently participating in Phase II of NSCAW III. Field interviewers and project team members meet with agency staff to collect information on sampled children and to conduct interviews with investigative and services caseworkers assigned to children in the cohort. This information collection was purposefully timed to occur during the 18-month follow-up wave of NSCAW III for two main reasons: 1) the baseline child/family cohort will have been enrolled and the burden of agencies participating in the study is much lower, and 2) the study will continue to have the field interviewing resources and agency relationships necessary to conduct the additional workforce data collection.

The NSCAW III sampling frame provides a nationally representative sample of public child welfare agencies. All directors/administrators from agencies participating in NSCAW III will be included in the sample. A sample of supervisors will be randomly selected from each agency. A sample of caseworkers who report to participating supervisors will also be randomly selected. This nested sampling allows for worker perceptions within a given agency to be compared, and for within agency characteristics and context to be considered as factors that could impact those perceptions. Because all caseworkers reporting to a participating supervisor have a chance of being selected, it is possible that a caseworker who provided information about participating children and families during Phase II could also be selected for a workforce interview. See Sections B1 and B2 for more detail on the plan for sampling.

The primary data collection modes will be telephone and/or web. An in-person mode may be offered to respondents in the future if it is safe to conduct in-person surveys in the respondent’s state and county. The contractor has in place an Infectious Disease Response Team that is monitoring COVID-19 infection rates across the country. A dashboard that incorporates public health data at the state and county-level to monitor trends has been developed. This dashboard considers a variety of metrics to inform decisions about where in-person field data collection can begin, including 7-day rolling average infection rates. The agency director survey will be administered by a field interviewer using a paper-and-pencil instrument for both the telephone and in-person modes. The supervisor and caseworker surveys will be administered by a combination of telephone and/or web, with the most sensitive items (e.g., secondary trauma, burnout) being answered by caseworkers and supervisors via a web survey.

Survey results are intended to be representative of public child welfare agencies able to participate in NSCAW III; that is, agencies located in states that do not prohibit the release of identified child maltreatment records required for the survey (see Section B1 for more information).

Table 2 provides detail on the ongoing information collections, which includes the three follow-up survey instruments, including the intended respondent, content, purpose of the collection, mode, and duration.

Table 2. Study Design and Instruments

Data Collection Activity	Instruments	Respondent, Content, Purpose of Collection	Mode and Duration
NSCAW III follow-up surveys	Caregiver survey	Respondents: 3,298 caregivers of focal child Interviewer-administered content (Telephone or In Person): Family composition and demographics; community environment; child’s health and functioning; caregiver health and functioning; social support; income; services received by child and family; family environment; experiences with child welfare system. Self-administered content (Web): Depression; psychological distress; mental health and functioning; alcohol and drug dependence; domestic violence; criminal involvement; discipline and maltreatment; satisfaction with caseworker. Purpose: Collect of information about the family’s household composition and placement status; history of child’s health; financial resources available to child; perceived social support for child and family; caregiver’s physical health status; caregiver depression and psychological distress; caregiver involvement with the justice system; methods and frequency of discipline used by caregiver; satisfaction level with services from caseworker.	Mode: Telephone or in person and web Duration: 45 minutes
	Child survey	Respondents: 1,461 youth and young adults (11-18+) Interviewer-administered content (Telephone or In Person): Relationship with peers; parental monitoring; persistence and grit; self-esteem; independent living; satisfaction with caseworker services; social support; child and health services; youth behavior. Self-administered content (Web): Closeness of caregivers; services received; substance abuse; sexual activity; delinquency; coercion; involvement with the law; dating violence. Purpose: Collection of demographic information; success in making and keeping friends; extent to which caregiver monitors the child’s activities; mental resilience and persistence in pursuing goals; self-esteem; degree of satisfaction with caseworker services; social support; physical health; depression; youth behavior; closeness of caregivers; substance abuse; sexual behavior and activity; delinquency; victimization; involvement with the law; dating violence.	Mode: Telephone or in-person and web Duration: 45 minutes
	Caseworker survey	Respondents: Caseworkers of families who report in the follow-up survey that they have received services since the baseline survey. Content: History since case report; living environments; service needs of parents; services to child; independent living; adoption; permanency planning; family compliance and progress; caseworker background. Purpose: Collect information about the child’s history with the child welfare system since the case report; changes in living arrangements or placements of the child; service needs; independent living skills the child may have developed; adoption possibilities for children in out-of-home care; history of court hearings; family’s progress and adherence to case plan; background of caseworker and agency.	Mode: Telephone Duration: 50 minutes

