# Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Formative Data Collections for ACF Program Support (OMB #0970-0531)
**AGENCY:**
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
**ACTION:**
Request for public comments.
**SUMMARY:**
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to submit a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend approval of the existing overarching generic clearance for the Formative Data Collections for ACF Program Support (OMB #0970-0531; expiration date 06/30/2025). ACF proposes minor updates to supporting statement justification for the overarching generic for clarity.
**DATES:**
*Comments due September 29, 2025.* OMB must make a decision about the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the *Federal Register* . Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.
**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 particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. You can also obtain copies of the proposed collection of information by emailing *[email protected].* Identify all emailed requests by the title of the information collection.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
*Description:* The goals of the generic information collections (GenICs) under this approval are to obtain information about program and grant recipient processes or needs and to inform the following types of activities, among others:
• Delivery of training or technical assistance (T/TA) and/or workflows related to program implementation or the development or refinement of program and grant recipient processes. This could include the development and refinement of recordkeeping or communication systems.
• Planning for provision of programmatic or evaluation-related T/TA.
• Obtaining input on the development of program performance measures (PM) from grant recipients or experts in a relevant field (such as development of PMs for programs focused on a specific population served by ACF).
• Obtaining feedback about processes and/or practices to inform ACF program development or support, or ACF research.
• Use of rapid-cycle testing activities to strengthen programs in preparation for summative evaluations.
• Development of learning agendas and research priorities.
• Requesting information about resources, programs, or other ACF services or related activities to provide consolidated public sources of information for those using or interested in ACF funded services, or those interested in systems, programs, or research related to ACF.
ACF uses a variety of techniques such as semi-structured discussions, focus groups, surveys, templates, open-ended requests, document analysis, observation, and telephone or in-person interviews in order to reach these goals. Information collected under this overarching generic is meant to inform ACF activities and may be incorporated into documents or presentations that are made public such as through conference presentations, websites, or social media. The following are some examples of ways in which we may share information resulting from these data collections: technical assistance plans, presentations, infographics, project specific reports, or other documents relevant to the field, such as federal leadership and staff, grant recipients, local implementing agencies, and/or T/TA providers. We may also request information for the sole purpose of publication in cases where we are working to create a single source for users (clients, programs, researchers) to find information about resources such as services in their area, TA materials, different types of programs or systems available, or research using ACF data.
Any planned uses, including for publication or sharing of information from this IC will be described and submitted for approval in each individual GenIC. Following standard OMB requirements, ACF will submit GenIC request for each specific data collection activity under this generic clearance. Each request will include the individual instrument(s), a justification specific to the individual information collection, and any supplementary documents. ACF asks that OMB review individual requests expeditiously, ideally within 10 days of submission. The proposed types and the purpose of generic information collections submitted under this umbrella generic remain the same. Minor revisions are proposed to the description provided in the justification for clarification about purpose and use and in alignment with current priorities of ACF.
*Respondents:* Example respondents include current or prospective service providers, T/TA providers, grant recipients, contractors, current and potential participants in ACF programs or similar comparison groups, experts in fields pertaining to ACF programs, key groups involved in ACF projects and programs, individuals engaged in program re-design or demonstration development for evaluation, state or local government officials, or others involved in or prospectively involved in ACF programs whose engagement could directly inform the improvement of ACF programs.
**Annual Burden Estimates**
ACF is requesting to extend approval for 32 of the currently approved GenICs. A list is available by emailing *[email protected].*
| Number of | Number of | Number of | Average time | Total |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 32 | 23,432 | 22,448 | 1.41 | 7,287 |
All currently approved GenICs can be found here: *https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAICList?ref_nbr=202412-0970-005.*
Burden estimates for the following 3 years are provided in the following table. The total estimated new burden remains consistent, but the estimates were slightly adjusted based on experience over the past three years.
| Instrument | Number of | Number of | Average | Total burden |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Semi-Structured Discussions and Focus Groups | 10,000 | 1 | 2 | 20,000 |
| Interviews | 4,500 | 1 | 1 | 4,500 |
| Questionnaires/Surveys | 15,000 | 1.142 | .35 | 6,000 |
| Templates and Open-ended requests | 1,000 | 1 | 10 | 10,000 |
| Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours | | | | 40,500 |
Mary C. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.