OMB Justification-Supporting Statement Int Survey 10-30-06

Historically, faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) have played valuable roles in providing social services to individuals and families in need. However, despite their contribution, it has often been difficult for FBCOs to access government funding to support the services they provide. Recognizing the critical role faith-based and community organizations play in their communities, President George W. Bush launched a national initiative to expand opportunities for FBCOs to compete for federal funds through the establishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and Faith-Based Centers in ten federal Cabinet agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In addition, the Compassion Capital Fund (CCF), a key component of the President’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, was established by a Congressional appropriation in 2002. The CCF program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS), within HHS. The CCF is intended to build the capacity of FBCOs to serve low-income individuals and families, particularly those who are at-risk youth, homeless, prisoners reentering the community, addicts, elders in need, families in transition from welfare, and couples interested in marriage education services. Through intermediary organizations, the CCF Demonstration Program assists FBCOs to increase their effectiveness, enhance their ability to provide social services, expand their organizations, diversify their funding sources, and create partnerships to better serve those most in need.

Fiscal Year	# Intermediaries	Grant Period
2002	21	3 year
2003	10	3 year
2004	14	3 year
2005	20	17 months
2006	10	17 months

To build the organizational capacity of FBCOs, OCS has awarded 75 CCF Demonstration grants to intermediary organizations to work as a bridge between the federal government and FBCOs. Intermediaries support FBCOs in three ways: direct funding, through sub-awards; technical assistance (TA); and workshops/training. As of October 2006, OCS had awarded more than $125 million in funds to these grantees.

This proposed data collection is a part of the ongoing evaluation of the CCF program that is designed to assess the outcomes and effect of intermediary organization services on the organizational capacity of the FBCOs they assist through the CCF. The evaluation is an important opportunity to examine changes in FBCOs’ organizational capacity that are associated with or are a result of the Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program. The CCF evaluation includes both an Outcome Study and an Impact Study. Previously, OMB approval has been received to collect information via a baseline and follow up survey of FBCOs for both studies within the CCF evaluation (OMB No. 0970-0293.)

This proposed data collection is proposed for use in both the Outcome and Impact studies to obtain information directly from CCF Intermediary grantees to document the models and approaches used by intermediaries to provide services to FBCOs and to assist in interpreting responses from baseline and follow-up surveys completed by FBCOs as part of the CCF evaluation.

A.2 How the Information Will Be Collected, by Whom, and For What Purpose

This proposed information collection activity is for one round of surveys to be completed by the 54 intermediaries funded through the Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) during 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The survey is designed to be self-administered and to collect information about the intermediary organizations and their approaches to the provision of capacity building services. The survey will be administered in early 2007 to the 2003-2005 grantees and in the spring of 2008 to the 2006 grantee cohort.

The survey will be mailed to the 54 intermediaries. Surveys will be self-administered and completed by the Executive Director, Project Director or other senior manager at the intermediary. As needed to increase response rates, the survey will be administered by telephone to organizations that do not initially return a completed written survey. Telephone calls will also be used to clarify responses to the mail survey, as needed.

Research Questions

The survey responses will be used to address the following questions related to the CCF evaluation:

What range and types of services did FBCOs receive as part of CCF?
What were the differences in approaches to capacity building services used by intermediary?
What approaches and practices of intermediaries are associated with the greatest gains in FBCO organizational capacity?

The survey will obtain information about the intermediary organizations such as their size, type of organization, and prior experience in providing capacity building services as well as their approach to providing technical assistance (TA), sub-awards, and group training workshops. The survey asks about intermediaries’ recruitment strategies and the criteria used to select sub-awardees and TA recipients. The survey focuses on intermediaries’ capacity building approaches, such as the intensity of the TA, financial support (sub-awards), and training, and the staffing balance between intermediary staff and consultants. The survey gathers information about the process intermediaries use to monitor use of federal funds (sub-awards) and measure outcomes achieved by FBCOs. In order to assist ACF in increasing the effectiveness of the CCF’s efforts to support faith- and community-based organizations, the survey asks intermediaries to rate the helpfulness of current three components of CCF activities, identify the areas of capacity needing the most attention and provide recommendations for the program.

