[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 211 (Thursday, October 31, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86822-86823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25246]


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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: Maternal 
and Child Health Jurisdictional Survey Instrument for the Title V 
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program

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 announces plans to submit an Information Collection 
Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the 
public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the 
ICR.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than December 
30, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6717061702151008150c270f15140649000811"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e09081908592978f928ba088929381ce878f96">[email protected]</span></a> or mail the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14NWH04, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and 
draft instruments, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#423223322730352d3029022a3031236c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="304051405542475f425b70584243511e575f46">[email protected]</span></a> or call Joella Roland, the 
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, at (301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the ICR title for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Maternal and Child Health 
(MCH) Jurisdictional Survey Instrument for the Title V MCH Block Grant 
Program, OMB No. 0906-0042--Revision
    Abstract: The purpose of the Title V MCH Services Block Grant is to 
improve the health of the nation's mothers, infants, children, 
including children with special health care needs, and their families 
by creating Federal/State partnerships that provide each State/
jurisdiction with needed flexibility to respond to its individual MCH 
population needs. Unique to the MCH Block Grant is a commitment to 
performance accountability, while assuring State flexibility. Utilizing 
a three-tiered national performance measure framework, which includes 
National Outcome Measures, National Performance Measures, and Evidence-
Based and -Informed Strategy Measures, State MCH Block Grant programs 
report annually on their performance relative to the selected national 
performance and outcome measures. Such reporting enables the State and 
Federal program offices to assess the progress achieved in key MCH 
priority areas and to document MCH Block Grant program accomplishments.
    By legislation (section 505(a) and 506(a) of title V of the Social 
Security Act), the MCH Block Grant Application/Annual Report must be 
developed by, or in consultation with, the State MCH health agency. In 
establishing State reporting requirements, HRSA considers the 
availability of national data from Federal agencies. Data for the 
National Performance and Outcome Measures are pre-populated for States 
in the Title V Information System. Such national data sources often do 
not include data from the title V jurisdiction grantees, with the 
exception of the District of Columbia. As a result, the eight remaining 
jurisdictions (i.e., American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, Puerto Rico, the 
Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 
and U.S. Virgin Islands) have limited access to significant data and 
MCH indicators, with limited resources for collecting these data.
    Sponsored by HRSA, the MCH Jurisdictional Survey is designed to 
produce data on the physical and emotional health of mothers and 
children under 18 years of age in the following eight jurisdictions--
American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
the Republic of Palau, Puerto Rico, the Republic of the Marshall 
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and U.S. Virgin Islands. 
More specifically, the MCH Jurisdictional Survey collects information 
on factors related to the well-being of children, including health 
status, visits to health care providers, health care costs, and health 
insurance coverage. In addition, the MCH Jurisdictional Survey collects 
information on factors related to the well-being of mothers, including 
health risk behaviors, health conditions, and preventive health 
practices. Collecting these data will enable the jurisdictions to meet 
Federal performance reporting requirements and demonstrate the impact 
of MCH Block Grant funding on MCH outcomes.
    The MCH Jurisdictional Survey was designed based on information-
gathering activities with title V leadership and program staff in the 
jurisdictions, Federal experts, and organizations with relevant data 
collection experience. Survey items are based on the National Survey of 
Children's Health; the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; the 
Youth Behavior Surveillance System; and selected other Federal studies. 
The Survey is designed as a core questionnaire to be administered 
across all jurisdictions with a supplemental set of survey questions 
customized to the needs of each jurisdiction.
    The MCH Jurisdictional Survey has been conducted annually since 
2019, with several modifications to address emerging issues and 
challenges related to survey questions and methods. The 2022 extension 
(ICR 202203-0906-002) enhanced the detail in collecting demographic 
data through race and ethnicity survey questions in response to 
jurisdictional feedback. Since the

[[Page 86823]]

