[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 235 (Friday, December 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63188-63189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26574]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Reemployment Services and Eligibility 
Assessments (RESEA) Program Implementation Study; New Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Chief Evaluation 
Office, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL), 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 (PRA95). This program helps to ensure that 
requested 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 is properly assessed. Currently, the Department of Labor is 
soliciting comments concerning the collection of data for the 
Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) Program 
Implementation Study. A copy of the proposed Information Collection 
Request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in 
the addressee section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee section below on or before February 5, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either one of the following 
methods:
    Email: [email protected]; Mail or Courier: Megan Lizik, 
Chief Evaluation Office, OASP, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-2312, 
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. Instructions: Please 
submit one copy of your comments by only one method. All submissions 
received must include the agency name and OMB Control Number identified 
above for this information collection. Comments, including any personal 
information provided, become a matter of public record. They will also 
be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the 
information collection request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Lizik by email at 
[email protected] or by phone at (202) 430-1255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    I. Background: DOL funds RESEA programs across all 50 states, DC, 
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. States and territories use these 
funds to address the reemployment services needs of Unemployment 
Insurance (UI) claimants and to prevent and detect UI improper payments 
(Unemployment Insurance Program Letter 8-18). The Bipartisan Budget Act 
of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-123) contains requirements to ``establish and 
expand the use of evidence-based interventions'' in states' RESEA 
programs. To help meet this requirement and build evidence about RESEA, 
DOL is conducting an implementation study that will provide in-depth 
understanding of RESEA programs and their components as implemented, 
and how states plan to meet the requirement for evidence-based programs 
(including building needed evidence).
    This Federal Register Notice provides the opportunity to comment on 
two new proposed information collection activities that will be used 
for the implementation study.
     Semi-structured telephone interview protocols. The 
evaluation team will conduct calls to RESEA state leadership in 
approximately 24 states to systematically gather information about 
RESEA program operations not available in existing documents. This 
includes detail on how reemployment services are provided, interactions 
with federal workforce programs, how eligibility assessment and 
enforcement are carried out, and any current and planned evaluation 
activities.
     Semi-structured in-person interview protocols. Based on 
the phone discussions, the evaluation team will choose approximately 10 
states for three-day site visits. Each site visit will examine the 
population served by the RESEA programs, the structure and service 
components of the programs, and evaluation efforts and perspectives on 
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019. These visits will involve a day of 
interviews with relevant RESEA state officials and a day in each of two 
American Job Centers (AJCs) in two separate Workforce Development Board 
(WDB) areas.
    A separate information collection activity request will be 
submitted in the future for a web survey of all RESEA programs. This 
web survey will provide the data needed to systematically understand 
RESEA program operations and state plans across all RESEA grantees 
nationwide.
    II. Desired Focus of Comments: Currently, the Department of Labor 
is soliciting comments concerning the

[[Page 63189]]

above data collection for the Evaluation to Advance Reemployment 
Services and Eligibility Assessments Program Evidence. DOL is 
particularly interested in comments that do the following:
    [cir] 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;
    [cir] 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;
    [cir] enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and
    [cir] minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology--for example, permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    III. Current Actions: At this time, the Department of Labor is 
requesting clearance for the semi-structured interview protocols for 
calls and site visits affiliated with the evaluation.
    Type of Review: New information collection request.
    OMB Control Number: 1290--0NEW.
    Affected Public: State employees of state UI agencies and staff of 
local Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) and staff working in AJCs.
    Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a 
matter of public record.

                                          Estimated Annual Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of       Number of     Total  number    burden time      Estimated
       Type of instrument           respondents    responses per   of  responses   per response    Burden Hours
                                        \a\         respondent                        (hours)
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Semi-structured telephone                  \b\ 8               1               8               2              16
 interview protocol for State
 RESEA administrator............
Semi-structured in-person                 \c\ 17               1              17               1              17
 interview protocol for State UI
 staff..........................
Semi-structured in-person                 \d\ 13               1              13               1              13
 interview protocol for Local
 WDB administrators.............
Semi-structured in-person                 \e\ 40               1              40               1              40
 interview protocol for AJC
 staff..........................
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    Total.......................              78  ..............              78  ..............              86
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\a\ We are seeking a clearance period of three years
\b\ Assumes approximately 1 semi-structured interview participant on each call to approximately 24 state
  Unemployment Insurance agencies over the three-year clearance period (rounding to an average of 8 per year).
\c\ Assumes approximately 5 semi-structured interview participants during each site visit to approximately 10
  state Unemployment Insurance agencies over the three-year clearance period (rounding to an average of 17 per
  year).
\d\ Assumes approximately 4 semi-structured interview participants during each site visit to approximately 10
  local workforce boards (WDBs) over the three-year clearance period (rounding to an average of 13 per year).
\e\ Assumes approximately 6 semi-structured interview participants during each site visit to approximately 20
  American Jobs Centers (AJCs) over the three-year clearance period, an average of 40 per year.


Molly Irwin,
Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2018-26574 Filed 12-6-18; 8:45 am]
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