[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68903-68904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21973]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2023-0036]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes one new information collection for OMB-approval.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its

[[Page 68904]]

quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB) Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA
Comments: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Submit your 
comments online referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2023-0036].

(SSA) Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, Mail Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 833-410-1631, Email address: [email protected]

    Or you may submit your comments online through https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-
2023-0036].
    As part of the Administration's commitment to improving customer 
service delivery, the following renewal of the Information Collection 
Request ``Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 
Implementation)'' is pending OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501). Your comments regarding this information 
collection would be most useful if OMB and SSA receive them 30 days 
from the date of this publication. To be sure we consider your 
comments, we must receive them no later than November 3, 2023. 
Individuals can obtain copies of this OMB clearance package by writing 
to [email protected].
    Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 
Agency Service Delivery--0960-0788. SSA, as part of our continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public to comment on the ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' for approval under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501). We developed this 
collection as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline 
the process for seeking feedback from the public on service delivery.
    Under the auspices of Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer 
Service Standards, SSA conducts multiple satisfaction surveys each 
year. This proposed information collection activity provides a means to 
garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 
timely manner, in accordance with SSA's commitment to improving service 
delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides 
useful insights on perceptions and opinions (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 SSA and our 
customers and stakeholders.
    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. We 
will assess responses to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain 
the quality of service offered to the public. If we do not collect this 
information, we would not have access to vital feedback from customers 
and stakeholders on SSA's services.
    We 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) the 
collections elicit opinions from respondents who previously had 
experience with Social Security programs or services, or are likely to 
do so in the near future; (5) we collect personally identifiable 
information (PII) only to the extent necessary and we do not retain it; 
(6) we will use information gathered only internally for general 
service improvement and program management purposes and we will not 
release it outside of the agency; (7) we will not use information we 
gather for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy 
decisions; and (8) information we gather 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. Depending on the 
study design and the type of results being elicited, 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.
    The respondents are recipients of SSA services (including most 
members of the public), professionals, and individuals who work on 
behalf of SSA beneficiaries.
    Type of Request: Extension of an OMB-approved information 
collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and 
organizations, State, local or Tribal government.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,454,212.
    Below we provide projected average estimates for the next three 
years:
    Annual Respondents: 1,818,404.
    Annual Responses: 1,818,404.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.
    Average Minutes per Response: 13 minutes (12.6912).
    Estimated Annual Burden: 384,629 hours.

    Dated: September 29, 2023.
Naomi Sipple,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-21973 Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P