[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95101-95102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31181]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed collection; 
Comment Request--Study of Non-Response to the School Meals Application 
Verification Process

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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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 Study of Non-Response to the School Meals Application Verification 
Process.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 27, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Courtney Paolicelli, Food and 
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Policy 
Support, Special Nutrition Evaluation Branch, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
10th Floor, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be 
submitted via fax to the attention of Courtney Paolicelli 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, 10th Floor, 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 collection should be directed to Courtney 
Paolicelli at 703-605-4370 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 has practical utility; (b) 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; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be 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.
    Title: Study of Non-Response to the School Meals Application 
Verification Process.
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: Not yet assigned.
    Expiration Date: Not yet determined.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School 
Breakfast Program (SBP) provide subsidized lunches and breakfasts to 
millions of students each school day. Students are certified eligible 
to receive free or reduced-price (F/RP) meals through application or 
direct certification. When eligibility is determined using an 
application process, school districts must annually verify eligibility 
of children from a sample of household applications for that school 
year, unless the State agency assumes responsibility for verification.
    This study will examine the accuracy of district verification 
procedures using a case study approach similar to a previous study 
conducted for FNS, the Case Study of National School Lunch Program 
Verification Outcomes in Large Metropolitan School Districts (published 
by FNS in 2004) (Office of Management and Budget number 0584-0516 
Evaluation of the NSLP Application and Verification and Pilot Program, 
expiration date 10/31/2003). Consistent with the previous study, the 
study team will purposively select 20 participating school districts 
for a case study, describe the districts' verification outcomes, and 
independently verify eligibility for two samples of households approved 
by application on the basis of income and selected for verification by 
the district. These two household samples include: (1) Households that 
did not respond to the school meals application verification requests, 
and (2) households that responded to verification requests and 
experienced no change in school meals benefits. The 2004 study will be 
expanded by: (1) Including at least one rural district in the case 
study, (2) interviewing school district officials about processes for 
selecting applications for cause, (3) analyzing verification outcomes 
for applications selected for cause, (4) analyzing households' reasons 
for not responding to district verification requests, and (5) 
redesigning the 2004 analyses to reflect policy changes enacted since 
2004.
    Affected Public: Affected public include: individuals/households, 
and state, local, and tribal government. Specifically, participants 
from districts selected to participate in the study are: (1) Households 
that did not respond to school meals application verification requests, 
(2) households that responded to verification requests and experienced 
no change in school meals benefits, and (3) School Food Authority (SFA) 
Directors and/or designees.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 2,075. This includes 2,055 households and 20 SFA 
Directors or designees. Across 20 school districts, household sampling 
will yield: (1) Up to 1,235 households in the nonresponding group (42 
completed surveys per district x 20 districts = 840 households, plus 
395 households who do not consent to participate) and (2) up to 820 
households in the unchanged benefits group (32 completes per district x 
20 districts = 640 households, plus 180 households who do not consent 
to participate). Of these 2,055 households, 1,480 respondents and 575 
non-respondents are anticipated. Twenty (20) SFA Directors or designees 
will be sampled and these individuals will: (a) Help facilitate study 
logistics, (b) coordinate data requests and household sampling in fall 
2017, (c) complete a 15-minute phone interview, and (d) provide an 
updated list of household reapplications and their results in spring 
2018.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: The estimated number 
of responses across the entire collection is 1.03. The study asks each 
selected household respondent to participate in one in-person survey. 
The study also asks each SFA Director or designee to respond to four 
study-related requests: (1) Helping the study team's participation 
coordinator with study logistics, (2) helping coordinate data requests 
and household sampling in fall 2017, (3) helping coordinate data 
requests in spring 2018, and (4) completing a 15-minute phone 
interview.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,135.
    Estimated Time per Response: The average estimated time per 
response across the entire collection is 34 minutes (0.57 hours). The 
estimated time of response varies from 5 minutes to 1.5 hours, as shown 
in the table below. These estimates include a 45-minute (0.75 hour) 
computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) survey of each household 
respondent, and a

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combined 3.25 hours of response time for each SFA Director or designee. 
For the SFA Directors, the 3.25 hours includes the time it will take 
them to respond to all 4 study-related requests.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 73,363.8 minutes 
(1,222.73 hours). See the table below for estimated total annual burden 
for each type of respondent.

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                                                                                                                             Estimated
                                                                             Estimated       Responses     Total annual   average number     Estimated
                Respondent                    Data collection activity       number of     annually per      responses     of hours per     total hours
                                                                            respondents     respondent                       response
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                                                                    Reporting Burden
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Household survey participants.............  CAPI interview (Respondents)           1,480               1           1,480            0.75        1,110.00
                                             (Includes advance letters
                                             and follow-up
                                             communications).
                                            CAPI interview (Non-                     575               1             575           0.083           47.73
                                             Respondents) (Includes
                                             advance letters).
SFA Directors or designees................  Logistics (Includes advance               20               1              20               1              20
                                             letters and follow-up
                                             communications).
                                            Fall 2017 data request......              20               1              20             1.5              30
                                            Telephone interview.........              20               1              20            0.25               5
                                            Spring 2018 data request....              20               1              20             0.5              10
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Reporting Burden................  ............................           2,075            1.03           2,135            0.57        1,222.73
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    Dated: December 13, 2016.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-31181 Filed 12-23-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P