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OMB Control No: 0970-0355	ICR Reference No: 202601-0970-012
Status: Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202502-0970-046
Agency/Subagency: HHS/ACF	Agency Tracking No: ACF - All Programs
Title: Pre-testing of ACF Data Collection Activities
Type of Information Collection: No material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 02/05/2026
	Date Received in OIRA: 01/30/2026
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	10/31/2027	10/31/2027	10/31/2027
Responses	78,380	0	78,380
Time Burden (Hours)	40,433	0	40,433
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks renewal of this generic data collection development clearance to allow us to use samples of more than nine participants in applying methods useful for identifying data collection material and procedural problems, and pretesting questions and procedures. This will allow for identification of solutions and measuring the relative effectiveness of alternative solutions and for identification of appropriate questions to meet the intended purposes and uses of data collection efforts. The ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) studies ACF programs, and the populations they serve, through rigorous research and evaluation projects. These include evaluations of existing programs, evaluations of innovative approaches to helping low-income children and families, research syntheses and descriptive and exploratory studies. This umbrella generic was originally written and has been used for pretesting research and evaluation data collection efforts primarily by OPRE. ACF program offices also collect data for a variety of purposes including but not limited to performance reporting and monitoring of funding recipients; understanding of the populations served including who they are, what their needs are, and how we can serve them better; program and service improvement feedback; research and evaluation; etc. For this reason, ACF proposes to broaden the scope of this generic to include pretesting of data elements used on information collections that are not specifically for research and evaluation. This could be used to inform a variety of data collection efforts in ACF to allow for consistent data requests across program offices that are high quality and appropriate for program office needs and for respondents who represent ACF program populations. This generic clearance will continue to allow us to identify if and when an information collection may be simplified for respondents, respondent burden may be reduced, among other possible improvements. The work completed under this generic is intended to be informative in nature; the studies may be iterative, as variation in questions or procedures are proposed, evaluated, and retested. The pretesting of data collection materials is necessary to improve future ACF information collections, resulting in higher quality data with the best possible utility for the government and its stakeholders, when appropriate. The core methodology and target populations will be consistent and burden caps and token of appreciation structure are proposed in this request. Updates to individual GenICs and the umbrella SSA are currently being submitted to make updates in response to recent presidential actions in 2025.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 42 USC 1310 Name of Law: Social Security Act

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 51888	06/20/2024
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	89 FR 68444	08/26/2024
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	78,380	78,380
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	40,433	40,433
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This request is to renew the use of the ACF generic clearance for another three years with revisions to broaden scope. The overarching description and the burden estimates have been updated to reflect this change.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $400,000

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? Yes Part B of Supporting Statement

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

Agency Contact: Molly Buck 202 205-4724 mary.buck@acf.hhs.gov

View Generic ICR - OIRA Conclusion