[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61753-61756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25651]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; the Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation 
Pilot Idea Template

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) within the 
Office of Management and Budget is proposing for approval under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. Seq.) the attached 
template for pilot idea summaries submitted to the Partnership Fund for 
Program Integrity Innovation (Partnership Fund). This notice announces 
that OFFM intends to submit this collection to OMB for approval and 
solicits comments on specific aspects for the proposed collection. The 
first notice of this information collection request, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, was published in the Federal Register on June 
6, 2011 [76 FR 32375]. There were no comments on the first notice.
    The Partnership Fund seeks to identify pilot projects to improve 
the service delivery, payment accuracy, and administrative efficiency 
of state-administered Federal assistance programs, while also reducing 
access barriers for eligible beneficiaries.
    The proposed pilot idea summary template is intended for use by 
those wishing to submit pilot ideas for consideration. It outlines the 
specific information required by the Partnership Fund to make informed 
decisions in the pilot selection process. Pilot ideas to advance the 
Partnership Fund's goals are being solicited from all stakeholders, 
including the general public. The template is currently in use by 
Federal agencies based on OMB guidance. If approved under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, it will be used to solicit ideas from stakeholders 
outside the Federal government both as a general template and as an 
online form for idea solicitations through the Partnership Fund web 
site, http://www.partner4solutions.gov. Currently, general ideas may be 
submitted via e-mail to [email protected], or through 
http://www.partner4solutions.gov. The Partnership Fund is funded 
through FY 2012 and will continue to accept pilot idea proposals on a 
rolling basis until funding is exhausted. The Partnership Fund must

[[Page 61754]]

comply with a statutory requirement that all pilot projects, when taken 
together, be cost neutral.

