[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28349-28351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11589]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--An Assessment of the Roles and Effectiveness of 
Community-Based Organizations in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment 
on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for 
the Food and Nutrition Service to describe the roles of community-based 
organizations (CBOs) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
(SNAP), and to assess if, and how, the use of CBOs to conduct SNAP 
applicant interviews has impacted SNAP program outcomes such as 
timeliness, payment error rates, access, and client satisfaction.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before 
July 13, 2012.

ADDRESSES: 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 burden estimate for the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions that were used; (c) ways to minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, 
including use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, and (d) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of 
the information to be collected.

[[Page 28350]]

    Written comments may be sent to: Steven Carlson, Office of Research 
and Analysis, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. 
Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Steven 
Carlson at (703) 305-2576 or via email to [email protected]. 
Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. 
Go to http://www.regulations,gov, and follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments electronically.
    All written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center 
Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Steven 
Carlson at 703-305-2017. Information requests submitted through email 
should refer to the title of this proposal.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: An Assessment of the Roles and Effectiveness of Community-
based Organizations in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Form Number: Not Applicable.
    Expiration Date: Not yet determined.
    Type of Request: New collection of information.
    Abstract: To provide more timely and efficient services to the 
growing number of applicants to SNAP, State and local SNAP offices are 
partnering with CBOs that have the capacity to provide application 
assistance and conduct applicant interviews for SNAP. FNS has approved 
these partnerships as part of a demonstration of ``Community Partner 
Interviewer Projects.'' Although these projects have existed for 
several years, they have never been fully evaluated. To assess the 
impact of these SNAP-CBO partnerships on SNAP program outcomes, FNS is 
seeking to collect data from the five States that are participating in 
the demonstration.
    The overarching goal of this study is to determine whether the use 
of CBOs to conduct SNAP applicant interviews has an impact on SNAP 
program performance, and if so, what the nature of that impact is. 
Specific program outcomes of interest include efficiency, payment 
accuracy and client satisfaction. Additionally, FNS is interested in 
gathering information about variations among the partnering CBOs in 
terms of who they serve, what services they offer, how they provide 
SNAP related services, and the nature of their partnerships with local 
SNAP offices. To address these questions, FNS has specified the 
following objectives:
    1. Describe the CBOs conducting SNAP interviews and the nature of 
their partnerships with State and local SNAP agencies.
    2. Describe the response of State SNAP staff to the involvement of 
CBOs in conducting applicant interviews.
    3. Describe the response of CBO interviewers to their involvement 
with SNAP.
    4. Describe how the experiences of SNAP applicants who are 
interviewed by CBO staff compare to the experiences of SNAP applicants 
who are interviewed by SNAP staff.
    5. Describe the services that the CBOs offer.
    6. Document the impacts of CBOs conducting SNAP interviews on 
program outcomes.
    The information collection plan for this study includes interviews 
with: (1) State SNAP directors; (2) CBO directors; (3) local SNAP 
office directors and SNAP staff who train or supervise CBO partners on 
SNAP policies and application procedures; (4) CBO site directors and 
staff who are responsible for conducting SNAP applicant interviews; and 
(5) SNAP participants who were interviewed by SNAP or CBO staff at the 
time of application or recertification for SNAP. FNS will use the 
information collected from these sources to evaluate whether the 
Community Partner Interviewer Projects have helped to improve SNAP 
access and performance, as well as to document the ways in which the 
projects have been implemented in different States (e.g., with specific 
populations or in specific types of partners).
    FNS' data collection strategy aims to maximize both efficiency and 
data quality. The interviews with State SNAP Directors and CBO 
Directors will be conducted by telephone and will last no more than 1 
hour. Following the telephone interviews, FNS seeks to conduct site 
visits to local SNAP offices and nearby CBO locations in each State. 
The site visits will provide the opportunity to conduct in-person 
interviews with local SNAP office directors, SNAP staff, local CBO site 
directors and CBO staff who have been trained to conduct SNAP applicant 
interviews.
    In addition to the telephone and in-person interviews, FNS will 
request two administrative files from each State. One file will be used 
to analyze program outcomes such as timeliness and payment error rates. 
The other file will include records of SNAP participants who were 
interviewed at a local SNAP office or a partner CBO within the 
timeframe of the demonstration project. This file will be used to 
select the sample for a client satisfaction survey.
    Affected Public: State and local government; business-not-for-
profit institutions; individuals or households. Respondent groups 
identified include: (1) State SNAP Directors; (2) employees from 
selected local SNAP offices; (3) CBO Directors; (4) CBO staff; and (5) 
SNAP participants.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 2,620 across all 5 States. This estimate includes: 
Completed telephone surveys with 2,500 SNAP participants (500 per 
State, but will recruit 750 per State to account for nonrespondents and 
ensure the targeted number is obtained); 5 telephone interviews with 
SNAP Directors (1 per State); 10 telephone interviews with CBO 
Directors (2 per State); 20 in-person interviews with local SNAP office 
directors (1 per office, with 4 offices per State); 20 in-person 
interviews with employees of local SNAP offices (1 per office, with 4 
offices per State); 20 in-person interviews with local CBO site 
directors; 40 interviews with local CBO site staff/interviewers (2 per 
office, 4 offices per State); and requests for administrative data from 
5 State SNAP personnel in charge of information technology (IT)/data (1 
per State).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Each respondent will 
be asked to respond once.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: The burden estimate for State SNAP 
Directors is 1.25 hours, and the burden estimate for CBO directors is 
1.0 hour, including time to prepare for and complete the interview. For 
local SNAP office directors and local CBO site directors, the burden 
estimate is 1.5 hours, including time for scheduling the site visit, 
completing the interview, and coordinating the schedules of office 
staff to be interviewed. For SNAP office and CBO site staff, the burden 
estimate is 1.0 hour each. The burden estimate for SNAP participants to 
complete a survey is 0.3 hours (20 minutes), including time to review 
the advance letter, schedule an appointment, and complete the 
interview.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total estimated