This data collection and analysis will provide valued information about the approaches intermediaries used to provide CCF services to provide more context for interpreting the responses from the FBCOs to the follow-up surveys.

A.3 Use of Improved Information Technology to Reduce Burden

The information proposed to be collected cannot be gathered through the application of information technology since the requisite data are not routinely recorded in any electronic information medium. The small sample size for the survey does not make it efficient to prepare the instrument for electronic completion.

A.4 Efforts to Identify and Avoid Duplication

There is no similar prior or ongoing data collection being conducted that duplicates the efforts of the proposed data collection. While intermediary organizations report some similar information through progress reports to ACF, the information is not uniform or consistent.

A.5 Efforts to Minimize Burden on Small Business or Other Entities

No small businesses will be involved as respondents. The survey respondents include a mix of large and small private and nonprofit organizations. Every effort has and will be made to minimize the burden on the survey respondents. As noted below, each survey will take only about one-half hour for completion and will not have any economic impact. Respondent organizations will be notified about the survey and its purpose via an introductory letter. Intermediaries will be permitted to complete the survey at their convenience (within a specified time period.)

A.6 Consequences of Less-Frequent Data Collection

There will be a single round of data collection for each respondent. The survey will be administered in two cycles: in early 2007 to the intermediaries awarded grants in fiscal years 2003, 2004 and 2005 and in spring 2008 for the FY 2006 cohort. If this data collection was eliminated from the CCF evaluation, we would lack systematic and comprehensive information about differences in experiences and approaches used by CCF-funded intermediaries.

A.7 Special Circumstances Requiring Collection of Information in a Manner Inconsistent with Section 1320.5(d)(2) of the Code of Federal Regulations

There are no special circumstances associated with this data collection.

A.8 Federal Register Comments and Persons Consulted Outside the Agency

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of data collection activities. The first notice was published on August 11, 2006, in volume 71, number 155, pages 46230-46231, and provided a 60-day period for public comments. A copy of the Federal Register notice for this information is included in Appendix B. There were no public comments received in response that the first notice prior to this submission. A second notice was published on October 30, 2006, in volume 71, number 209, pages 63325-63326.

Three intermediary grantees from the 2005 grant cycle were consulted in the development of the survey instrument. The final instrument was developed by the Abt/Branch research team and Administration for Children and Families staff members.

A.9 Payments to Respondents

There will be no payments made to respondents. Experience on previous studies indicates that payments are not needed for this type of research.

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality

Every effort will be made to maintain the privacy and/or confidentiality of respondents. No personal identifying information is proposed to be collected. The confidentiality procedures for this study during data collection, data processing, and analysis activities are as follows:

All respondents included in the study sample will be assured that the information they provide is confidential, to the extent provided by law, and will be used only for the purpose of this research. To ensure data security, all individuals hired by Abt Associates and Branch Associates are required to adhere to strict standards and sign an oath of confidentiality as a condition of employment.

Hard-copy data collection forms will be delivered to a locked area for receipt and processing. Branch Associates and Abt Associates maintain restricted access to all data preparation areas (receipt, coding, and data entry.) All data files on multi-user systems will be under the control of a database manager, with access limited to project staff on a “need to know” basis only.
Any individual identifying information will be maintained separately from completed data collection forms and from computerized data files used for analysis. No respondent identifiers will be contained in public use files made available from the study, and no data will be released in a form that identifies individual organizations or individuals.

A.11 Questions of a Sensitive Nature

The questions included on the data collection instruments for this study do not involve sensitive topics. The surveys request information about the organization; no personal information is sought.

A.12 Estimates of Respondent Burden

Exhibit 1 presents our estimate of the reporting burden for all intermediary survey respondents. Time estimates are based on experience with similar instruments in other studies of comparable organizations.

