[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 175 (Thursday, September 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54512-54517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22782]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comments Request--Evaluation of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive 
(FINI) Grant Program

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the public and other public agencies to comment on this 
proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the 
purpose of measuring changes in fruit and vegetable purchases and 
consumption, food security, and perceived diet quality and health 
status among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
participants receiving incentives at the point of purchase.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 9, 2015.

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 shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden on the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions that were used; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) 
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.
    Comments may be sent to: Eric Sean Williams, Food and Nutrition 
Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. 
Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Eric Sean 
Williams 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 Food 
and Nutrition Service during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 
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 Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collected should be directed to Eric Sean 
Williams, Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 
3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Evaluation of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) 
Grant Program.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not Yet Determined.
    Abstract: The Agriculture Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79) authorized 
USDA to provide Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) grants to 
eligible organizations to design and implement projects to increase 
purchases of fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers 
participating in SNAP by providing incentives at the point of purchase. 
The objective of this information collection is to measure changes in 
fruit and vegetable purchases and consumption, food security, and 
perceived diet quality and health status among SNAP participants who 
receive incentives through FINI grant projects awarded in FY 2015 and 
FY 2016. The evaluation will use a quasi-experimental study design with 
clustered intervention sites and non-equivalent comparison groups. 
Baseline and follow-up data will be collected from (i) SNAP 
participants in the intervention (incentive) and the non-incentive 
comparison groups, (ii) Program Staff (key informant) interviews, and 
(iii) grantees. The data collection activities to be undertaken subject 
to this notice include:
     Participant Survey: Two questions for the participant 
survey that have not been previously validated will be pretested with 9 
SNAP participants. The pretest participants will not be included in the 
sample for the participant survey. SNAP participants in the 
intervention and comparison groups will be asked questions about their 
shopping patterns, knowledge and attitudes about fruits and vegetables, 
fruit and vegetable intakes, food security, household characteristics, 
and their experience with the incentive programs. Data collection 
procedures will be the same for the pre- and post-intervention surveys. 
At the onset of the voluntary study, a packet containing an advance 
invitation letter in English and Spanish, a $5 pre-survey incentive, 
pre-intervention survey, and postage paid return envelope will be 
mailed to participants. Both letters will include instructions to call 
a toll-free number; however, the Spanish letter will have an option for 
Spanish Speakers to complete their survey in Spanish. One week after 
the initial mailing, participants who have not returned the survey will 
receive an automated telephone call reminding them to complete and 
return the survey. Next, three weeks after the initial mailing, a FedEx 
package will be sent to non-responding participants, to

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underscore the importance of the study. The FedEx package will include 
a reminder letter with a toll-free number they can call to complete the 
survey by phone, a hard copy participant survey, and postage paid 
envelope. One week after the 2nd mailing, all non-responding 
participants will receive an automated telephone reminder call. About 
three weeks after the second mailing, telephone data collectors will 
attempt to contact sampled participants who have not returned the 
survey and try to complete the participant survey by phone. In the 
event that the trained interviewer is unable to speak with a person, 
interviewers will leave a message on voice mail along with a toll-free 
number for respondents to call and complete the survey at their 
convenience. A thank you letter with a $20 cash incentive will be 
mailed to participants completing the survey. Respondents who use their 
cellphone to complete the interview will receive an additional $10 
(i.e., total of $30) to reimburse for the minutes used to complete the 
survey. The invitation letter for post-intervention survey and FedEx 
follow-up letter for the post-intervention survey will be sent only to 
pre-intervention survey respondents.
     Program Staff (Key Informants): State Agencies and 
Business Grantees will identify program administrators, retail and 
market operators and representatives from the partnering local 
community organization(s), to participate in two semi-structured 
telephone interviews regarding implementation of the incentive program. 
The interview procedures will be the same for the two interviews; 
trained project staff will use the interview guide and record the 
discussions. A thank you postcard will be mailed to all program staff. 
Since program staff are expected to cooperate with and contribute to 
the independent evaluation, they will be no monetary incentives for 
their participation in this study.
     State, Local or Tribal and Business-for-not-for-profit: 
Grantees will be emailed on a quarterly basis, with a request to 
complete the online minimum core data survey for all outlets that are 
involved in the incentive program. As indicated in the program staff 
section above, grantees are expected to cooperate with and contribute 
to the independent evaluation; therefore, grantees will not receive 
monetary incentives for their participation in the evaluation. However, 
they may receive a summary data report about their FINI grant project.
    Affected Public: Respondent groups identified include: Individuals/
Households (SNAP participants), State/Local or Tribal Government 
(Respondent Types: Grantees and program administrators), and Profit/
Non-Profit Businesses (Respondent Types: Grantees, program 
administrators, retailers, and community organizations).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total number of respondents is 
10,266. This includes 9 SNAP participants that will pretest 2 survey 
questions and 10,152 SNAP participants (6,903 will complete the pre-
intervention survey and 3,093 will complete the pre-intervention and 
post-intervention surveys) with an 80 percent response rate for 
eligible respondents). A total of 105 key informant interviews will be 
conducted annually (5 State/Local government grantees; 30 for profit/
nonprofit grantees; and 70 retailer/local community staff). The minimum 
core data form will be completed by 35 grantees (5 State/Local 
government grantees and 30 for profit/nonprofit grantees), on a 
quarterly basis. Note that some grantees have multiple sites and they 
will coordinate data collection activities with their outlets. The 
average number of outlets is 302 for State/Local government grantee and 
88 per profit/nonprofit grantee. We expect a 100 percent response rate 
for the grantees program staff/key informant interviews and for the 
completion and quarterly submission of the minimum core data.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: SNAP participants and 
program staff/key informant interviews will respond two times; grantees 
will respond 16 times, on average (on a quarterly basis).
    Estimated Time per Response: Pretesting 2 questions will take .25 
hours. The pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys completed by 
mail will take 20 minutes (.334 hours) and those completed over the 
telephone will take 25 minutes. Program Staff/Key informant interviews 
will take 1 hour, and the minimum core data form will take about 20 
minutes per outlet, per quarter.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 17,584.2 hours. See the 
table below for estimated total burden for each type of respondent.
    The burden is broken down by respondent type:
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    Dated: September 4, 2015.
Yvette S. Jackson,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-22782 Filed 9-9-15; 8:45 am]
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