[[Page 28351]]

burden on respondents is 750 hours for the SNAP participant surveys, 
130 hours for State and CBO directors and staff members, and 45 hours 
for State SNAP IT staff (for providing administrative data files) for a 
total of 925 hours. See table below for a complete breakdown of burden 
hours. In addition, we estimate that 625 SNAP participants will be 
contacted but will decline participation in the survey. The burden 
estimate associated with these non-respondents, not shown in the table, 
is .08 hours each, for a total of 50 hours of burden on non-
respondents.

                                                            Burden Estimates for Respondents
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                                                                                                                          Average burden
          Type of respondent              Type of instrument      Number of respondents    Frequency of        Total       per response    Total burden
                                                                                             response        responses      (in hours)      (in hours)
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State SNAP Director..................  Telephone interview.....  5......................               1               5            1.25            6.25
Local SNAP Agency Director...........  In person interview.....  20 (1 per office, 4                   1              20            1.5            30
                                                                  offices per State, 5
                                                                  states).
Local SNAP Agency Staff..............  In person interview.....  20 (1 per office, 4                   1              20            1              20
                                                                  offices per State, 5
                                                                  States).
CBO Director.........................  Telephone interview.....  10 (2 per State, 5                    1              10            1              10
                                                                  States).
Local CBO Site Director..............  In person interview.....  20 (1 per office, 4                   1              20            1.5            30
                                                                  offices per State, 5
                                                                  states).
Local CBO Staff......................  In person interview.....  40 (2 per office, 4                   1              40            1              40
                                                                  offices per State, 5
                                                                  States).
Adults (18+ years of age)............  Telephone survey          2,500 (500 per State)                 1           2,500             .3           750
                                        questionnaire.            (completed).
Adults (18+ years of age)............  Telephone survey          1,250 (250 per State)                 1           1,250             .05            1.04
                                        questionnaire.            (Nonrespondent).
State SNAP IT Staff..................  Administrative data file  5......................               3              15            5              45
                                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total............................  ........................  3,870..................  ..............           3,880  ..............          926.04
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    Dated: May 8, 2012.
Robin Bailey, Jr.,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-11589 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P