Administration for Children and Families September 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing an additional data collection activity as part of the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs approved this information collection in March 2018 (0970-0506). ACF is proposing a second follow-up survey conducted as part of the evaluation. This study will provide an opportunity to learn more about the potential of coaching to help clients achieve self-sufficiency and other desired employment-related outcomes. It will take place over five years in the following employment programs: MyGoals for Employment Success in Baltimore, MyGoals for Employment Success in Houston, Family Development and Self-Sufficiency program in Iowa, LIFT in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles; Work Success in Utah; and Goal4 It! in Jefferson County, Colorado. Together, these programs will include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) agencies and other public or private employment programs that serve low-income individuals. Each site will have a robust coaching component and the capacity to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation. This study will provide information on whether coaching helps people obtain and retain jobs, advance in their careers, move toward self-sufficiency, and improve their overall well-being. To meet these objectives, this study includes an impact and implementation study, as approved by OMB. This submission builds on the existing impact study, which randomly assigned participants to either a ``program group,'' who were paired with a coach, or to a ``control group,'' who were not paired with a coach. The effectiveness of the coaching will be determined by differences between members of the program and control groups in outcomes such as obtaining and retaining employment, earnings, measures of self-sufficiency, and measures of self-regulation. The proposed information collection activity is a second follow-up survey, which will be available to participants approximately 21 months after random assignment. The second follow-up survey will provide rigorous evidence on whether the coaching interventions are effective, for whom, and under what circumstances. Respondents: Individuals enrolled in the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations. All participants will be able to opt out of participating in the data collection activities.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposes to collect information as part of the TANF Data Innovations (TDI) project. TDI is an investment to expand the integration, analysis, and use of TANF data to improve program administration, payment integrity, and outcomes for participants. TDI will start by assessing the needs and readiness of TANF agencies across the country to set up and operate data systems to support program improvement. A key goal of the needs assessment is to help categorize states' readiness to effectively use data and produce evidence. Informed by this assessment and discussions with key stakeholders, TDI will support a broad learning collaborative of state agencies and other entities related to the TANF program, including a range of Technical Assistance (TA) options to help states improve their use of TANF and other program data. This information collection request will consist of a needs assessment survey to be completed by state TANF agency administrators and staff to gather detailed information about their capacities and needs. These data will help HHS to better understand the challenges and barriers states face in using data and research to inform program decision-making, and they will help the TDI team design future technical assistance activities for TANF agencies to address states' challenges. Respondents: State TANF Administrators and TANF agency staff. We expect four respondents per state or territory.