Alternative Supporting Statement Instructions for Information Collections Designed for
Research, Public Health Surveillance, and Program Evaluation Purposes
SRAENE Substudy: Delivering SRAE Programming to Youth in Juvenile Justice Detention Centers and Foster Care Group Homes
Formative Data Collections for ACF Research
0970 - 0356
Supporting Statement
Part A
April 2023
Submitted By:
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
4th Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building
330 C Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Project Officers:
Calonie Gray
MeGan Hill
Part A
Executive Summary
Type of Request: This Information Collection Request is for a generic information collection under the umbrella generic, Formative Data Collections for ACF Research (0970-0356).
Progress to Date: The sub-study is part of the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education National Evaluation (SRAENE). It builds upon the findings from the Nationwide Study, which is currently taking place (OMB No. 0970-0956; Exp. 10/31/2025).
Description of Request: The purpose of SRAENE is to provide information on the design and implementation of Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) programs, the effectiveness of program component refinements, and the ways grant recipients can use data and evidence to improve SRAE programming. SRAENE involves the following three main parts: (1) the Nationwide Descriptive Study of SRAE program implementation and youth outcomes, (2) the Program Components Impact Study (CIS), and (3) data capacity building and local evaluation support for SRAE grant recipients. This request is specific to the Nationwide Study (NWS), which is a substudy of the National Descriptive Study (NDS). The NWS data reveals a subset of grantees and providers who serve youth in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes. The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), which administers the SRAE grant program, is interested in a deeper understanding of how programs deliver services to youth in these two settings. We propose collecting interview data on program provision with 50 grantees and providers using an online, asynchronous interview platform, Qualboard.
The study team will use the data collected under this generic information collection to better understand program implementation experiences related to serving youth in community settings. Ultimately, the data will inform the development of future descriptive research on the implementation of SRAE programs within juvenile justice detention facilities and foster care group homes. We do not intend for the data collected for the sub-study to be generalized to a broader population. We also do not intend for this information to be used as the principal basis for public policy decisions.
Timing: The goal is to collect information in spring 2023.
A1. Necessity for Collection
Study Background
In February 2018, as part of the federal government’s efforts to support youth in making healthy decisions about their relationships and behaviors, Congress reauthorized Title V, Section 510 of the Social Security Act to fund the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) grant program. SRAE grants fund programs that teach adolescents to refrain from sexual activity. The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers the program. SRAE programs also provide education on personal responsibility, self-regulation, goal setting, healthy relationships, a focus on the future, and preventing drug and alcohol use. The reauthorization included a requirement to evaluate the SRAE grant program and ACF awarded a contract for the SRAE National Evaluation (SRAENE) in 2018. SRAENE is comprised of two sub-studies, the National Descriptive Study (NDS) and the Program Components Impacts Study (CIS).1 SRAENE also comprises a third element—which is not a study—that involves the provision of Data and Evaluation Support technical assistance. Under the NDS, ACF is conducting a Nationwide Study (NWS) to learn about program implementation experiences and outcomes of the SRAE grant program.2
This information collection request is designed to extend ACF’s learning from the NWS. Specifically, this NWS substudy includes the collection of interview data in spring 2023 to learn about the program implementation experiences of grantees and providers delivering SRAE programming to youth in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes.
A2. Purpose
Purpose and Use
The goal of this proposed formative data collection is to inform the development of a descriptive research study focused on SRAE programming within community settings. Youth involved in community settings, including foster care group homes and juvenile justice detention centers, are more likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors than their counterparts. As such, ACF encourages providers to serve youth involved in community settings through its Notice of Funding Opportunity and tracks the number of some youth served in community settings through the SRAE OMB-approved performance measures (OMB #0970-0536).3 However, little is known about the implementation experiences of SRAE programs that serve these youth and what, if any, supports may be needed. This formative research seeks to address gaps in knowledge about the implementation experiences--including the successes, challenges, and lessons learned--related to providing SRAE programming to youth in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes. The information collected through this study will be used to inform future research on delivering SRAE programming to youth engaged in the justice and child welfare systems. Data collected through this formative study will provide foundational information about how grantees serve youth in these settings, including specific challenges they have faced and successful strategies they have identified. From this information, ACF can identify specific areas that merit future research and/or technical assistance. In addition, the findings from this formative study can provide context for a future analysis of whether specific features of implementation in these settings are more strongly associated with youth outcomes than others. Finally, the study findings will inform future technical assistance offerings to grantees and providers implementing SRAE programs in these settings. In particular, ACF can share the lessons learned and successful strategies identified in the study with other grantees, as well as provide additional support around common challenges faced by grantees working in these settings.
This proposed information collection meets the following goals of ACF’s generic clearance for formative data collections for research and evaluation (0970-0356):
Inform the development of research.
Maintain a research agenda that is rigorous and relevant.
