[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 174 (Thursday, September 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54193-54195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22866]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Collect Information

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. 
L. 104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 
CFR Part 1320 (60 FR 44987, August, 29, 1995), this notice announces 
the Economic Research Service's (ERS) intention to request approval for 
a new information collection from people that receive food assistance 
from emergency kitchens and food pantries.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 13, 2000 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS: Contact Linda Kantor, Food and 
Rural Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, 1800 M Street, NW, Room N-3069, Washington, DC 20036-5831, 
202-694-5456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Application for ERS collection of information from people 
who receive food assistance from emergency kitchens and food pantries.
    Type of Request: Approval to collect information from people who 
receive food assistance from emergency kitchens and food pantries.
    Abstract: USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has the 
responsibility to provide social and economic intelligence on consumer, 
food marketing, and rural issues, including food security status of the 
poor; domestic food assistance programs; low-income assistance 
programs; economic food consumption determinations and trends; consumer 
demand for food quality, safety, and nutrition; food market competition 
and coordination; and food safety regulation. In carrying out this 
overall mission, ERS seeks approval of information gathering activities 
that will provide key information about the use of the Emergency Food 
Assistance System (EFAS) by low-income households and individuals.
    USDA, through the Food and Nutrition Service, administers several 
food assistance programs that help low-income households obtain 
adequate and nutritious diets. The largest USDA food assistance 
program, the Food Stamp Program, is designed to provide food assistance 
through normal channels of trade by providing low-income consumers with 
purchasing power to buy food at market prices from food retailers 
authorized to participate in the program. Other programs such as the 
National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program 
(SBP), and the Temporary Emergency Feeding Assistance Program (TEFAP) 
provide food assistance outside regular marketing channels. The NSLP 
and SBP provide cash subsidies and commodity assistance to schools to 
help provide low-cost or free lunches and breakfasts to schoolchildren. 
The TEFAP distributes commodity foods to State and local agencies for 
distribution to low-income households for home consumption, or to 
charitable organizations that provide meals for needy people.
    The EFAS interacts closely with USDA food assistance programs by 
serving as a distribution outlet for TEFAP commodities and by providing 
temporary or supplemental food assistance to many of the same needy 
populations served by USDA programs. Through its Community Food 
Security Initiative, USDA is coordinating public and private efforts to 
increase the amount of surplus food channeled through EFAS providers.

[[Page 54194]]

