[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11340-11342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4561]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Study of Former 
Vocational Rehabilitation Consumers' Post-Program Experiences

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552a, the Office of 
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of 
Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records 
entitled ``Study of Former Vocational Rehabilitation Consumers' Post-
Program Experiences'' (18-16-03).
    The system of records will be maintained for program research and 
evaluation purposes. The system will contain information on a sample of 
former vocational rehabilitation (VR) consumers whose cases were closed 
in fiscal year (FY) 2006. The system will include demographic 
information, including financial information and responses to a survey 
about post-VR experiences, particularly related to employment outcomes 
and post-closure services.

DATES: The Department seeks comments on the new system of records 
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the 
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on or before April 12, 2007.
    The Department filed a report describing the new system of records 
covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Acting 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on March 8, 2007. This system of 
records will become effective at the later date of--(1) the expiration 
of the 40-day period for OMB review on April 17, 2007 or (2) April 12, 
2007, unless the system of records needs to be changed as a result of 
public comment or OMB review.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this new system of records to Joe 
Pepin, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Special 
Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, 
400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5052, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, 
DC 20202-2800. If you

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prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the following 
address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Post-Vocational Rehabilitation 
Experiences Study'' in the subject line of the electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this notice in room 5155, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal 
holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Pepin. Telephone: (202) 245-7598. 
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call 
the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)) requires the Department to 
publish in the Federal Register this notice of a new system of records 
maintained by the Department. The Department's regulations implementing 
the Privacy Act are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
in 34 CFR part 5b.
    The Privacy Act applies to a record about an individual that is 
maintained in a system of records from which information is retrieved 
by a unique identifier associated with each individual, such as a name 
or social security number. The information about each individual is 
called a ``record,'' and the system, whether manual or computer-based, 
is called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency 
to publish a notice of a system of records in the Federal Register and 
to prepare a report for the Administrator of the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, whenever the agency publishes a new or 
altered system of records. Each agency is also required to send copies 
of the report to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs and the Chair of the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Registerand the CFR is available on 
GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: March 8, 2007.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Assistant Secretary 
for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services of the 
U.S. Department of Education (Department) publishes a notice of a new 
system of records to read as follows:
18-16-03

SYSTEM NAME:
    Study of Former Vocational Rehabilitation Consumers' Post-Program 
Experiences (Post-Vocational Rehabilitation Experiences Study).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATIONS:
    (1) Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Special 
Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, 
400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20202-2800.
    (2) Westat, 1650 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD, 20850-3195.
    (3) InfoUse, 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 320, Berkeley, CA, 94710-
2566.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system contains records on former vocational rehabilitation 
(VR) consumers whose VR service cases were closed in fiscal year (FY) 
2006 (as determined from the RSA-911 Case Service Report). The sample 
of former VR consumers includes those who achieved an employment 
outcome as well as those who did not at the time of case closure. Four 
subgroups of interest considered in the sample selection include 
transitioning youth and young adults under 22 years of age, consumers 
with mental retardation, consumers with psychiatric disabilities, and 
Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance 
beneficiaries.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The system contains information on a sample of former VR consumers 
whose cases were closed in FY 2006. The system includes records from 
the RSA-911 Case Service Report containing employment data about the 
consumers, Social Security Administration data on receipt and amount of 
social security benefits, Unemployment Insurance wage records data, and 
information from baseline and follow-up surveys about post-VR 
experiences, particularly related to employment outcomes and post-
closure services.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Section 14(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 
U.S.C. 711(a)).

