[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 97 (Wednesday, May 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28931-28936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12205]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request--Evaluation of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) Pilots
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 public and other public agencies to comment on this
proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the
purpose of evaluating the Fiscal Year 2015 Pilot Projects to Reduce
Dependency and Increase Work Requirements and Work Effort Under the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 20, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions that were used; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d)
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.
Comments may be sent to: Wesley R. Dean, Food and Nutrition
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room
1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to
the attention of Wesley R. Dean at 703-305-2576 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 p.m. Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive,
Room 1014, 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 collection should be directed to Wesley R.
Dean, Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101
Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Evaluation of SNAP E&T Pilots.
OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
Type of Request: New Collection.
Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a
critical work support for low-income people and families. SNAP benefits
help eligible low-income families put food on the table in times of
need. It also supports critical and needed skills and job training so
that recipients can obtain good jobs that lead to self-sufficiency.
SNAP's long-standing mission of helping unemployed and underemployed
people is challenging. To help them and their families achieve self-
sufficiency, strategies are needed to
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impart the skills employers want, and to help address other barriers to
employment. Some participants need assistance developing a resume and
accessing job leads, others need education and training, and still
others need help overcoming barriers that prevent them from working
steadily. The SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) program provides
assistance to unemployed and underemployed clients in the form of job
search, job skills training, education (basic, post-secondary,
vocational), work experience or training and workfare, but limited
information exists on what is most effective in connecting these
participants to gainful employment.
The Agriculture Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79, Section 4022),
otherwise known as the 2014 Farm Bill authorized grants for up to 10
pilot sites to develop and rigorously test innovative SNAP E&T
strategies for engaging more SNAP work registrants in unsubsidized
employment, increasing participants' earnings and reducing reliance on
public assistance. The pilots' significant funding can expand the reach
of employment and training services and enable States to experiment
with promising strategies to increase engagement and promote
employment. An evaluation of the pilot sites will be critical in
helping Congress and FNS identify strategies that effectively assist
SNAP participants to succeed in the labor market and become self-
sufficient.
The 10 States receiving grants to fund pilot projects are
California, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi,
Vermont, Virginia and Washington State. The evaluation will collect
data from all 10 pilot sites in 2015-2016 (baseline), 2016-2017 (12-
month follow-up) and 2018-2019 (36-month follow-up). The data collected
for this evaluation will be used for implementation, impact,
participant and cost-benefit analyses for each pilot site. Research
objectives include: (1) Documenting the context and operations of each
pilot, identify lessons learned, and to help interpret and understand
impacts within each pilot and across pilots, (2) identifying the
impacts on employment, earnings, and reliance on public assistance and
food security and other outcomes, to determine what works, and what
works for whom, (3) examine the characteristics of service paths of
pilot participants and the control group to assess whether the mere
presence of the pilots and their offer of services or participation
requirements influence whether people apply for SNAP (entry effects),
and (4) estimate the total and component costs of each pilot and
provide an estimate of the return to each dollar invested in the pilot
services. Primary outcomes will be employment, earnings, and
participation in public assistance programs, which will be measured
through state administrative records, a baseline survey administered
during enrollment into the study, and through follow-up telephone
surveys conducted at approximately 12 months and 36 months. Impacts on
secondary outcomes, such as food security, health status, and self-
esteem, will be measured through the follow-up telephone surveys as
well. The end products (interim and final reports) will provide
scientifically valid evidence of the pilot project impacts.
Affected Public: Members of the public affected by the data
collection include individuals and households; State and local
governments; and Businesses from the Private sector (for-profit and
not-for-profit). Respondent types identified include (1) individuals
and households eligible for SNAP E&T participation; (2) directors and
managers from State and local government agencies supporting the SNAP
E&T programs; (3) staff from State and local government agencies
providing direct services to SNAP E&T participants; (4) directors and
managers from private sector for-profit businesses providing SNAP E&T
services; and (5) directors and managers from private sector not-for-
profit agencies providing SNAP E&T services.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of
respondents is 50,758. This includes 50,018 individuals, 280 State and
local government directors/managers and staff, and 460 private sector
for-profit business and not-for-profit agency directors/managers. Of
the 50,000 individuals completing a baseline survey when applying for
services, FNS will contact 25,000 out of which 18,240 individuals in
the treatment and comparison groups will complete a 12-month follow-up
telephone survey (6,760 will be non-responders). Of 18,240 respondents
to the 12-month follow-up, 11,090 will complete a 36-month follow-up
telephone survey (7,150 non-respondents). Among the individuals
contacted for the telephone surveys, 120 may also be contacted for a
focus group, 67 for an in-depth interview, and 27 for a case study on
topics of special interest to FNS. Of the individuals contacted for the
focus groups, in-depth interviews, and case studies, 214 participants
will participate and 86 will decline and be considered nonrespondents.
18 individuals will be contacted separately to pretest surveys,
interviews, and focus groups. 170 State and local government agency
directors/managers will be contacted for in-person interviews. 150 of
those will be interviewed two additional times; 10 of the directors/
managers will provide case study data and 10 will provide cost data. A
separate group of 100 directors/managers will be sampled to participate
in a time use survey, and 10 data director/managers will be contacted
for administrative data. 200 Private sector not-for-profit and for-
profit agency directors/managers and staff will be contacted for cost/
benefit interviews. These individuals will also be contacted for in-
person interviews, and the directors and managers for the case study
will be recruited from this group.
160 individuals will be contacted for a time-use survey. This
sample will also be used to recruit staff to participate in the case
study. 100 staff members responsible for data management will also be
contacted for the provision of administrative data.
Estimated Frequency of Responses per Respondent: Average of 1
response for individuals per instrument or activity and 1.59 for all
activities, 4.36 responses for State and local government
representatives for all contacts, and 21.07 responses for private
sector representatives for all contacts. The number of contacts per
activity range from 1 to 20 across all participants.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 106,159.
Estimated Time per Response: About 0.35 hours (21.6 minutes). The
estimated time of response varies from 0.08 to 8 hours depending on the
respondent group and data collection activity, as shown in the table
below.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total annual
burden is 32,260 hours.
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Dated: May 12, 2015.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator. Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-12205 Filed 5-19-15; 8:45 am]
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