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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 105051-105052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30709]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Data Collection for the 
NextGen Project's Well-Being Storytelling Exhibit (New Collection)

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the 
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is conducting additional 
data collection activities for the Next Generation of Enhanced 
Employment Strategies Project (NextGen Project) that provides an in-
depth look at participant experiences. This effort includes photo 
elicitation methods and will be referred to as the Well-Being 
Storytelling Exhibit. The study team will use photo elicitation and 
human-centered design methods to explore how NextGen participants, 
staff, and community members conceptualize well-being. This data will 
help the study team explore the factors that may enhance or explain 
impact study findings.

DATES: Comments due February 24, 2025. In compliance with the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting 
public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection 
described above.

ADDRESSES: You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of 
information and submit comments by emailing 
[email protected]. Identify all requests by the title of 
the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Description: OPRE is conducting the NextGen Project to build the 
evidence on effective strategies for helping people with low incomes 
find and sustain employment. The project is identifying and testing 
innovative employment programs designed to help people facing complex 
challenges secure economic independence. The project is partnering with 
the Social Security Administration to incorporate a focus on 
employment-related early interventions for people with current or 
foreseeable disabilities who have limited work history and are 
potential applicants for Supplemental Security Income. Primary data 
collection for the project is approved under Office of Management and 
Budget #0970-0545.
    The study team is continuing primary data collection activities; 
while this request builds on those efforts, it is specific to new data 
collection activities that will create a Well-Being Storytelling 
Exhibit. First, the study team will use photo elicitation methods with 
NextGen participants and staff. Respondents will submit photos that 
show how they conceptualize well-being across several aspects of their 
lives, including economic security, physical and mental health, 
relationships, and safety. Then, the study team will use the photos as 
the basis for an interview with respondents. During the analysis phase, 
the study team will code photos and interviews using a codebook based 
on the NextGen programs' logic models, to make it easy to identify 
where participant- and staff-defined well-being overlaps (or does not) 
with the program's intended outcomes. After photo elicitation data 
collection is complete, the study team will create an exhibit that 
displays

[[Page 105052]]

photos, quotes, and findings from the photo elicitation data 
collection, alongside related findings from the NextGen descriptive 
studies. The exhibit will provide illustrative examples of how well-
being has been influenced by program participation according to NextGen 
participants and staff. The exhibit will also include human-centered 
design activities that engage members of NextGen communities (where 
programs being evaluated for the NextGen Project were implemented) and 
researchers in descriptive study and photo elicitation findings by 
collecting data on their reflections on the exhibit. The Well-Being 
Storytelling Exhibit is also intended to improve understanding and 
future dissemination of study findings, and to pilot the method and 
product of a storytelling exhibit as a culturally responsive evaluation 
strategy. The data collection instruments for this project include 
photo elicitation submission forms for participants and staff, photo 
elicitation interview guides for participants and staff, and human-
centered design activities at the photo exhibits.
    Respondents: Program participants and frontline staff enrolled in 
the NextGen Project; NextGen community members including community 
partners, employers, policymakers, funders, and NextGen participants 
and staff; and human services researchers and practitioners. All 
NextGen participants will be able to opt out of the data collection 
activities.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                                     Number of
                                                     Number of     responses per
                                                    respondents     respondent      Avg. burden    Total/annual
                   Instrument                       (total over     (total over    per response     burden (in
                                                      request         request       (in hours)        hours)
                                                      period)         period)
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Photo elicitation submission form--Participants.              40               1            0.50              20
Photo elicitation submission form--Staff........              40               1            0.50              20
Photo elicitation interview discussion guide--                40               1            1.00              40
 Participants...................................
Photo elicitation interview discussion guide--                40               1            1.00              40
 Staff..........................................
Human-centered design activities at the exhibit.              60               1            0.25              15
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Estimated total annual burden hours:........  ..............  ..............  ..............             135
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    Comments: The Department specifically requests comments on (a) 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.
    Authority: Section 413 of the Social Security Act, as amended by 
the FY 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31).

Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-30709 Filed 12-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-09-P
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