Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Statewide Needs Assessment Update, 79297-79299 [2024-22182]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
• Health Resources and Services Administration

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79297-79299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22182]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: The 
Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Statewide 
Needs Assessment Update

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, HRSA submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. 
Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be 
provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public 
during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only 
after the 30-day comment period for this notice has closed.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than October 
28, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for Public 
Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Joella Roland, the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, at [email protected] or call 
(301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the ICR title for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: The Maternal, Infant, and 
Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Statewide Needs Assessment 
Update--Amendment, OMB No. 0906-0038--Revision.
    Abstract: HRSA is requesting approval to collect amended statewide 
needs assessment updates from Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood 
Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program awardees. The 2020 statewide needs 
assessment update approved under OMB control number 0906-0038 expired 
November 30, 2021, and is discontinued. The prior approval was 
discontinued as the requirement was for a one-time data collection in 
response to the 2018 reauthorizing statute. Eligible

[[Page 79298]]

entities that are states, jurisdictions, and non-profit organizations 
submitted statewide needs assessment updates in response to the 2020 
Needs Assessment Update Supplemental Information Request (SIR) (and a 
corresponding SIR for jurisdiction awardees). While eligible entities 
are not required by law to update their statewide needs assessments, 
those that wish to amend their previously submitted needs assessment 
updates will have the opportunity to do so prior to submitting their 
fiscal year 2025 base and matching grant funding applications and in 
response to reissued instructions provided by the agency for this 
purpose. This request will reinstate this information collection with 
updated instructions. The updated instructions will be for awardees who 
request to amend their needs assessment update in advance of their 
fiscal year 2025 funding application.
    The MIECHV Program, authorized by section 511 of the Social 
Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 711, and administered by HRSA in partnership 
with the Administration for Children and Families, supports voluntary, 
evidence-based home visiting services during pregnancy and to parents 
with young children up to kindergarten entry. States, jurisdictions, 
tribal entities, and nonprofit organizations, in certain circumstances, 
are eligible to receive funding through MIECHV and have the 
flexibility, within the parameters of the authorizing statute, to 
tailor the program to serve the specific needs of their communities. 
The statewide needs assessment is a critical and foundational resource 
that assists awardees in identifying and understanding how to meet the 
needs of eligible families living in at-risk communities in their 
states, especially as awardees make decisions about how to expand 
service delivery in their states with annual increases in MIECHV 
matching grants.
    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on May 24, 
2024 at 89 FR 45903-04. HRSA received four comments from interested 
parties and MIECHV-funded program administrators. The first comment 
discussed interest in HRSA providing updated data tables (similar to 
those provided to awardees for the 2020 needs assessment update), 
subpopulation level data, requesting additional funding to facilitate 
the needs assessment update, and concerns about removing services from 
previously served communities. HRSA considered this comment; however, 
no changes will be made to the information collection, which allows for 
awardees to amend their statewide needs assessment update that was 
submitted and approved in response to the 2020 SIR guidance by 
identifying additional at-risk communities and does not require that 
awardees conduct a full needs assessment update at this time. Because a 
full needs assessment update is not required, HRSA is not providing 
funding or updated data. HRSA is providing flexibility for awardees to 
cite their own data to identify at-risk communities. The primary focus 
of the current information collection allows MIECHV awardees to 
identify additional at-risk communities where families with the most 
need are located using national, state, or local data sources to 
support their selection, with no collection of information regarding 
potential removal of services from currently served communities.
    The second comment discussed concerns regarding the structure of 
the needs assessment update submission timeline and limitations of the 
needs assessment criteria for serving specific populations, such as 
communities experiencing homelessness. HRSA considered this comment; 
however, no changes will be made to the information collection because 
instructions have already provided flexibility for awardees to leverage 
data sources across programs and systems, such as data regarding 
families' housing status, to provide justification for their selections 
of additional at-risk communities. Rather than completing a full needs 
assessment, HRSA is asking awardees for updated information on 
additional at-risk counties and minimal edits to previously approved 
statewide needs assessments and anticipates that the information 
collection can be achieved in a short timeline.
    The third comment discussed the benefits of promoting coordination 
and referrals across early childhood systems and services within states 
and communities through the inclusion of other statewide needs 
assessments and additional data sources for identifying at-risk 
counties. The comment also suggested that HRSA's guidance allow for 
awardees to cite data from other needs assessment and state-level early 
childhood grants, such as those funded through the Preschool 
Development Grant Birth through Five. HRSA considered this comment; 
however, no changes will be made to the information collection because 
the 2020 SIR guidance has already provided flexibility for awardees to 
leverage national, state, or local data sources across programs and 
systems to provide justification for their selections of additional at-
risk communities.
    The fourth comment discussed the accuracy of the burden estimate 
and the usage of automated collection techniques to minimize the 
information collection burden. HRSA considered this comment; however, 
no changes will be made to the information collection because the 
burden estimate reflects that the instructions only require respondents 
to add additional communities and provide supporting data and narrative 
for only those additions, rather than completing a full needs 
assessment that will support an increased burden estimate, and based on 
similar data collection and grant reporting requirements, this burden 
estimate reflects and aligns with the experience of awardees.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Congress, through 
enactment of the Social Security Act, title V, section 511 (42 U.S.C. 
711), as amended, established the MIECHV Program. The MIECHV Program is 
designed to: (1) strengthen and improve the programs and activities 
carried out under title V of the Social Security Act, (2) improve 
coordination of services for at-risk communities, and (3) identify and 
provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for families who 
reside in at-risk communities. Section 511(b)(1) of the Social Security 
Act requires that states review and update their statewide needs 
assessments (which may be separate from, but in coordination with, the 
Title V statewide needs assessment) no later than October 1, 2020, as a 
condition of receiving payments from Title V Block Grant allotments. 
Since completing the needs assessment update, state and jurisdiction 
awardees may wish to amend their needs assessment update to identify 
additional communities where families with the most need are in their 
state or jurisdiction.
    In response to the 2020 Needs Assessment Update SIR, state and 
jurisdiction awardees were required to submit an updated statewide 
needs assessment that identified all the following information, as 
required by the MIECHV authorizing statute:
    (1) Communities with concentrations of (a) premature birth, low-
birth weight infants, and infant mortality, including infant death due 
to neglect, or other indicators of at-risk prenatal, maternal, newborn, 
or child health; (b) poverty; (c) crime; (d) domestic violence; (e) 
high rates of high school drop-outs; (f) substance abuse; (g) 
unemployment; or (h) child maltreatment.
    (2) The quality and capacity of existing programs or initiatives 
for early childhood home visitation in the state including the number 
and types of

