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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1111-1112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00002]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-21-20QO]

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information 
collection request titled ``Pilot Implementation of the Violence 
Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in the United States'' to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)for review and approval. CDC 
previously published a ``Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations'' notice on July 28, 2020 to obtain 
comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC did not receive 
public comments related to the previous notice. This notice serves to 
allow an additional 30 days for public and affected agency comments.
    CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information 
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly 
interested in comments that:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected;
    (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses; and
    (e) Assess information collection costs.
    To request additional information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call 
(404) 639-7570. 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 particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Direct 
written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in 
this notice to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management 
and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 
395-5806. Provide written comments within 30 days of notice 
publication.

Proposed Project

    Pilot Implementation of the Violence Against Children and Youth 
Survey (VACS) in the United States--New--National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Violence against children is a global human rights violation that 
spans every country worldwide and affects a billion children each year. 
In the US, many youth are the victims of multiple forms

[[Page 1112]]

of violence and abuse. An estimated 10 million children in the US have 
experienced child abuse and neglect. Each day, about a dozen youth are 
victims of homicide and more than 100 times that number (~1,400) are 
treated annually in emergency rooms for physical assault injuries.
    Youth are also involved in high levels of peer violence, which is 
one of the leading causes of death for people ages 10-24. A body of 
research has shown that the impact of violence against children goes 
far beyond the initial incident, and that those who have experienced 
emotional, physical, and sexual violence can experience severe short to 
long-term health and social consequences. Given the serious and lasting 
impact on children, it is critical to understand the magnitude and 
nature of violence against children in order to develop effective 
prevention and response strategies. Currently, data to guide state and 
local violence prevention and response efforts in the United States are 
quite limited. While some studies have provided information on the 
risks and impact on violence against children, they are mostly limited 
in scale and cannot be generalized to the scope of violence against 
youth across the US or for specific regions.
    VACS is a methodology which CDC has conducted in 24 countries 
globally to measure the magnitude of physical, sexual, and emotional 
violence against children as well as associated risk and protective 
factors. VACS has contributed to research throughout the world, 
demonstrating the high prevalence of violence against children in a 
variety of countries and cultures, and have proven to be critical tools 
that can fill data gaps in ways that are vital to informing strategic 
planning and evidence-based public health efforts in many countries. 
However, VACS have not been implemented in the U.S., and the existing 
representative datasets of violence against youth in the U.S. have 
significant limitations that prevent the data from being actionable for 
prevention planning by public health departments at the local level. 
VACS in the U.S will help fill this gap with rigorous probability-based 
estimates of the problem of youth violence combined with an 
internationally tested approach to embed the VACS survey into the local 
strategic planning process of local public health partners.
    The present project will implement a pilot testing for the adapted 
VACS survey and methodology in two contexts: (1) a representative 
sample of 13-24 year old youth in Baltimore and (2) a convenience 
sample of 13-24 year old youth in rural Garrett County, Maryland to 
test the VACS in-person methodology in a rural location. Data will be 
collected through in-person probability-based household surveys, which 
will be conducted using a combination of interviewer-administration and 
Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview Software on tablets. Data will 
be analyzed using statistical software to account for the complexity of 
the survey design to compute weighted counts, percentages, and 
confidence intervals using probability-based survey data at the local 
level.
    The findings from this pilot study will be used primarily to better 
understand the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing VACS in 
the U.S., which will ultimately determine the magnitude of violence 
against children and underlying risk and protective factors in order to 
make recommendations to national and international agencies and non-
governmental organizations on developing strategies to identify, treat 
and prevent violence against children. CDC is requesting three years 
approval from OMB for this collection with a total estimated annualized 
burden of 800 hours There are no costs to respondents other than their 
time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per
          Type of respondent                    Form name           respondents    responses per     response
                                                                                    respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head of Household.....................  Invitation letter.......           3,121               1            2/60
                                        Screener Questionnaire..           2,808               1            3/60
                                        Head of Household                    702               1            2/60
                                         Consent.
                                        Head of Household                    632               1           15/60
                                         Questionnaire.
Youth ages 13-24 in Baltimore or        Youth participant                    632               1            3/60
 Garrett County, Maryland.               consent/assent.
                                        Core Youth Participant               377               1               1
                                         Questionnaire.
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-00002 Filed 1-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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