Ensure that research products are as current as possible.
Inform the provision of technical assistance.
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.
Guiding Questions
This formative research phase is guided by three primary questions to improve ACF’s understanding of how SRAE programs are implemented in juvenile justice and foster care group home settings:
How did grantees and providers implement SRAE programs in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes? In particular, how did they:
Identify a curriculum and customize programming for youth in these settings
Recruit, enroll, and engage youth
Train and support staff delivering the program
Build partnerships
To what extent did grantees and providers utilize different strategies when serving youth in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes compared to when they served youth in other settings, like schools?
What successes, challenges, and lessons learned have grantees and providers experienced with their programs?
Study Design
To gather sufficient information on the array of implementation experiences for the formative study, the study team will identify up to 75 grantees and providers serving youth in juvenile justice detention centers and foster care group homes. Providers will be selected for the study based on their responses to already collected survey data from the NWS that providers are required to complete as part of the terms of their grant agreement.4 These data sources ask providers about the populations they serve and the settings in which they serve youth. Using provider responses to those existing data sources allows the study team to identify and recruit the providers that fit the objectives of this proposed study.
After confirming the potential sample with ACF, the study team will invite grantees and providers to participate in an interview, released via email in batches, until 50 grantees complete.5 The 50 respondents will complete a one-hour virtual interview in spring 2023 (Instrument 1. Interview Protocol for SRAE Grantees and Providers Delivering SRAE Programming to Youth in Juvenile Justice Detention Centers and Foster Care Group Homes). During the interview, will ask respondents to discuss their implementation experiences serving youth in these settings. The interviews will take place on the online platform QualBoard, a chat board platform that imposes less of a burden than other interview methods,6 as it permits respondents to complete the interview asynchronously, at a time most convenient for them.
Table A.1 includes a study design summary, including respondents, content, purpose, mode and duration of the data collection. To understand program implementation experiences, data collection focuses on the grantees and providers who serve youth in the two settings of interest.
Table A.1. Study design summary
Other Data Sources and Uses of Information
The study team will not utilize other data sources.
A3. Use of Information Technology to Reduce Burden
The study team plans to use information technology wherever possible. Mathematica will collect qualitative information from the interviews via QualBoard, a chat board platform. This platform imposes less of a burden than other interview methods, as it permits respondents to complete the interview asynchronously, at a time most convenient for them. Respondents may also complete parts of the interview, as their time allows, and the platform saves their responses automatically. The qualitative data from QualBoard is stored in multiple formats, including as a Word-based interview transcript. During data collection, the study team can easily review incoming data and message the respondents through the platform with probes or follow-up questions. Boards will remain open for responses 24 hours a day. The study team will monitor the boards during the day and evening hours, so prompting for missing responses can occur quickly. This will allow respondents to make immediate corrections and reduce the need for data cleaning follow-up contacts with the respondents after the interview.7
A4. Use of Existing Data: Efforts to reduce duplication, minimize burden, and increase utility and government efficiency
None of the instruments ask for information that can be reliably obtained through other sources.
A5. Impact on Small Businesses
The grantees and providers participating in the study are small, non-profit organizations or state agencies. The SRAENE study team will request information required only for the intended use. We will minimize burden for respondents by restricting the interview length to the minimum necessary, conducting interviews at times convenient for the respondents, and not requiring additional record-keeping on the part of the grantees and providers.
A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
This 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 two notices in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of the overarching generic clearance for formative information collection. This first notice was published on November 3, 2020, Volume 85, Number 213, page 69627, and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. The second notice was published on January 11, 2021, Volume 86, Number 6, page 1978, and provided a thirty-day period for public comment. ACF did not receive any substantive comments.
No experts will be consulted for this sub-study.
A9. Tokens of Appreciation
No tokens of appreciation for study participants are planned for this data collection.
A10. Privacy: Procedures to protect privacy of information, while maximizing data sharing
Personally Identifiable Information
This request comprises the collection of information about organizations, not individuals. No personally identifiable information will be collected.
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 and that their information will be kept
private to the extent permitted by law. The contractor will also
notify respondents that although participation in SRAE evaluation
efforts is a condition of their grant, they may choose not to respond
to specific questions.
Only the study team and respondents will have access to the project QualBoard. Respondents will receive an invitation to the study QualBoard via email. The invitation will contain the respondent’s username and a link to the password protected interview webpage. Once on the webpage, respondents will set up their password to complete the interview.
Data Security and Monitoring
The contractor has developed a Data Safety and Monitoring Plan that assesses all protections of respondents’ information. The contractor will ensure that all of its employees, subcontractors (at all tiers), and employees of each subcontractor who perform work under this contract or subcontract are trained in data privacy issues and comply with the above requirements. All study team staff involved in the project will receive training in: (1) limitations of disclosure; (2) safeguarding the physical work environment; and (3) storing, transmitting, and destroying data securely. All Mathematica staff sign the Mathematica Confidentiality Agreement, complete online security awareness training when hired, and receive annual refresher training thereafter. Additionally, staff at QualBoard adhere to all pertinent federal and state laws governing privacy.
