[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 200 (Friday, October 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62572-62574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26373]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for the Self-
Employment Training (SET) Demonstration Evaluation (SET Evaluation); 
Extension Request Without Change to an Existing Collection

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA); Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and 
Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or 
continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program 
helps to ensure that required data can be provided in the desired 
format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
    The Department notes that a Federal agency cannot conduct or 
sponsor a collection of information unless it is approved by the Office 
of Management

[[Page 62573]]

and Budget (OMB) under the PRA and displays a currently valid OMB 
control number, and the public is not required to respond to a 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Also, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no 
person shall be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a 
collection of information if the collection of information does not 
display a currently valid OMB control number (see 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 
1320.6).
    This information collection request (ICR) is to obtain extended 
clearance for Mathematica Policy Research, under contract to ETA, to 
administer the follow-up survey for the SET Evaluation. A 20-month 
extension is requested to the data-collection period for the follow-up 
survey.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee section below on or before December 15, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Janet Javar, U.S. Department of Labor, Room 
S-2312, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone 
number: (202) 693-5954 (this is not a toll-free number). Email address: 
[email protected]. Fax number: (202) 693-5961 (this is not a toll-
free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: ETA seeks to implement and rigorously evaluate the 
effectiveness of innovative strategies for promoting employment based 
on the authority granted to the agency under the Workforce Innovation 
and Opportunity Act and, formerly, the Workforce Investment Act. The 
SET Demonstration focuses specifically on self-employment as a 
reemployment strategy for dislocated workers. The demonstration is 
premised on the hypotheses that: (1) Self-employment could be a viable 
strategy for dislocated workers to become reemployed; (2) starting a 
small business is difficult, especially for individuals who lack 
business expertise or access to start-up capital; and (3) dislocated 
workers might experience difficulties locating and accessing training 
and counseling services that could effectively prepare them for self-
employment via the existing workforce infrastructure.
    The SET Demonstration will implement a new service delivery model 
that seeks to better connect dislocated workers to self-employment 
services. This approach differs from previous large-scale demonstration 
programs, which have provided mixed evidence on the effectiveness of 
self-employment services on earnings and employment, because the SET 
Demonstration will: (1) Rely on self-employment advisors to offer more 
intensive business development counseling services than prior 
demonstrations have offered; and (2) concentrate on dislocated workers 
who have fairly limited traditional employment prospects but are well-
positioned to benefit from self-employment counseling and training. The 
SET Evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the SET Demonstration 
model.
    To achieve the study's target sample size, enrollment in the SET 
program began in July 2013 and will continue through December 2015. 
About 3,000 eligible applicants will be randomly assigned to either 
receive SET services or to a control group. All 3,000 applicants are 
asked to complete the 18-month follow-up survey.
    An initial clearance request for the SET Evaluation was approved by 
OMB in January 2013 (ICR reference number 201209-1205-001; OMB control 
number 1205-0505). Clearance covered the study's consent and 
application forms, the program participation records, the evaluation 
team's site visit and case study protocols, and the study participant 
follow-up survey. This data collection was approved with an expiration 
date of January 31, 2016 and an annualized total allowable burden of 
5,344 hours.
    A subsequent non-substantive change request related to the follow-
up survey (ICR reference number 201408-1205-005) was approved by OMB in 
October 2014. This non-substantive request sought to preserve the most 
critical outcome measures while shortening instrument length to reduce 
respondent burden. The non-substantive change did not affect any data 
collection efforts other than the follow-up survey. As with the 
originally approved OMB package, all 3,000 applicants would be asked to 
complete the survey, but the shortening of the instrument will reduce 
the total annualized burden across the entire study from 5,344 to 4,277 
hours.
    This new request is to extend OMB clearance of the follow-up survey 
administration, which will expire on January 31, 2016, for an 
additional 20 months, to September 30, 2017. Given that study 
enrollment has proceeded more slowly than originally planned, an 18-
month follow-up survey could be administered to only approximately 25 
percent of the demonstration applicants by the current expiration date 
of January 31, 2016. Assuming an 80 percent response rate, this would 
result in approximately 630 respondents (= 3,000 respondents x 0.80 
response rate x 0.25 of study participants). Extending the expiration 
date to September 30, 2017 will allow sufficient time to field the 
survey to all study applicants. This request does not cover any of the 
other elements of the OMB-approved data collection; no extension is 
required for the consent and application forms, the program 
participation records, or the evaluation team's site visit and case 
study protocols.
    The 18-month follow-up survey is administered 18 months after study 
participants apply to the SET program. It is the only source of 
information needed to evaluate the impact program on the six groups of 
study outcomes: (1) Current employment status; (2) receipt of self-
employment assistance services; (3) business development activities; 
(4) self-employment experiences; (5) experiences in wage and salary 
employment; and (6) job satisfaction and program participation. These 
data will be used to determine the impacts of the SET Demonstration on 
participants' outcomes.
    Desired Focus of Comments: Currently, the Department of Labor is 
soliciting comments concerning the above data collection. Comments are 
requested to:
    * Evaluate 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;
    * evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    * enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    * minimize the burden of the information collection on those who 
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of 
responses.
    Current Actions: At this time, the Department is requesting 
clearance for a 20-month extension of time allowed to complete the SET 
Evaluation's 18-month follow-up survey.
    Type of review: Extension without a change.
    Title of Collection: Self-Employment Training Demonstration 
Evaluation.
    OMB Control Number: 1205-0505.
    Affected Public: Dislocated workers who applied for services 
available through the SET Demonstration.
    Cite/Reference/Form/etc.: Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Section 
172