    EFAS providers are primarily private, nonprofit organizations that 
distribute groceries (unprepared foods) and meals (prepared foods) on a 
short-term or emergency basis to needy individuals and households who 
lack the resources to meet their own food needs. EFAS recipients 
include the homeless, the elderly, the unemployed, the working poor, 
and victims of natural disasters. Food pantries and emergency kitchens 
are important components of the EFAS. Food pantries are distribution 
centers that provide groceries and other basic supplies for use by 
recipients in their homes or at other locations away from the 
distribution sites. Emergency kitchens supply food for on-site 
consumption to people who do not live at the site. Both emergency 
kitchens and food pantries focus on providing assistance to needy 
households and individuals in their neighborhoods.
    In order to fully assess the role of the emergency food assistance 
system and its interaction with USDA food assistance programs in 
meeting clients' nutrition needs, ERS is conducting an Emergency Food 
Assistance Study of providers and clients. The Provider Survey will 
provide important information on providers' characteristics, 
operations, service areas, and demand for assistance. The new data 
collection activity, the Client Survey, will complement the Provider 
Survey by collecting information from a national sample of people that 
visit emergency kitchens and/or food pantries sampled in the Provider 
Survey. The results from the entire study will be used to inform public 
policy about the emergency food assistance system and its interaction 
with USDA food assistance programs. For example, does the Emergency 
Food Assistance System substitute for or serve as a complement to 
existing USDA food assistance programs, like the Food Stamp Program. 
The study findings from EFAS providers and clients will be used by USDA 
to assess current food assistance programs and to plan future programs. 
The Client Survey has five primary objectives: (1) To characterize EFAS 
clients; (2) to determine the precipitating events that led clients to 
seek emergency food assistance; (3) to determine EFAS clients' 
participation in, knowledge of and experience and satisfaction with 
USDA food assistance and other Federal benefits programs; (4) to assess 
the food security status of EFAS clients; and (5) to determine the 
content and size of food baskets and meals received by EFAS clients.
    Previous research on EFAS clients has been conducted, but has been 
limited by several factors: (1) Reduced scope or focus on one 
program\1\ or population group, such as the homeless\2\, (2) lack of 
national representativeness, and (3) lack of comparability in 
populations or survey methodologies across studies.\3\ Previous studies 
of TEFAP and the Prepared Meals Provision were conducted by USDA in the 
1980s. There is a need to update this information with more complete 
and current information about the entire emergency food assistance 
program, and to better understand potential changes in emergency 
feeding since the 1996 Personal Work Responsibility and Reconciliation 
Act.
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    \1\ USDA. A Study of the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance 
Program (TEFAP). Washington, DC: Food and Nutrition Service, April 
1987.
    \2\ Martha Burt and Barbara Cohen. Feeding the Homeless: Does 
the Prepared Meals Provision Help? Vol. 1. U.S. House of 
Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, October 31, 1988.
    \3\ Second Harvest. Hunger 1997: The Faces & Facts. Chicago: The 
Amburg Group, 1997.
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    To fill these information gaps, ERS, working with Mathematica 
Policy Research, Inc., will survey clients of emergency kitchens and 
food pantries. The Provider Survey includes a national sample of EFAS 
providers. The Client Survey will survey individuals and families who 
are EFAS clients. The overall sampling process for the EFAS study uses 
a multi-stage design. In the Provider Survey, a random sample of 360 
sampling areas were drawn from the 48 continental United States and the 
District of Columbia. The sample design for the Client Survey builds 
upon the design and sample frame developed and used for the Provider 
Survey. For the Client Survey, a representative sample of 60 Primary 
Sampling Units (PSUs) will be drawn from the 360 sampling areas to 
select emergency kitchens and food pantries. Contacts with providers 
will be made to inform them that their site has been selected for 
surveying clients, to verify current operations, and to enlist their 
cooperation. Clients that visit selected kitchens and pantries will be 
selected based on an interval sampling plan implemented at the EFAS 
site. To collect the Client Survey data, interviews will be conducted 
with a representative sample of clients using cell phones and computer-
assisted telephone interviews (CATI).
    Respondent burden will be minimized by using CATI methods to 
streamline the interviewing process and by carefully training and 
monitoring interview staff on survey procedures. Careful attention to 
instrument development to include only topics that are important to the 
agency's objectives will also minimize respondent burden. Responses 
will be confidential and voluntary. Data will only be reported in 
tabular form and analysis cells large enough to prevent identification 
of individuals. In addition, identifying information will be kept only 
by the contractor and will be released only to the contractor's 
internal staff who need it directly for the survey operations and data 
analysis.
    Estimate of Burden: To notify EFAS providers and make arrangements 
for on-site data collection, an average of 30 minutes of telephone 
contact with providers will be required. CATI interviews with clients 
at emergency kitchens and food pantries will average 20 minutes.
    Respondents: Respondents are directors of emergency kitchens and 
food pantries, and individuals who visit those EFAS providers to 
receive food assistance. To make arrangements for on-site data 
collection, directors at 600 providers will be contacted. Data will be 
collected from 2,135 clients at emergency kitchens and 2,135 clients at 
food pantries, for a total of 4,270 completed interviews.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The estimated burden 
on the EFAS providers to be informed about the survey and make 
arrangements for on-site data collection is 300 hours for telephone 
contacts. The estimated burden of the CATI interviews with clients is 
1,409 hours. Thus, total burden is 1,709 hours for all providers and 
clients.
    Comments: 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 will 
have practical utility; (b) 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; (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 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technology. Comments may be sent to: 
Linda Kantor, Food and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1800 M Street, NW, Room N-
3069, Washington, DC 20036-5831.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All 
comments will also become a matter of public record.


[[Page 54195]]


    Dated: August 2, 2000.
Betsey Kuhn,
Director, Food and Rural Economics Division.
[FR Doc. 00-22866 Filed 9-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P