As specified in its contract,
the contractor will use encryption that complies with the Federal
Information Processing Standard (Security Requirements for
Cryptographic Module, as amended) to protect all sensitive
information during storage and transmission. The contractor will
securely generate and manage encryption keys to prevent unauthorized
decryption of information in accordance with the Federal Information
Processing Standard. In addition, the contractor has a plan for
minimizing to the extent possible the inclusion of sensitive
information on paper records as well as for protecting any paper
records, field notes, or other documents that contain sensitive
information, thereby ensuring secure storage and limits on access.
The project’s QualBoard data will automatically be archived 90 days after the project closes and will be permanently deleted 180 days after the project closes.
A11. Sensitive Information 8
There are no sensitive questions in this data collection.
A12. Burden
Explanation of Burden Estimates
In Table A.2 we summarize the estimated reporting burden and costs for the data collection instrument. The interview time includes time for respondents to review the instructions and participate in a virtual interview on Qualboard. The study team expects the total annual burden to be 50 hours for this information collection request. To calculate the total annual burden, we estimate that 50 grantees and/or providers who serve youth in the two settings of interest will participate in the interview. The interview is estimated to take 60 minutes and will occur virtually. There will be one round of interviews in spring 2023.
Estimated Annualized Cost to Respondents
The study team expects the total annual cost to be $2,185 for all instruments in the current information collection request. The Occupational Employment Statistics (2021) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics have been used to estimate the average hourly wage for the participants of this study and derive total annual costs. For the instrument listed in Table A.2, the study team calculated the total annual cost by multiplying the annual burden hours by the average hourly wage. The mean hourly wage for social scientists and related workers (Occupational Code 19-3099) of $43.709 was used for the grantees and providers who complete the interview.
Table A.2. Total burden requested under this information collection
Instrument |
No. of participants (total over request period) |
No. of responses per participant (total over request period) |
Avg. burden per response (hours) |
Total/annual burden (hours) |
Avg. hourly wage rate |
Total annual participant cost |
||||||
Instrument 1. Interview Protocol for SRAE Grantees and Providers Delivering SRAE Programming to Youth in Juvenile Justice Detention Centers and Foster Care Group Homes |
50 |
1 |
1 |
50 |
$43.70 |
$2,185 |
||||||
Estimated total annual burden |
50 |
|
$2,185 |
|||||||||
A13. Costs
There are no additional costs to respondents.
A14. Estimated Annualized Costs to the Federal Government
The estimated total cost to the federal government for this study is $60,000 (Table A.3). This includes the costs for collection and processing the data, conducting analysis, and preparing reports.
Table A.3. Estimated total cost by category
Cost category |
Estimated costs |
|
Fieldwork |
$ 40,000 |
|
Analysis and reporting |
$ 20,000 |
|
Total/annual costs over the request period |
$ 60,000 |
|
A15. Reasons for changes in burden
This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella formative generic clearance for ACF research (0970-0356).
A16. Timeline
Table A.4 contains the timeline for data collection, analysis, and reporting activities for the NWS sub-study. The study team expects to collect data in spring 2023, followed by analysis and reporting in summer 2023.
Table A.4. Schedule for data collection and reporting
Activity |
Timinga |
Grantee and Provider Interviews a |
Late spring 2023 |
Data Analysis |
Summer 2023 |
Reporting |
Late summer 2023 |
a After obtaining OMB approval.
A17. Exceptions
No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.
Appendix A: Study Notification and Reminder Materials
Instruments
Instrument 1. Interview Protocol for SRAE Grantees and Providers Delivering SRAE Programming to Youth in Juvenile Justice Detention Centers and Foster Care Group Homes
1 An information collection request related to this study will be submitted separately.
2 The National Descriptive Study is divided into two substudies: (1) the Early Implementation Study (ICR reference #201904-0970-007), which described SRAE grantees’ plans for programming, and (2) the Nationwide Study (NWS; ICR reference #202209-0970-002).
3 The performance measures data do not provide a complete count of the number of youth served in community settings. Grantees are instructed to only count youth are served in the primary setting in cases where providers operate their SRAE program in more than one setting.
4 The NWS survey is approved and conducted under OMB Control No: 0970-0956.
5 We expect one respondent per organization.
6 Opdenakker, R. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Research in Ibero America, vol. 7, no. 4, 2006, p. 7.
7 Opdenakker, R. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Research in Ibero America, vol. 7, no. 4, 2006, pp. 7.
8 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.
9 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates.” Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193099.htm.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Susan Zief |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-10-17 |