[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 62638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24579]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Agency Recordkeeping/Reporting Requirements Under Emergency
Review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Title: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Grantee
Needs Assessment.
OMB No.: New Collection.
Description: This information collection is a direct response to
recommendations for strengthening LIHEAP program integrity made by the
Government Accountability Office in 2010 and the LIHEAP Program
Integrity Work Group. The purpose of this data collection is to gauge
the capacity of LIHEAP grantees to perform two critical tasks:
1. To implement third-party verification of household data obtained
during the LIHEAP intake process, in order to strengthen program
integrity by reducing the risk of making LIHEAP benefit payments to
ineligible households or in the wrong amount. These risks arise in
large part when there are errors or fraud in the reporting of household
members' identity and income during the LIHEAP intake process.
2. To collect and report new performance measures that ACF is
proposing to require of all State LIHEAP grantees by Fiscal Year 2015.
This needs assessment represents a maturity model--a process for
determining the existing capabilities of grantees. Through a web-based
tool, respondents will be asked to indicate the level of maturity, or
sophistication, of their program across multiple areas of evaluation.
The data collected will be analyzed to identify strengths and
weaknesses among grantees and determine opportunities for improvement.
This needs assessment is designed to identify and organize the systems,
processes and activities that are critical to each grantee's LIHEAP
program.
The needs assessment is broken up into multiple sections. Each
section is focused on a different part of the overall program, and as
such may be best answered by an individual with expertise in that
specific area of the program. Burden estimates shown below represent
the total time to complete all sections by all relevant parties.
The data that will be obtained through this needs assessment is a
one-time collection to inform ACF in its operational decision-making
over how to distribute training and technical assistance, and other
capacity building resources to its directly-funded LIHEAP grantees. The
data will be for internal use by ACF and its contractors for this
internal purpose only. Currently, there is very limited data available
on a national scale to provide program administrators and stakeholders
information on the impact of LIHEAP services and the effectiveness of
how the program is administered. The data that will be collected
through this needs assessment will inform ACF as to how to help LIHEAP
grantees improve the timeliness and accuracy of their data collection
and reporting which will in turn provide better feedback to ACF and
national stakeholders about the program's performance.
Respondents: The respondents to this one-time needs assessment will
be all 51 State LIHEAP grantees, including the District of Columbia,
and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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Number of Average burden
Instrument Number of responses per hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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Grantee Needs Assessment.................... 52 1 1 hr. 40 min. 86 hours 40
minutes.
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 86 hours 40 minutes.
Additional Information: ACF is requesting that OMB grant a 180 day
approval for this information collection under procedures for emergency
processing by October 28, 2013. A copy of this information collection,
with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling
the Administration for Children and Families, Reports Clearance
Officer, Robert Sargis at (202) 690-7275.
Comments and questions about the information collection described
above should be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for ACF, Office of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 725 17th Street NW., Washington,
DC 20503; FAX: (202) 395-7285; email: [email protected].
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-24579 Filed 10-21-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P