Other Data Sources and Uses of Information

NSCAW III (#0970-0202) provides the foundation for this information collection. Data collected from agency directors will be supplemented with agency administrative data publicly available to researchers via NCANDS and the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS). These data provide further information on the context of agencies, such as the annual number of maltreatment reports and investigations and the number of children in foster care. There is no burden to study participants associated with using NCANDS and AFCARS data for NSCAW III.

A3. Use of Information Technology to Reduce Burden

The supervisor and caseworker surveys and the web survey option for agency directors were programmed for computer-assisted interviewing (CAI). CAI offers several features that make the survey more efficient, and thus less burdensome for the respondent, while also supporting data quality. First, CAI technology makes possible the administration of complex questionnaires by interviewers with a level of accuracy that would otherwise not be feasible. CAI-programmed surveys implement complex skip patterns based on youth responses to gateway questions and to fill specific wordings based on answers previously provided by the respondent. Second, CAI technology improves the consistency of data provided by a respondent. If a respondent’s answers fall outside the logical range, the interviewer is prompted to verify the two seemingly inconsistent pieces of data with the respondent while their thinking on how the answer was formulated is still fresh. This reduces the need for subsequent data editing. Third, CAI technology provides greater expediency with respect to data processing and analysis. Several backend processing steps, including editing, coding, and data entry become part of the data collection process. The remote follow-up interview options for children 11 and older, caregivers, and caseworkers benefit similarly from CAI technology. Additionally, caregivers and children and young adults ages 11 and older have the option of completing the web survey portion at their own pace and at a time that is convenient for them. NSCAW cohort members contacted for panel maintenance also have the option of updating or confirming their contact information via a secure website.

In-person interviews for this study use a computerized document management system (DocMan) developed by RTI International with which interviewers secure respondents’ signatures on all documents (e.g., informed consent forms) via the laptop computer, an electronic signature pad, and a portable scanner. Signed forms are transmitted electronically with completed questionnaire data in encrypted files and reviewed for completeness and accuracy.

A4. Use of Existing Data: Efforts to reduce duplication, minimize burden, and increase utility and government efficiency

Efforts were undertaken to identify existing data, reduce duplication, and minimize burden. NSCAW III is uniquely positioned as a nationally representative study operating within public child welfare agencies. The information being collected cannot be obtained through other sources.

A5. Impact on Small Businesses

While county child welfare agencies with fewer than 55 maltreatment investigations annually are excluded from the NSCAW III sample frame, some agencies employ relatively few child welfare personnel. In these agencies, only one survey for each respondent type will be sought.

A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

The current information collection request is a one-time data collection.

A7. Now subsumed under 2(b) above and 10 (below)

A8. 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 activity. This notice was published on May 15, 2023 (88 FR 30977) and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. During the notice and comment period, no comments were received.

Consultation with Experts Outside of the Study

The project team consulted with several outside experts to inform knowledge gaps, study design, and survey development. For information about consultation for each phase and related information collections, please see specific ICRs: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAOMBHistory?ombControlNumber=0970-0202.

A9. Tokens of Appreciation

This revision request does not include any changes to previously approved tokens of appreciation. Agencies participating in NSCAW III are committing significant time and effort to the study over the course of the several consecutive years needed to complete the baseline, month follow-up, and workforce data collection efforts previously approved by OMB.

