Notice2022-26328
Submission for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration (OMB #0970-0505)
Primary source
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Published
December 5, 2022
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to add additional data collection activities as part of the rigorous evaluation of the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) Demonstration. The proposed revision to conduct additional data collection is part of a research supplement that builds on the PJAC study to understand the role of bias in child support program enforcement actions.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 232 (Monday, December 5, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 232 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74424-74425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26328]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Submission for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review;
Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration (OMB
#0970-0505)
AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for
Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration
for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), is proposing to add additional data collection
activities as part of the rigorous evaluation of the Procedural
Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) Demonstration. The
proposed revision to conduct additional data collection is part of a
research supplement that builds on the PJAC study to understand the
role of bias in child support program enforcement actions.
DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. 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 <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#20494e464f434f4c4c454354494f4e604143460e4848530e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c2abaca4ada1adaeaea7a1b6abadac82a3a1a4ecaaaab1eca5adb4">[email protected]</span></a>. Identify all emailed requests by
the title of the information collection.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Description: OCSE is proposing to conduct additional data
collection activities as part of the PJAC Demonstration. In September
2016, OCSE issued grants to five state child support agencies to
provide alternative approaches to the contempt process with the goal of
increasing noncustodial parents' compliance with child support orders
by building trust and confidence in the child support agency and its
processes. OCSE also awarded a grant to support a rigorous evaluation
of PJAC. The PJAC Demonstration is designed to help grantees and OCSE
to learn whether incorporating principles of procedural justice into
child support business practices increases reliable child support
payments, reduces arrears, minimizes the need for continued enforcement
actions and sanctions, and reduces the use of contempt proceedings.
The PJAC demonstration will yield information about the efficacy of
applying procedural justice principles via a set of alternative
services to the current use of a civil contempt process to address
nonpayment of child support. As a part of the evaluation, PJAC will
build evidence about disparity and bias in the child support system,
with a focus on the use of enforcement actions used to coerce child
support payments. The research will measure the extent to which bias is
embedded within child support policies and practices. The information
gathered may help inform future policy decisions to better understand
and reduce disparities within the child support program.
The research will document disparities and differences in treatment
by race and ethnicity, gender, and income within the child support
system in up to three states participating in the PJAC demonstration.
Key elements of the study include a quantitative analysis of
disparities in the initiation of a child support case, setting of order
amounts, order modifications, and use of punitive enforcement actions,
including civil contempt; semi-structured interviews with staff from
child support agencies and selected partner organizations; and separate
semi-structured interviews with study participants to learn about their
experiences with and perceptions of bias in the child support process,
specifically in the use of enforcement actions.
OCSE is proposing to conduct additional data collection activities
as part of the PJAC Demonstration, which include the following: a topic
guide for interviews about experiences of bias with noncustodial
parents and a topic guide for interviews about experiences of bias with
child support staff and partners.
Data collection activities that were previously approved by OMB,
following public comment, are the staff data entry on participant
baseline information, study Management Information Systems (MIS) to
track receipt of services, staff and community partner interview topic
guide, the noncustodial parent participant interview protocol, the
staff survey, the staff time study, and the custodial parent interview
protocol. These instruments are currently in use and this request will
extend approval to continue data collection. Supporting materials,
including burden estimates related to approved instruments are
available at <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAICList?ref_nbr=202202-0970-013">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAICList?ref_nbr=202202-0970-013</a>. The following burden table includes
information for the proposed new interviews.
Respondents: Respondents for the new data collection instruments
include study participants and child support program staff and partners
at three of the six PJAC demonstration sites.
Annual Burden Estimates
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Total number Average burden
Instrument Total number of responses hours per Total burden Annual burden
of respondents per respondent response hours hours
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Topic list for interviews about 90 1 1.5 135 45
experiences of bias with staff
and partners...................
Topic guide for interviews about 90 1 1 90 30
experiences of bias with
noncustodial parents...........
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[[Page 74425]]
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 75.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1315.
Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-26328 Filed 12-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-41-P
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