DATES: Submit comments on or before November 4, 2011. Late comments 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of 
mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to 
submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot 
guarantee that comments mailed will be received before the comment 
closing date.
    Comments may be e-mailed to: [email protected] and/or [email protected]. Please include the full body of your 
comments in the text of the electronic message, as well as in an 
attachment. Please include your name, title, organization, postal 
address, telephone number, and e-mail address in the text of the 
message. Comments may also be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395-
3242.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please visit our web site at 
www.partner4solutions.gov or contact Meg Massey at (202) 395-7552 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation (Partnership 
Fund) was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 
(Pub. L. 111-117). An appropriation of $32.5 million \1\ provides money 
to pilot and evaluate promising innovations that confront these 
challenges in Federal, state and/or local administration. The purpose 
of the Partnership Fund is to identify and evaluate innovations in 
programs jointly administered by Federal and state agencies and in 
other program areas where Federal-state cooperation would be 
beneficial. OMB coordinates and manages the Partnership Fund for the 
purpose of conducting pilot projects that test these innovations. The 
pilots will emphasize the Partnership Fund's four goals: service 
delivery, program integrity, administrative efficiency, and program 
access.
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    \1\ The initial FY 2010 appropriation for the Partnership Fund 
was for $37.5 million. This appropriation has been reduced to $32.5 
million due to a $5 million rescission in Public Law 112-10.
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    Ideas submitted by the public are shared with the Collaborative 
Forum, a self-directed stakeholder group (http://www.collaborativeforumonline.com) established to fulfill the statutory 
requirement that the OMB Director consult with an ``interagency council 
of stakeholders'' in determining which pilots will receive Partnership 
Fund funding. The Collaborative Forum identifies pilot ideas that show 
the greatest potential for meeting the Partnership Fund's four goals 
and convenes work groups to further develop these ideas into feasible, 
measurable pilot concepts. Collaborative Forum work groups include 
state and other stakeholders with relevant expertise. Work groups 
produce pilot concept papers describing the goals, methods, resource 
requirements, and anticipated outcomes of proposed pilots. Ideas sent 
to the Collaborative Forum may be developed into pilot concept papers 
to send to OMB for funding consideration.
    Federal agencies may also develop ideas into pilot concept papers 
that are shared with the Collaborative Forum for consultation. Pilot 
concepts are then submitted for funding approval by OMB, which takes 
into account the consultation provided by the Collaborative Forum and 
by the Partnership Fund's Federal Steering Committee, which consists of 
senior policy officials from Federal agencies that administer the major 
benefits programs.
    Funds for each approved pilot concept are transferred to a lead 
Federal agency, which in turn selects specific states, localities, and/
or other relevant entities to participate in the pilot by implementing 
specific pilot projects using pilot funds. The lead agency also 
conducts a cost-effective evaluation of the pilot projects. Based on 
evaluation findings, successful pilots will serve as models for other 
states and local agencies. Evaluation results may also be used to 
inform future administrative or legislative changes to the affected 
programs, including broader implementation of the innovations tested.
    Examples of Programs and Pilots: Examples of Federally funded, 
state-administered assistance programs relevant to the goals of the 
Partnership Fund are listed below. Other programs will also be included 
in concept idea submissions.
     Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants 
and Children (WIC)
     Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP--formerly 
Food Stamps)
     Medicaid
     Unemployment Insurance (UI)
     Child Welfare
     Child Care
     Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
    Examples of the types of pilots that could be supported include:
     Pilots that simplify or streamline processes for 
application, eligibility determination, and confirmation of continued 
eligibility
     Pilots that promote or utilize data matching and 
information sharing across programs
     Pilots that test integrated applications, screening, and 
verification for multiple benefit programs
    Components of an ideal pilot are listed below. Not every pilot 
concept considered for funding will meet all of these criteria, and the 
size and scope of the pilot projects funded may vary widely:
     Yield reliable data that can be captured in the pilot 
evaluation to suggest replication or expansion and demonstrate how 
successfully the pilot meets the Partnership Fund's four goals
     Have the potential to be replicated and sustained on a 
larger scale
     Address multiple elements of the Partnership Fund's four 
goals
     Address multiple programs and/or otherwise bridge 
organizational silos
     Yield measurable results in nine to 18 months
     Support the statutory requirement that Partnership Fund 
pilot projects be cost neutral when looked at as a whole
    Current Actions: New collection of information.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and 
organizations, State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 300.
    Frequency of Response: We expect that most respondents will use the 
form to submit one idea, while some respondents may submit more than 
one idea.
    Average minutes per response: 2 hours.
    Burden Hours: 600.
    Needs and Uses: The template is currently being used by Federal 
agencies, per OMB guidance, to submit pilot ideas to the Partnership 
Fund for Program Integrity Innovation, and as a useful reference for 
other organizations or individuals wishing to submit pilot ideas. If 
approved, the template will be made available for use by all agencies, 
individuals, and organizations wishing to submit pilot concept 
proposals for consideration.
    Obligation to respond: Voluntary. However, if Federal agencies wish 
to pursue a pilot through the Partnership Fund, they should use this 
template.

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    Nature and extent of confidentiality: All pilot ideas submitted to 
the Partnership Fund may be posted on the Collaborative Forum web site, 
http://www.collaborativeforumonline.com, for comment and feedback. 
Individuals and organizations that submit ideas, regardless of whether 
they elect to use the template, may submit contact information if they 
wish to be contacted by the Collaborative Forum about their idea. 
Contact information, if submitted, will not be shared or used for any 
other purpose.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: All ideas submitted to the Partnership 
Fund may be posted on the Collaborative Forum web site for comment and 
feedback. The template makes clear that the ideas submitted will be 
shared.
    Requests for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this 
notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB 
approval. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 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 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs 
and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to 
provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose 
or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the 
time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and 
utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, 
validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining 
information, and disclosing and providing information; to train 
personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to 
search data sources, to complete and review the collection of 
information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    All written comments will be available for public inspection on 
Regulations.gov.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

Debra J. Bond,
Deputy Controller.

Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation Template Instructions 
for Pilot Idea Summary

    The first step in the Partnership Fund pilot selection process is 
the submission of a pilot idea summary. Pilot idea summaries may be 
submitted by anyone through the partner4solutions.gov website, http://www.partner4solutions.gov, or the [email protected] email 
address. Pilot ideas may be sent to an independent Collaborative Forum 
for further development into more detailed concept papers. OMB consults 
with the Federal Steering Committee in selecting pilot concepts and 
making funding decisions.
    Below are instructions for completing a pilot idea summary. 
Completed pilot idea summaries should not be more than two pages in 
length.

PARTNERSHIP FUND FOR PROGRAM INTEGRITY INNOVATION

PILOT IDEA: Name of Pilot Idea
1. Pilot Idea: Summarize the idea in 2-3 sentences.
2. Programs Affected:
     Which programs are affected, either directly or 
indirectly? Ideally, an idea would address multiple programs and bridge 
multiple programmatic silos.
     Are these federal, state, and/or local programs? An ideal 
submission would involve multiple states and/or communities in the 
development or eventual implementation of a pilot.
3. Measurable Impacts: How does the pilot impact each of the four goals 
of the Partnership Fund? A pilot should address as many of these goals 
as possible across multiple programs or test a solution that could 
later be applied to multiple programs.
    (a) Improving payment accuracy
    (b) Improving administrative efficiency
    (c) Improving service delivery
    (d) Reducing access barriers for eligible beneficiaries
4. Expected Outcomes and Measurement Methodologies:
     What are the expectations and measures of success in 
relation to the four goals?
     What are the possible quantitative and qualitative 
measures?
     Could these outcomes be extrapolated to a larger 
environment?
5. Potential Partners or Sponsors:
     Which stakeholders and/or key organizations are involved?
     Does the proposed pilot have sufficient stakeholder buy-
in? Stakeholders could include federal, state, and local governments, 
and non-governmental organizations.
6. Estimated Operating Cost of Pilot:
     How much would the pilot cost to implement?
     Are there resources of matching or leveraged funds that 
could be used to support this pilot?
     Is the Partnership Fund the most appropriate funding 
source for the pilot? All pilot ideas will be considered, but the 
Partnership Fund is targeting ideas that attempt to cut across multiple 
programs with multiple objectives, but have struggled to gain footing 
in existing program silos.
7. Estimated Impact on Program Costs:
     What are the anticipated costs and/or savings for the 
various programs involved in the pilot?
     If the pilot were to be scaled up, what are the 
anticipated costs/savings? Pilot ideas that increase program costs will 
be considered, but the Partnership Fund must comply with our statutory 
requirement to maintain overall cost neutrality.
8. Pilot Implementation Issues:
     Is this pilot idea ready for immediate implementation, or 
does it require further refinement?
     What is the timeframe in which the pilot would be 
conducted? The target time period for conducting the first round of 
pilots is nine-18 months.
     What are possible implementation barriers (e.g., privacy 
issues)?
     Is this pilot scalable? Successful ideas will demonstrate 
strong external validity and scalability.
     Could this pilot be implemented under existing legislative 
authorities or mechanisms?
     Are any administrative waivers required?

PARTNERSHIP FUND FOR PROGRAM INTEGRITY INNOVATION

PILOT IDEA SUMMARY: Name of Pilot Idea
1. Pilot Idea:
2. Programs Affected:
3. Measurable Impacts:
    (a) Improving payment accuracy
    (b) Improving administrative efficiency
    (c) Improving service delivery
    (d) Reducing access barriers for beneficiaries
4. Expected Outcomes and Measurement Methodologies:

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5. Potential Partners or Sponsors:
6. Estimated Operating Cost of Pilot:
7. Estimated Impact on Program Costs:
8. Pilot Implementation Issues:
[FR Doc. 2011-25651 Filed 10-4-11; 8:45 am]
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