2022 extension, two non-substantive change requests (ICRs: 202211-0906-
001, and 202404-0906-002) allowed for adjustments, such as refining 
hurricane-related questions, to make them more general and increasing 
sample sizes.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: There is an ongoing need 
for future data collections, as data from the MCH Jurisdictional Survey 
is used to measure progress on national performance and outcome 
measures under the Title V MCH Services Block Grant Program. This 
survey instrument is critical to collect information on factors related 
to the well-being of all mothers, children, and their families in the 
jurisdiction MCH Block Grant programs, which address their unique MCH 
needs.
    This revision enables continued data collection for Federal 
reporting and to show the impact of MCH Block Grant funding on 
jurisdiction MCH priorities. The current request proposes further 
updates to survey questions to align with new Federal data standards, 
including updated guidance from OMB on collecting information on race 
and ethnicity.\1\ Updates also reflect program oversight and 
administration needs.
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    \1\ Office of Management and Budget, ``Revisions to OMB's 
Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, 
Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,'' 89 
FR 22182-22190 (March 29, 2024), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/29/2024-06469/revisions-to-ombs-statistical-policy-directive-no-15-standards-for-maintaining-collecting-and/.
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    To continue improving the precision of the data in all 
jurisdictions, HRSA also seeks to increase the sample size. Given the 
varying populations of children in each jurisdiction, the increased 
sample size varies for each jurisdiction. While the target number of 
interviews for each jurisdiction may be limited by funding, the maximum 
number of completed interviews possible for each jurisdiction is as 
follows: American Samoa, 450; Guam, 450; Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, 500; Republic of Palau, 250; Puerto Rico, 1,250; 
Republic of the Marshall Islands, 300; Federated States of Micronesia, 
450; and U.S. Virgin Islands, 350.
    Likely Respondents: The respondent universe is women age 18 or 
older who live in one of the eight targeted jurisdictions (American 
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
Republic of Palau, Puerto Rico, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
the Federated States of Micronesia, and U.S. Virgin Islands) and who 
are mothers or guardians of at least one child aged 0-17 years living 
in the same household.
    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.

                                                         Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                                     Average
                                                                          Number of      Number of       Total      burden per     Burden       Total
            Type of respondent                       Form name           respondents   responses per   responses     response    hours per      burden
                                                                                        respondent                  (in hours)      form      hours \2\
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Adults--Puerto Rico......................  Screener....................        5,205               1        5,205         0.03       156.15     1,093.65
                                           Core........................        1,250               1        1,250         0.75       937.50
Adults--U.S. Virgin Islands..............  Screener....................        1,457               1        1,457         0.03        43.71       288.71
                                           Core........................          350               1          350         0.70          245
Adults--Guam.............................  Screener....................        1,334               1        1,334         0.03        40.02       337.02
                                           Core........................          450               1          450         0.66          297
Adults--American Samoa...................  Screener....................          564               1          564         0.03        16.92       345.42
                                           Core........................          450               1          450         0.73       328.50
Adults--Federated States of Micronesia...  Screener....................          625               1          625         0.03        18.75       324.75
                                           Core........................          450               1          450         0.68       306.00
Adults--Republic of the Marshall Islands.  Screener....................          360               1          360         0.03        10.80       205.80
                                           Core........................          300               1          300         0.65       195.00
Adults--Common-wealth of the Northern      Screener....................          670               1          670         0.03        20.10       395.10
 Mariana Islands.                          Core........................          500               1          500         0.75          375
Adults--Republic of Palau................  Screener....................          285               1          285         0.03         8.55       183.55
                                           Core........................          250               1          250         0.70          175
                                                                        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total................................  Screener....................       10,500               1       10,500         0.03       315.00        3,155
                                           Core........................        4,000               1        4,000         0.71     2,840.00
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    The table above shows a total annual burden of 3,155 hours, a 
decrease from the previously estimated 3,480.52 hours in ICR 202404-
0906-002. Although the total number of interviews has increased, the 
burden hours have declined due to two factors: (1) survey timings have 
been adjusted to reflect actual survey times from the three completed 
rounds of data collection, rather than prior estimates, and (2) 
eligibility assumptions and response rates have been updated based on 
actual results from the same three rounds of data collection 
experience.
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    \2\ For the purposes of this table, numbers are rounded to the 
nearest hundredth decimal place.
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    HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and 
utility of the proposed information collection for the proper 
performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to 
minimize the information collection burden.

Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-25246 Filed 10-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P


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