[[Page 62574]]

(Pub. L. 105-220) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Section 
169 (Pub. L. 113-128).

 Annual Burden Estimates for the Set Demonstration Evaluation 18-Month Follow-Up Survey Between February 1, 2016
                                             and September 30, 2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Number of                                                   Total
               Activity                   respondents    Responses per      Average time per        respondent
                                              \1\         respondent            response          burden (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18-Month Follow-Up Survey.............           1,770               1  20 minutes..............             590
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Attempts will be made to complete interviews with all 3,000 eligible applicants who went through random
  assignment. Given the targeted response rate of 80 percent, interviews are expected to be completed with 2,400
  sample members. The 18-Month follow-up survey will be fielded through September 30, 2017. Interviews with 630
  sample members are expected to be completed by January 31, 2016, when the current OMB clearance expires.
  Another 1,770 interviews are expected to be completed between February 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017, the
  extension proposed in this request.

    This request includes no changes to the follow-up survey 
instrument, and therefore implies no change in total respondent burden. 
The study team expects to complete 2,400 interviews, as originally 
planned, for a response rate of 80 percent. A total of 210 burden hours 
((= 630 responses x 20 minutes per response) / 60 minutes/hour) are 
anticipated for surveys completed prior to the expiration date. As seen 
in the table above, another 590 burden hours ((= 1,770 responses x 20 
minutes/response) / 60 minutes/hour) would occur for surveys completed 
during the extension period, if granted. The total burden for the 
follow-up survey as a whole would remain unchanged at 800 hours, the 
amount originally approved by OMB.
    The extension would also reduce the average annualized burden hours 
because the survey fielding would occur over a longer period than 
originally planned. The original OMB clearance package assumed that the 
fielding period would last for 18 months, which implied an average 
annualized hour burden of 533 (= 800 total hours/1.5 years). Given 
study enrollment patterns, the follow-up survey began in early April 
2015, and the fielding period will last until September 2017 if the 
extension is granted, for a total of 30 months. The longer fielding 
period implied a reduction in the average annualized hour burden of 320 
(= 800 total hours/2.5 years). If granted, the extension would result 
in an average annualized dollar burden of $5,737 ((= 2,400 responses x 
20 minutes/response) / (60 minutes/hour x $17.93 per hour/2.5 years)), 
which is lower than under the plan originally approved by OMB.
    Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval; they will also become a matter of public record.

    Signed:
Portia Wu,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2015-26373 Filed 10-15-15; 8:45 am]
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