PURPOSE(S):
    This system of records is maintained for program research and 
evaluation purposes. The Rehabilitation Services Administration 
commissioned this evaluation, which is also called the Post-Vocational 
Rehabilitation Experiences Study. The Department's contractor, Westat, 
is conducting the evaluation in collaboration with Westat's 
subcontractor, InfoUse.
    The goal of this study is to examine the post-VR experiences of 
former VR consumers, considering their labor market progression, 
receipt of other services and resources from the community, non-
economic outcomes, and receipt of Social Security Administration and 
other benefits. The study will further consider changes over time, the 
relationship between individual characteristics and outcomes, and how 
outcomes vary by specific subgroups of former consumers.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    The Department may disclose information contained in a record in 
this system of records under the routine uses listed in this system of 
records without the consent of the individual if

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the disclosure is compatible with the purposes for which the record was 
collected. The Department may make these disclosures on a case-by-case 
basis or, if the Department has complied with the computer matching 
requirements of the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 
1988, under a computer matching agreement.
    (1) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advice Disclosure. The 
Department may disclose records to the U.S. Department of Justice and 
the Office of Management and Budget if the Department concludes that 
disclosure is desirable or necessary in determining whether particular 
records are required to be disclosed under the FOIA.
    (2) Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity 
for the purposes of performing any function that requires disclosure of 
records in this system to employees of the contractor, the Department 
may disclose the records to those employees. Before entering into such 
a contract, the Department shall require the contractor to maintain 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) safeguards as required 
under 5 U.S.C. 552a(m) with respect to the records in the system.
    (3) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to a 
researcher if an appropriate official of the Department determines that 
the individual or organization to which the disclosure would be made is 
qualified to carry out specific research related to functions or 
purposes of this system of records. The official may disclose records 
from this system of records to that researcher solely for the purpose 
of carrying out that research related to the functions or purposes of 
this system of records. The researcher shall be required to maintain 
Privacy Act safeguards with respect to the disclosed records.
    (4) Disclosure to Other Federal Agencies, Including the Social 
Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 
Department may disclose records to other Federal agencies, including 
the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, for program research and evaluation purposes.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    Not applicable to this system notice.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    The Department maintains records on CD-ROM, and the contractor and 
subcontractor maintain data for this system on computers and in hard 
copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records in this system are indexed by a number assigned to each 
individual that is cross-referenced by the individual's name on a 
separate list.

SAFEGUARDS:
    All physical access to the Department's site and to the sites of 
the Department's contractor and subcontractor, where this system of 
records is maintained, is controlled and monitored by security 
personnel. The computer system employed by the Department offers a high 
degree of resistance to tampering and circumvention. This security 
system limits data access to Department and contract staff on a ``need 
to know'' basis and controls individual users'' ability to access and 
alter records within the system. The contractor, Westat, and its 
subcontractor, InfoUse, have established similar sets of procedures at 
their sites to ensure confidentiality of data. Their systems ensure 
that information identifying individuals is in files physically 
separated from other research data. They will maintain security of the 
complete set of all master data files and documentation. Access to 
individually identifiable data will be strictly controlled. At each 
site, all data will be kept in locked file cabinets during nonworking 
hours, and work on hardcopy data will take place in a single room, 
except for data entry. Physical security of electronic data will also 
be maintained. Security features that protect project data include 
password-protected accounts that authorize users to use the Westat or 
InfoUse system but to access only specific network directories and 
network software; user rights and directory and file attributes that 
limit those who can use particular directories and files and determine 
how they can use them; and additional security features that the 
network administrators establish for projects as needed.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the 
Department's Records Disposition Schedules, Part 3, Items 2b, 4a, and 
5a.

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
    Joe Pepin, Unit Leader, Data Collection and Analysis Unit, 
Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., room 5057, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-
2800.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
the system of records, contact the system manager. Your request for 
information must meet the requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 
5b.5, including proof of identity.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to gain access to your record in the system of records, 
contact the system manager. Your request must meet the requirements of 
the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to contest the content of a record regarding you in the 
system of records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet 
the requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of 
identity.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    This system consists of information about former VR consumers and 
includes information taken directly from former consumers. It also 
includes data taken from the RSA-911 Case Service Report of former 
consumers, Social Security Administration records, Unemployment 
Insurance wage records data, and baseline and follow-up surveys about 
post-VR experiences, particularly related to employment outcomes and 
post-closure services.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

[FR Doc. E7-4561 Filed 3-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P