Previously Approved

Tokens of appreciation previously approved in Phase I, II, and III of NSCAW III are as follows:

Respondents	Activity	Time per Response	Token of Appreciation
Participating child welfare agencies	Provision of contact information for sampled children and their caregivers Baseline and 18-month caseworker interviews	1 hour per month during baseline 45 minutes per caseworker interview	$200 annually
Caregivers	Baseline and 18-month interviews	100 minutes	$50 gift card
Children 11 and older	Baseline and 18-month interviews	60-100 minutes	$20 gift card and a nonmonetary gift of ~$20 in value
Children 10 and younger	Baseline and 18-month interviews	60-90 minutes	$10 gift card
Participating supervisors and caseworkers	Workforce surveys	35-50 minutes	$20 gift card

A10. Privacy: Procedures to protect privacy of information, while maximizing data sharing

Personally Identifiable Information

A limited amount of personally identifiable information (PII) will be collected for the purposes of contacting agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers to schedule interviews. These include name, agency address, and agency telephone number. Information will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which data are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.

Assurances of Privacy

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. As specified in the contract, the Contractor will comply with all Federal and Departmental regulations for private information.

The consent forms for each respondent type describe measures taken to assure participant privacy. These include assurances that the project team will protect the privacy of respondents to the fullest extent possible under the law, that respondents’ participation is voluntary, and that they may withdraw their consent at any time without any negative consequences.

The supervisor and caseworker surveys will use Computer Audio-Recorded Interviewing (CARI). CARI is a laptop computer application developed by RTI International for audio recording of field data collection to verify data collection and quality of data collection. The consent form also explains that CARI recordings will not include identifying information for participants and recordings will be destroyed after a review of survey quality. Participants either provide permission or opt out of CARI for their survey. As noted in Section A3, the Contractor will use DocMan to securely obtain and transmit signed respondent documents, including informed consent forms, for any in-person interviews.

In addition to project-specific training about study procedures, members of the data collection team will receive training that includes general security and privacy procedures. All members of the data collection team will be knowledgeable about privacy procedures and will be prepared to describe them in detail or answer any related questions raised by respondents.

The study has obtained a federal Certificate of Confidentiality that covers all information collected on NSCAW III. The Certificate of Confidentiality helps to assure participants that their information will be kept private to the fullest extent permitted by law. Prior to conducting surveys with agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers, study approval will be received from the RTI Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Data Security and Monitoring

As specified in the contract, the Contractor shall protect respondent privacy to the extent permitted by law and will comply with all Federal and Departmental regulations for private information. The Contractor has developed a Data Safety and Monitoring Plan that assesses all protections of respondents’ PII. The Contractor shall ensure that all of its employees, subcontractors (at all tiers), and employees of each subcontractor, who perform work under this contract/subcontract, are trained on data privacy issues and comply with the above requirements. 

As specified in the evaluator’s contract, the Contractor shall use Federal Information Processing Standard compliant encryption (Security Requirements for Cryptographic Module, as amended) to protect all instances of sensitive information during storage and transmission. The Contractor shall securely generate and manage encryption keys to prevent unauthorized decryption of information, in accordance with the Federal Processing Standard.  The Contractor shall: ensure that this standard is incorporated into the Contractor’s property management/control system; establish a procedure to account for all laptop computers, desktop computers, and other mobile devices and portable media that store or process sensitive information. Any data stored electronically will be secured in accordance with the most current National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements and other applicable Federal and Departmental regulations. In addition, the Contractor must submit a plan for minimizing to the extent possible the inclusion of sensitive information on paper records and for the protection of any paper records, field notes, or other documents that contain sensitive or PII that ensures secure storage and limits on access.  

The Contractor has established data security plans for handling data during all phases of the data collection, as follows:

• Field staff laptops will be password protected and disk encrypted. There are several levels of password‐protected access required to view the files on the laptops. Failure to provide a password at any of the levels denies access to the case files.

• Data will be transmitted and stored in a way that only members of the project team who are authorized and have need will have access to any identifying information. All project team members have been trained on data security procedures and have signed agreements that provide for termination of employment, civil suit, and financial and other penalties in case of violation. RTI field laptops and the data transmitted to and from the laptops are encrypted with Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140.2–compliant algorithms.

• All personnel working on the survey must sign affidavits pledging that the data they will collect or work with will not be disclosed. Penalties for disclosure include termination of employment and substantial financial fines.

