Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2) of title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects being developed for submission to OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-1129.

Comments are invited 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) ways to enhance 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 of other forms of information technology.

Proposed Project: Ryan White CARE Act: Title III Client Level Data Project, CDP (OMB No. 0915-0275)—Extension

The CDP was originally established in 1994 to collect information from grantees and their subcontracted service providers funded under Titles I and II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990, as amended by the Ryan White CARE Act Amendments of 1996 (codified under Title XXVI) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act. This effort will collect client level data from a limited number of Ryan White CARE Act Title III Grantees. HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau administers funds for all titles of the CARE Act. The Title III program is authorized by section 2651 of the PHS Act.

The PHS Act specifies that HRSA is responsible for the administration of grant funds, the allocation of funds, the evaluation of programs for the population served, and the improvement of the quantity and quality of care. Accurate records on the grantees receiving CARE Act funding, the services provided, and the clients served are critical to the implementation of the legislation and thus are necessary for HRSA to fulfill its responsibilities.

Client level information will be collected from 25 CARE Act funded grantees regarding the number of clients served, services provided, demographic information about clients served, and health status of clients served. In addition, client level information will be collected that measures mortality status and additional indicators of health status and whether standards of care are being followed by providers.

The primary purposes of the CDP are to examine client level demographic and service data on HIV/AIDS infected/affected clients being served by the Ryan White CARE Act and demonstrate the usefulness of these data for planning and evaluation purposes. Through this system, HRSA seeks to supplement the information collected in the CARE Act Data Report (CADR). The CADR collects data aggregated at the grantee level and contains duplicated counts of clients who have received services from more than one provider during a given reporting period.

Based on clients served from eligible grantees, the number of clients that a grantee serves ranges from 125 to 2,748, with 422 being the median number of clients. About 30 minutes is required to respond to the CDP per client and the data are collected 4 times a year.

The burden estimate for this project is as follows:

Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance Officer, Room 14-33 Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.