[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28144-28145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12845]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 22, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 28144]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service


Notice of Intent to Seek Approval to Collect Information

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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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 44978, August 29, 1995), this notice announces the 
Economic Research Service's intention to request approval for a new 
information collection from School Food Authorities (SFAs) and state 
and county welfare and food stamp agencies. The study will collect 
information on the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and direct 
certification for free school meals from SFA directors or other key 
staff and administrative records data from state and county welfare and 
food stamp agencies.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by July 27, 2001 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Joshua 
Winicki, Food Assistance and Rural Economy Branch, Food and Rural 
Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, 1800 M Street, NW., Room S-2091, Washington, DC 20036-
5831, 202-694-5448. Submit electronic comments to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Direct Certification and Its Impact on Errors in the 
National School Lunch Program.
    OMB Number: Not yet assigned.
    Expiration Date: N/A.
    Type of Request: Approval for new data collection from School Food 
Authorities and state and county welfare and food stamp agencies.
    Abstract: ERS needs to learn more about the influence of direct 
certification on three objectives of USDA's provision of benefits under 
the NSLP: (1) Providing free or reduced-price meals to intended 
recipients while not providing them to children who do not qualify; (2) 
keeping down the costs of gathering and processing data to administer 
the program, and (3) ensuring ease of access to program benefits for 
the intended recipients. Direct certification was designed to address 
the second and third of these objectives, by improving access to the 
program and streamlining the administrative process. However, 
emphasizing these objectives could compromise the first objective by 
directing benefits to some students who do not qualify for them. The 
Study of Direct Certification will contribute new information to USDA 
as it reexamines the appropriate balance among these goals.
    The last study of direct certification was based on data from 1996. 
However, the 1996 study collected no information on the verification 
process, by which school districts determine the rate at which students 
are certified for free meals in error. Thus, the previous study could 
not assess the degree to which the NSLP provides meals to intended 
recipients while not providing them to children who do not qualify.
    Furthermore, two recent trends have made the need for up-to-date 
information on direct certification even more pressing. First, the 
policy of direct certification was first introduced in the early 1990s 
and is believed to have expanded rapidly since that time. Thus, 
information on the prevalence of direct certification collected in 1996 
may no longer be accurate. Second, there is evidence that the number of 
children certified in error has grown in recent years. Data from the 
Current Population Survey indicate that the number of children 
receiving free meals exceeds the number of children identified as 
income eligible to qualify for free meals, and that this ratio has been 
growing. In 1993, the number of children estimated to be receiving free 
lunches was about equal to the number estimated to be income-eligible 
for this benefit. By 1997, the number of certified children was 118 
percent of the number of income-eligible children.
    The Study of Direct Certification is being undertaken at this time 
for greater understanding of how direct certification works and how it 
affects both certification to receive free and reduced-price meals and 
the actual receipt of these benefits. The study will also gauge the 
levels of error in the program and the impacts of direct certification 
on these error rates. In particular, the study will have three primary 
objectives:
     Estimate the prevalence of direct certification and the 
different methods used to implement it.
     Measure the incidence of errors in certification for free 
and reduced-price meals.
     Estimate the impacts of direct certification on rates of 
certification, participation, and certification errors.
    The main data source to be used to address these will be a survey 
of School Food Authorities operating in public school districts within 
the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This survey will be 
conducted in the winter and spring of early 2002. Supplemental 
administrative data will be collected from state and county welfare and 
food stamp agencies.
    The sample frame of public school districts for the SFA survey will 
be the list of local education agencies (school districts) obtained 
from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of 
Data (CCD): Local Education Agency Universe, 1998-1999 (or 1999-2000, 
if available). A sample of 1,547 public school districts will be 
selected to obtain approximately 1,200 SFA interviews. This sample will 
be nationally representative and selected with probability proportional 
to size, with the measure of size being the square root of the number 
of low-income children enrolled in the district.
    Before conducting the survey, advance letters will be sent to the 
Chief State School Offices in the states in which sampled districts are 
located, as well as to the states' representatives to the Education 
Information Advisory Committee (EIAC) and the districts' 
superintendents. Next, advance letters will be sent to the SFA 
directors, along with a fact sheet for them to complete prior to the 
survey to facilitate the process of conducting the interview. The 
interviews with approximately

[[Page 28145]]

1,200 SFAs will be conducted by telephone, using computer-assisted 
telephone interviewing (CATI).
    Respondent burden will be minimized for the SFA survey by using 
CATI methods to streamline the interviewing process, and by carefully 
training interviewing staff on survey procedures. To minimize the 
number of open-ended questions asked on the survey, responses to open-
ended questions from the 1996 SFA questionnaire were examined and used 
to develop closed-ended questions on this questionnaire. Pretest 
interviewing results indicated that respondents wanted more survey 
items to be included on the fact sheet, thus minimizing the time to 
look up answers while on the telephone with the interviewer. Responses 
will be voluntary and confidential. To ensure confidentiality, data 
will be reported only in tabular form, with analysis cells large enough 
to prevent identification of individual agencies. The data will not be 
used to evaluate or assess the performance of individual school 
districts or of the districts within individual states. SFAs will be 
notified of these confidentiality assurances in their advance letters.
    In addition to the SFA survey, administrative data will be 
collected from state and county welfare or food stamp agencies. First, 
the agency in each state that assists SFAs in determining the students 
eligible or potentially eligible for direct certification will be 
identified. Next, these agencies will be sent a letter informing them 
of the study and of the data request. Following this, the agencies will 
be contacted by phone and asked to provide administrative record data 
containing two key pieces of information for districts within their 
state selected for the SFA survey sample: (1) A list of students in the 
district who were determined to be eligible or potentially eligible for 
direct certification just prior to the 2001-2002 school year; and (2) a 
list of students in these districts who would have been eligible or 
potentially eligible for direct certification as of December 15, 2001.
    To reduce burden on these agencies, they will be asked to provide 
this information in whatever form is most convenient for them. Either 
electronic files or hard copy lists of students will be accepted.
    Estimate of Burden: For the SFA survey, burden on respondents will 
consist of two parts. First, they will have to complete the fact sheet 
in preparation for the interview. This will take about 90 minutes (1.5 
hours) depending on district size and level of computerization. Second, 
they will have to take the time to complete the interview. This takes 
30 minutes (.5 hours). For the administrative-records data collection 
from state or county welfare and food stamp agencies, a 4 hour burden 
for the respondent is estimated. We anticipate 75 entities will supply 
this information (49 states, Washington DC, and 25 California 
counties).
    Respondents: Key staff members of SFAs representing public school 
districts in the 50 states and the District of Columbia; officials 
designated by the state or county welfare or food stamp office as the 
most appropriate to supply the files.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,275 in total; including 1,200 
SFAs, and 75 state or county welfare or food stamp offices.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,700 hours total.

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 the 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 should be sent to the address 
in the preamble. 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.

    Dated: April 17, 2001.
Susan E. Offutt,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 01-12845 Filed 5-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P