• Access to project file shares, systems, and data is strictly controlled by role-based security in the form of Windows security groups. An individual’s security group membership is determined based on the minimum necessary access to perform their job function on the project. Staff are only added to security groups after completing the Project Confidentiality Pledge and any required trainings on data security. Security group membership is audited quarterly by project leaders to ensure that only those who still need specified access continue group membership.

All data collected on NSCAW III has and will be de-identified before being made available to researchers via the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). These dissemination plans are unchanged from those included in the submissions previously approved by OMB.

A11. Sensitive Information ¹

The supervisor and caseworker surveys contain questions about the quality of employee-supervisor relationships and perceived support provided by those relationships. The supervisor survey contains questions about burnout and psychological distress. The caseworker survey contains questions about psychological distress, secondary traumatic stress, job-related stress, and organizational social climate. This information is necessary to address the study’s research questions and is not available from other sources. Respondents will be advised of the voluntary nature of participation and their right to refuse to answer any question during the informed consent process.

A12. Burden

Explanation of Burden Estimates

There are no remaining approved burden hours from the Phase I or Phase III data collections of NSCAW III, previously approved under 0970-0202. Table 4.A summarizes the remaining burden for Phase II. The follow-up data collection for Phase II is ongoing at the time of this submission, as are panel maintenance contacts with NSCAW cohort members.

Table 4 Phase II Estimated Response Burden Remaining

Instrument	No. of Respondents (total over request period)	No. of Responses per Respondent (total over request period)	Avg. Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden (in hours)	Annual Burden (in hours)	Average Hourly Wage Rate	Total Annual Respondent Cost
Child – Follow-up	387	1	.75	290	97	n/a	n/a
Caregiver – Follow-up	409	1	.75	307	102	$17.25	$1,760
Caseworker – Follow-up	126	3	1.0	378	126	$31.23	$3,934
Panel Maintenance with NSCAW Cohort Members	4,723	1	.08	378	126	$20.22*	$2,548
	Totals:			1,353	451		$8,242

^* Based on 2021 median pay rate for workers 25 and older with a high school diploma: Education pays : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov).

A13. Costs

There are no additional costs to respondents.

A14. Estimated Annualized Costs to the Federal Government

Phase III

The Contractor used formal budget templates with staff labor rates and itemized expenses to calculate the amounts. Costs include personnel labor hours and other direct costs such as field data collection expenses and equipment. Estimated annualized costs to the federal government over the requested three-year approval period are as follows:

Cost Category	Estimated Costs
Field Work	$43,667
Analysis & Publications/Dissemination	$13,500
Total costs over the request period	$57,167
Annual costs	$19,056

Previously Approved

Estimated annualized costs to the federal government over the same three-year period for Phase II is $3,434,219. These costs include personnel labor hours and other direct costs for remaining 18-month follow-up data collection, data processing and analysis, and preparation of reports and presentations.

Total Annual Costs

Total estimated annualized to the federal government for the current and ongoing previously approved data collection is $3,453,275 ($19,056 + $3,434,219).

A15. Reasons for changes in burden

There are no remaining approved burden hours from the Phase I or Phase III NSCAW III data collections. Phase II burden was updated in Table 4.A to reflect remaining follow-up data collection and panel maintenance contacts with NSCAW cohort members.

A16. Timeline

As noted in Section A.10, deidentified workforce survey data will be made available to researchers via the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). Data collected from agency directors will be merged with other agency-level contextual information available in NCANDS and AFCARS. Data from all workforce surveys will be analyzed in order to address the research questions provided in Section A2. Planned dissemination products include reports, research briefs, 1-page data spotlights, webinars, and conference presentations.

Remaining Phase II activities include follow-up surveys with children, caregivers, and caseworkers and panel maintenance contacts. Phase II baseline data collection was completed in March 2022; follow-up data collection is scheduled to be completed in August 2024, respectively. The timeline for the current request for workforce survey data collection is as follows:

Activity for Current Information Collection Request	Time Schedule
Collect data	18 months
Clean and analyze data	About 6 months after data collection is complete
Disseminate findings, including reports and research briefs	About 12 months after data collection is complete

A17. Exceptions

No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.

