[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51508-51509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21170]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 189 / Monday, September 30, 2019 / 
Notices  

[[Page 51508]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comments Request--Survey of SNAP and Work

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 general public and other public agencies to comment 
on this proposed information collection for the Survey of Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Work. This NEW information 
collection will provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) with information about the employment patterns 
and characteristics of nondisabled adult SNAP participants, and 
identify health, social, and personal factors that promote or inhibit 
employment among SNAP participants.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 29, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Michael Burke, Social Science 
Research Analyst, 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 Michael Burke at (703) 305-4369 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, 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 Michael 
Burke by email at [email protected] or by phone at (703) 305-4369.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments are invited on the following 
topics: (1) 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; (2) 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; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information collected; and (4) 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 (IT).
    Title: Survey of SNAP and Work.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: SNAP is the largest of the nutrition assistance programs 
administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture. It is the primary policy mechanism to 
provide a nutrition safety net and reduce food insecurity among low-
income Americans by increasing access to healthy foods. In Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2018, SNAP served 39.6 million people with an average monthly 
benefit of $126.96 per person.
    About one-third of SNAP households have earnings from employment. 
However, FNS knows few details about current job characteristics and 
work histories of adults participating in SNAP. The Survey of SNAP and 
Work will provide FNS with a better understanding of current and past 
workforce participation characteristics among nondisabled adult SNAP 
participants. The survey of current SNAP participants ages 18 to 69 
will provide information on employment status, length of workforce 
detachment, types of job held, education and training, and social, 
physical, and environmental barriers to work, with estimates at the 
national and state-levels. The six study objectives include:
     Produce descriptive statistics on sociodemographic and 
economic characteristics.
     Produce descriptive statistics on employment status and 
employment characteristics.
     Produce descriptive statistics on length of detachment 
from the workforce.
     Produce descriptive statistics on education and training.
     Produce descriptive statistics on health, social, and 
personal factors related to employment.
     Examine the individual associations between key 
characteristics and employment status adjusted for other relevant 
characteristics.
    A two-tiered sample design that yields state level samples of non-
disabled SNAP participants ages 18 through 69 will be used to address 
the six study objectives. SNAP participants will be selected using 
administrative data from State SNAP agencies. In the first stage, 
primary sampling units (PSUs) in each State and the District of 
Columbia (DC) will be randomly selected with probability proportional 
to the number of SNAP participants. At the second stage, nondisabled 
SNAP participants ages 18 to 69 in each PSU will be randomly sampled. 
State samples will be aggregated to obtain National-level estimates.
    Affected Public: Respondent groups identified include: (1) Non-
disabled individuals ages 18 through 69 that received SNAP benefits in 
a specific sampling month, and (2) 51 State SNAP agencies. SNAP 
participants include all SNAP participants living in SNAP households 
and eligible to receive SNAP benefits.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: (88,434). The total estimated 
number of individuals/households (I/H) SNAP participation respondents 
initially contacted is 88,383 SNAP participants. Out of the initial 
number of I/H contacted 39,780 respondents will be surveyed. In 
addition, 51 State SNAP Agencies (including the District of

[[Page 51509]]

Columbia) will be asked to provide caseload data only once to support 
development of the survey sampling frame. All 51 are expected to 
respond.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: The estimated number 
of responses 3.8 per SNAP participant respondent. The survey will be 
administered only once. The estimated number of responses per state 
SNAP agency is six.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: The estimate total annual 
responses is 119,361, of which 70,707 are survey respondents, 48,603 
are survey non-respondents, and 51 are state agency respondents.
    Estimated Time per Response: Based on pretesting of the survey 
instrument, the estimated time of response for SNAP participants will 
vary from 12 minutes to 69 minutes, with an overall average of 33 
minutes (0.55 hours). SNAP participants with multiple jobs over the 
reference period will require more time to complete the survey than 
participants with one job or no jobs. The estimated time of response 
for State SNAP agencies is 4.3 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total public 
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated at 
37,170 hours (annually). See Table 1 (Total Public Burden Hours) for 
estimated total annual burden for each type of respondent.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: The estimated annual burden hours is 
37,170.

                                                                              Table A-2--Total Public Burden Hours
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                                                                                                                                                                                         Grand
                                                                                                                                                                                         total
                                       Instruments and      Sample    Number of   Frequency    Total    Hours per    Annual    Number of   Frequency    Total    Hours per    Annual     annual
        Type of respondents              activities          size    respondents      of       annual    response    burden       non-         of       annual    response    burden     burden
                                                                                   response  responses              (hours)   respondents   response  responses              (hours)    estimate
                                                                                                                                                                                        (hours)
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SNAP participant..................  Invitation letter...     88,383      70,707           1     70,707     0.0167      1,181      17,676           1     17,676     0.0167        295      1,476
                                    Survey brochure (to      88,383      70,707           1     70,707     0.0833      5,890      17,676           1     17,676     0.0833      1,472      7,362
                                     be sent with
                                     invitation letter).
                                    Survey reminder          64,874      58,387           1     58,387     0.0167        975       6,487           1      6,487     0.0167        108      1,083
                                     postcard--1st.
                                    Survey reminder          65,169      63,103           1     63,103     0.0167      1,054       2,066           1      2,066     0.0167         35      1,088
                                     postcard--2nd.
                                    Guide for telephone      56,596      17,677           1     17,677     0.0500        884      38,919           1     38,919     0.0500      1,946      2,830
                                     call.
                                    Thank you letter          9,945       9,945           1      9,945     0.0167        166           0           0          0     0.0167          0        166
                                     early response.
                                    Thank you letter....     29,835      29,835           1     29,835     0.0167        498           0           0          0     0.0167          0        498
                                    Field locating           13,258       8,618           1      8,618     0.0167        144       4,640           1      4,640     0.0167         77        221
                                     letter.
                                    Sorry I missed you        6,894       5,170           1      5,170     0.0167         86       1,724           1      1,724     0.0167         29        115
                                     card.
                                    Guidelines for in-        4,653       4,375           1      4,375     0.0500        219         278           1        278     0.0500         14        233
                                     field recruitment.
                                    Participant survey..     88,383      39,780           1     39,780     0.5500     21,879      48,603           0          0     0.5500          0     21,879
                                    Total...............     88,383      70,707           1     70,707  .........     32,976      48,603           1     48,603  .........      3,977     36,952
State SNAP Agency.................  FNS email to agency.         51          51           1         51     0.0167          1           0           0          0     0.0167          0          1
                                    Email request for            51          51           1         51     0.0167          1           0           0          0     0.0167          0          1
                                     call.
                                    Fact sheet..........         51          51           1         51     0.0333          2           0           0          0     0.0333          0          2
                                    Call script.........         51          51           1         51     0.1667          9           0           0          0     0.1667          0          9
                                    Email to request             51          51           1         51     0.0333          2           0           0          0     0.0333          0          2
                                     data.
                                    Preparations and             51          51           1         51     4.0000        204           0           0          0     4.0000          0        204
                                     sending data.
                                    Total...............         51          51           1         51  .........        219           0           0          0  .........          0        219
                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    COMBINED TOTAL................  88,434..............  .........      70,758           1     70,758  .........     33,193      48,603           1     48,603  .........      3,977     37,170
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    Dated: September 16, 2019.
Pamilyn Miller,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-21170 Filed 9-27-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P