[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55437-55438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19732]



[[Page 55437]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COURT SERVICES AND OFFENDER SUPERVISION AGENCY FOR THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District 
of Columbia (CSOSA).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: As part of a federal government-wide effort to streamline the 
process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, CSOSA is 
seeking comment on the development of the following proposed Generic 
Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): ``Generic Clearance for 
the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' for 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This notice announces 
our intent to submit this collection to OMB for approval and solicit 
comments on specific aspects for the proposed information collection.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 
9, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments, identified by ``Collection 
of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' to: Rochelle 
Durant, Program Analyst, Office of General Counsel, Court Services and 
Offender Supervision Agency at [email protected].
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public. For this reason, please do not include in your comments 
information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal 
information or proprietary information. If you send an email comment, 
your email address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and may be made 
available on the internet. Please note that responses to this public 
comment request containing any routine notice about the confidentiality 
of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be 
made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the 
routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Rochelle Durant, Program Analyst, Office of General Counsel, Court 
Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia 
at [email protected] or (202) 220-5304.
    For content support: Trina Stewart, Supervisory Intergovernmental 
and Community Affairs Specialist, Court Services and Offender 
Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia at 
[email protected] or (202) 220-5526.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    Abstract: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal agencies 
must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
each collection of information they collect or sponsor. Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (944 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) requires federal 
agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning 
each proposed collection of information, including each proposed 
extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting 
the collection of information to OMB for approval. To comply with this 
requirement, CSOSA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of 
information set forth in this document. The proposed information 
collection activity provides a means to garner qualitative customer and 
stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with 
the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. By 
qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights 
on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield 
quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, 
training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or 
services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and 
stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the 
improvement of program management.
    The Agency has traditionally used paper form surveys as its primary 
public information collection method. However, to further comply with 
the goals of the PRA, the Agency recently implemented the use of online 
electronic survey tools to obtain customer and client feedback 
regarding Agency programs and supervision support services. During the 
COVID-19 pandemic, the approval from OMB to utilize an electronic 
option to complete the Agency's standard surveys online was extremely 
helpful in sustaining our engagement with the community. The contents 
in the online version and in paper versions of the Agency's surveys 
will remain identical. Once in person meetings are resumed, CSOSA will 
continue to offer paper option for respondents who prefer that option.
    Similar to the process used for gaining public feedback via the 
Agency's traditional paper form surveys, the online surveys are 
forwarded to the meeting participants at the conclusion of an event or 
program via the participants previously registered email address or at 
the end of a virtual meeting in the chat box or via a slide with a link 
that leads to the online survey. The results of the electronic surveys 
are tallied by the online software and then forwarded to a centralized 
user account for further evaluation and review or to be merged with any 
results from completed hard copy paper surveys.
    The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or 
maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this 
information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.
    The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
    1. The collections are voluntary;
    2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the federal government;
    3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of 
concern to other federal agencies;
    4. Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from 
respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience 
with the program in the near future;
    5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained;
    6. Information gathered will be used only internally for general 
service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended 
for release outside of the agency;
    7. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially

[[Page 55438]]

informing influential policy decisions; and
    8. Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the 
collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the 
population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    As a general matter, information collections will not result in any 
new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Current Actions: New collection of information.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    (1) Affected Public: Individuals currently under CSOSA supervision. 
CSOSA stakeholders including criminal justice system (e.g., judges, law 
enforcement officers) and community partners.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 540.
    Below we provide projected average estimates for the next three 
years:
    Average Expected Annual Number of activities: 18.
    Average number of Respondents per Activity: 30.
    Annual responses: 540.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.
    Average minutes per response: 10.
    Burden hours: 75.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. 
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 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 of the collection of 
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; (d) whether paper or electronic 
information collection is preferred and explanation regarding choice; 
and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden 
means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information 
to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and 
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information.

Rochelle Durant,
Program Analyst, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the 
District of Columbia.
[FR Doc. 2020-19732 Filed 9-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P