Previously Approved Attachments (* = still in use)

*Appendix A: NSCAW III Summary of Interviews

*Appendix A-1: NSCAW III Summary of Remote Interviews

*Appendix B: NSCAW III Child Interview

*Appendix B-1: NSCAW III Child Remote Interview (Revisions included with this request)

*Appendix C: NSCAW III Caregiver Interview

*Appendix C-1: NSCAW III Caregiver Remote Interview (Revisions included with this request)

*Appendix D: NSCAW III Caseworker Interview

*Appendix D-1: NSCAW III Caseworker Remote Interview

*Appendix F: Lead Letters and Fact Sheets

*Appendix F-1: Adolescent Fact Sheet

*Appendix F-2: Remote Lead Letters and Fact Sheets (Revisions included with this request)

*Appendix F-2a: Remote Adolescent Fact Sheet (Revisions included with this request)

*Appendix G: Consent and Assent Forms

*Appendix G-1: Caseworker Telephone Mode Consent Form

*Appendix G-2: Remote Consent and Assent Forms

*Appendix H: Data Linkage Forms

*Appendix H-1: Remote Data Linkage Forms

*Appendix I: HIPAA Authorization Forms

*Appendix I-1: Remote HIPAA Authorization Forms

*Appendix J: Panel Maintenance Letter

*Appendix K: Panel Maintenance Contact Card

Workforce ICR Appendix A: NSCAW III Phase II Research Questions

Workforce ICR Appendix B: 60-Day Federal Register Notice

*Appendix L: NSCAW III Phase I-II Site Selection and Sampling (Previously approved as Workforce ICR Appendix C)

Workforce ICR Appendix D: Research Questions and Constructs by Respondent Type

Instrument 1: Agency Director Survey

Instrument 2: Supervisor Survey

Instrument 3: Caseworker Survey

Workforce ICR Appendix E Agency Director Lead Letter

Workforce ICR Appendix F: Supervisor Lead Letter

Workforce ICR Appendix G: Caseworker Lead Letter

Workforce ICR Appendix H: Agency Director Consent Form

Workforce ICR Appendix I: Supervisor Consent Form

Workforce ICR Appendix J: Caseworker Consent Form

References

Edwards, F.E., & Wildeman, C. (2018). Characteristics of the front-line child welfare workforce. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 13-26.

Fluke, J. D., Corwin, T. W., Hollinshead, D. M., & Maher, E. J. (2016). Family preservation or child safety? Associations between child welfare workers’ experience, position, and perspectives. Children and Youth Services Review, 69, 210–218.

Graef, M. I., & Hill, E. L. (2000). Costing child protective services staff turnover. Child Welfare, 79(5), 517–533.

Hughes, S., & Lay, S. (2012). Direct service workers’ recommendations for child welfare financing and system reform. Child Welfare League of America. Retrieved from https://www.cwla.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DirectServiceWEB.pdf.

Pietrowiak, D., & Gambino, J. (2003). HHS Could Play a Greater Role in Helping Child Welfare Agencies Recruit and Retain Staff (Child Welfare No. GAO-03-357). Washington, DC: United States General Accounting Office. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-03-357.

Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development. (2019). Recent research to build knowledge of the child welfare workforce. Retrieved from https://www.qic-wd.org/blog/recent-research-build-knowledge-child-welfare-workforce.

Strolin-Goltzman, J., Kollar, S., & Trinkle, J. (2010). Listening to the voices of children in foster care: Youths speak out about child welfare workforce turnover and selection. Social Work, 55(1), 47–53.

1 Examples of sensitive topics include (but not limited to): social security number; sex behavior and attitudes; illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close relationships, e.g., family, pupil-teacher, employee-supervisor; mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to respondents; religion and indicators of religion; community activities which indicate political affiliation and attitudes; legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians and ministers; records describing how an individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment; receipt of economic assistance from the government (e.g., unemployment or WIC or SNAP); immigration/citizenship status.

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