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individuals and families who are receiving services under such programs 
or initiatives, the gaps in early childhood home visitation in the 
state, and the extent to which such programs or initiatives are meeting 
the needs of eligible families.
    (3) The state's capacity for providing substance abuse treatment 
and counseling services to individuals and families in need of such 
treatment or services.
    The SIR provided guidance to states in updating their statewide 
needs assessments and submitting the required information to HRSA. 
States that elected not to apply or be awarded MIECHV funds were 
encouraged to work with nonprofit organizations that received awards to 
provide MIECHV-supported services within the state and determine 
whether they will submit their needs assessments directly or through 
the nonprofit organization awardee. HRSA and recipients providing 
MIECHV services within states used the information collected through 
the needs assessment update to ensure the continued provision of MIECHV 
home visiting services in at-risk communities. The information is also 
used to support program planning, improvement, and decision-making. 
States wishing to amend their needs assessment will be asked to provide 
new information and supporting data. HRSA will provide specific 
instructions on timeline and the amendment process to awardees who 
request to amend their needs assessment update in advance of their 
fiscal year 2025 funding application. HRSA is not proposing any changes 
to the previously approved Needs Assessment SIR.
    Likely Respondents: MIECHV Program Awardees that are states, 
jurisdictions, and where applicable, nonprofit organizations providing 
services within states. Based on preliminary interest expressed by 
MIECHV awardees to date, HRSA anticipates that approximately 35 of the 
56 awardees may respond to this opportunity.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the 
information requested. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and 
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for 
this ICR are summarized in the table below. Burden hours reflect that 
existing needs assessments will be amended rather than fully developed.

                                     Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                     Number of                    Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Maternal, Infant, and Early                   35               1              35              30           1,050
 Childhood Home Visiting Program
 Statewide Needs Assessment
 Update--Amended................
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    Total.......................              35  ..............              35  ..............           1,050
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Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-22182 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P