Exhibit 1: Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Cost
Data Collection Sources	Number of Respondents^a	Minutes Per Respondent	Response Burden in Hours	Estimated Cost Per Hour^b	Costs per Respondent	Total Burden (Costs)
Intermediary Survey	54	.5 hours	27	$30.55	$15.28	$825
Notes: A Assumes 100 percent response rate. b. U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, June 2005, Managers, service organizations, n.e.c. (mean).

A.13 Estimates of the Cost Burden to Respondents

There are no annualized capital/startup or ongoing operation and maintenance costs associated with collecting the information. Other than their time to complete the surveys, which is estimated in Exhibit1, there are no direct monetary costs to respondents.

A.14 Estimates of Annualized Government Costs

The information collection activity and associated forms have been developed in the performance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Contract Number: 233-02-0088. The total cost to the Federal government for the Compassion Capital Fund Evaluation is $2,566,519. Of that total, approximately $60,000 will be used for the intermediary survey data collection, analyses and reporting activities for which clearance is requested.

A.15 Changes in Hour Burden

No change in burden is requested. This submission to OMB is for an initial request for approval.

A.16 Time Schedule, Publication, and Analysis Plan

The schedule shown below in Exhibit 4 displays the sequence of activities required to conduct these information collection activities and includes key dates for activities related to instrument design, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Exhibit 4 Time Schedule
Activities and Deliverables	Date
Instrument Design Intermediary Survey Data Collection for outcome study (2003-2005 cohorts)	September 2006 January 2007– May 2007
Data Analysis Reporting on outcomes study	June 2007 December 2007
Intermediary Survey Data Collection for impact study (2006 cohort)	January 2008 – May 2008
Data Analysis	June 2008
Reporting on impact study	December 2008

A.17 Display of Expiration Date for OMB Approval

ACF is not requesting a waiver for the display of the OMB approval number and expiration date on the data collection instruments.

A.18 Exceptions to Certification Statement

This submission does not require an exception to the Certificate for Paperwork Reduction Act (5 CFR 1320.9).

Part B: Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

B.1 Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

We do not propose to use any sampling on this part of the study. The entire universe of the 54 CCF intermediary grantees from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 are included in the survey.

B.2 Information Collection Procedures

Prior to conducting the survey, respondents will be notified about the study via an introductory letter, which will include the purpose of the study. Paper copies of the survey will be mailed along with stamped return envelopes. Telephone calls will be made to respondents who do not return the survey by the due date. Once the survey has been administered, the analysts will review the survey instruments for missing information, code open-ended responses, and prepare the survey for data entry.

B.3 Methods to Maximize Response Rates

We anticipate a 100 percent response rate. The survey will be conducted with organizations that are current recipients of federal grants. ACF has regular and active contact with the organizations; this will ensure that we have correct contact information. To ensure a high response rate for the survey, respondents will receive an introductory letter from ACF explaining the importance and purpose of the survey. In addition, telephone calls and emails will remind respondents to complete the survey. Respondents will also have the option of completing the survey by telephone.

B.4 Test of Procedures

In developing the survey, informal discussions about topics to be covered were conducted with a key staff member at three intermediary grant organizations (2005 cohort). No formal pre-test of the instrument was conducted.

B.5 Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects of Design

The plans for this survey were developed by Abt Associates Inc., and its subcontractor Branch Associates, Inc. The research team is led by JoAnn Jastrzab, Project Director, Suzanne Klein (Abt Associates) and Barbara Fink (Branch Associates). Contact information for these individuals is provided below.

JoAnn Jastrzab

Abt Associates Inc.

55 Wheeler St.

Cambridge, MA 02138

617-349-2372

Suzanne Klein

Abt Associates Inc.

212-828-2817

Barbara Fink

Branch Associates, Inc.

215-731-9980

Appendix A

Intermediary Survey Instrument

Appendix B

Federal Register Notices

Abt Associates Inc. Table of Contents 2

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