[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 199 (Friday, October 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55905-55907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26937]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service 
(hereinafter the ``Corporation''), as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirement on respondents can be properly assessed.
    Currently, the Corporation is soliciting comments concerning its 
request for approval of a new information collection from individuals 
as well as agencies and organizations that are affiliated with the 
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) as sponsors of 
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects. This information will be used by the 
Corporation to evaluate the impacts of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on the 
communities they serve and identify ways to improve the program.
    Copies of the proposed information collection request may be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section 
of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section by December 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Corporation for National and Community 
Service Attn: Charles Helfer, Office of Evaluation, 1201 New York 
Avenue, NW., 9th floor, Washington, DC 20525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Helfer, (202) 606-5000, ext. 
248.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corporation is particularly interested 
in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Corporation, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and
     Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection

[[Page 55906]]

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

Background

    AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) was established 
by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (Pub. L 103-
82). It is a 10-month, full-time residential program for men and women 
18-24 operated directly by the Corporation for National Service. 
AmeriCorps*NCCC was designed to blend the best practices of civilian 
service with the best practices of military service, including 
leadership development and team-building. Members live and train at 
campus based on five regions. In three regions, campuses occupy closed 
or downsized military bases: The Southeast Region in Charleston, SC; 
the Central Region in Denver, CO; and the Western Region in San Diego, 
CA. The campus in the Northeast Region occupies a medical facility for 
veterans in Perry Point, MD, and the Capital Region is based at a 
municipal facility in Washington, DC. AmeriCorps*NCCC service 
emphasizes disaster relief, large-scale capital improvements, and 
providing leadership to large groups of volunteers. A service-learning 
approach that includes planned activities and training is part of all 
service projects. Since 1994, more than 4,000 young Americans have 
served as members of AmeriCorps*NCCC.
    This proposed evaluation of the community impacts of the 
AmeriCorps*NCCC program is supported by the legislation that authorized 
the program (Pub. L. 103-82) and by the Corporation's strategic and 
performance plans prepared in response to the Government Performance 
and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Under Pub. L. 103-82, the Corporation 
is required to evaluate each of its programs on a continuing basis 
(Section 179, or 42 U.S.C. 12639). The Corporation's Fiscal 2000 
Performance Plan (required under GPRA) specifically lists this study. 
It states that the AmeriCorps*NCCC Community Impact Evaluation is 
directly related to Strategic Goals 1 and 2 as presented in its 
Strategic Plan for 1997-2002. Those goals are:
    Strategic Goal 1: Service will help solve the nation's unmet 
education, public safety, environmental and other human needs.
    Strategic Goal 2: Communities will be made stronger through 
service.
    It is an agency priority to evaluate the impacts of its AmeriCorps 
programs. This data collection will assess the impacts of the 
Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program on direct beneficiaries, agency 
and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities served by 
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects.

Current Action

    The Corporation seeks approval of three survey forms and an 
interview protocol for the evaluation of the community impacts of the 
Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program. It will allow for the assessment 
of the impact of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on direct beneficiaries, 
agency and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities they 
serve. It will also help the Corporation to determine effective 
planning, initiation, and implementation practices for enhancing 
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' impacts on communities.

 (I) Pre-Project Sponsor Survey

    This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' expectations 
for their AmeriCorps*NCCC project. It asks for information about the 
community needs that led to the project, previous related activities, 
alternative ways to achieve project objectives, expected impacts, ways 
that impacts will be measured, relative priority or value of expected 
impacts, and the processes that led to project approval. This 
information will serve as the baseline against which post-project 
information will be compared.
    Type of Review: New approval.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Pre-Project Sponsor Survey.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: Approved agency or organization sponsors for 
AmeriCorps* NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects.
    Total Respondents: Approximately 108.
    Frequency: One time.
    Average Time Per Response: 40 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 72.4 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(II) Post-Project Sponsor Survey

    This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' perceptions of 
the impacts of their AmeriCorps*NCCC project on their community. It 
asks for information about the extent to which community needs that led 
to the project were met and the extent to which their expectations were 
achieved, evidence used by the sponsor to support perceptions of 
project impacts, plans for related future activities, changes in 
project activities or objectives during implementation, unexpected 
implementation issues, assessments of the reasons for their perceptions 
of impacts, and project costs to the sponsor and other community 
organizations. This information will be compared to baseline 
information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project 
impacts reported by other community respondents (from the Post-project 
Community Survey) as well as to information gathered from 
AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel.
    Type of Review: New approval.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Post-project Sponsor Survey.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: Agency or organization sponsors for AmeriCorps* 
NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects who were administered 
the Pre-project Sponsor survey and whose projects were implemented.
    Total Respondents: Approximately 103.
    Frequency: One time.
    Average Time Per Response: 60 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 103.0 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(III) Post-Project Community Survey

    This survey is designed to assess the perceptions of 
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' direct beneficiaries of the impacts of the 
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on them and their community. It asks for 
information about what the respondent expected from the AmeriCorps*NCCC 
project, how that compared to their perceptions of actual impacts, and 
the basis on which they are making their comparisons. It also asks for 
information about the implementation of the project from the community 
respondents' perspectives, including any costs of project 
implementation to them. This information will be compared to baseline 
information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project 
impacts reported by the sponsors in the Post-project Sponsor Survey as 
well as to information gathered from AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel.
    Type of Review: New approval.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Post-project Community Survey.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.

[[Page 55907]]

    Affected Public: Representatives of organizations or individuals 
that were served directly by AmeriCorps*NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 
program year) projects included in both the Pre-project Sponsor Survey 
and Post-project Sponsor Survey. Not all projects have organizations, 
other than the sponsor, or individuals as direct service recipients.
    Total Respondents: Approximately 160.
    Frequency: One time.
    Average Time Per Response: 20 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 53.3 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(IV) Implementation Interview Protocol

    This protocol is designed to obtain detailed information from a 
subsample of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects while they are in operation. 
Topics addressed include changes in project activities or objectives 
since the project was approved and rationales for those changes, 
document the activities being conducted by the project and by others 
directed toward project activities, document the types and amounts of 
resources being expended in support of the AmeriCorps*NCCC project 
team, sponsors' and other community representatives' assessments of 
project quality, document accomplishments of the project at the time of 
the interview relative to project plans, and obtain sponsors' and other 
community representatives' assessments of effective implementation 
practices. This information will be used directly in the analysis of 
the community impacts of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects visited for these 
interviews in combination with the Pre-project Sponsor Survey, Post-
project Sponsor Survey, and Post-project Community Survey. The 
information will also be compared to the information from the same 
projects generated by the surveys to ensure the validity of the 
information collections. The information also will be used to inform 
the general analysis of all survey data, particularly in seeking 
effective practices and explanations for different levels of project 
impacts.
    Type of Review: New approval.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Implementation Interview Protocol.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: Sponsor managers, service-site supervisors, 
representatives of other organizations and individuals served by the 
projects.
    Total Respondents: Approximately 78.
    Frequency: One time.
    Average Time Per Response: 0.62 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 48 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a 
matter of public record.

    Dated: October 8, 1999.
Thomas L. Bryant,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 99-26937 Filed 10-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-U