Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission
Semi-annual Progress Report for the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program
A. Justification
1. Statutorily-Mandated Need for Information
The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program (Arrest Program) was authorized through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 and reauthorized and amended by the VAWA 2000 and by the VAWA of 2005. The Arrest Program promotes mandatory or pro-arrest policies and encourages jurisdictions to treat domestic violence and sexual assault as a serious crime, establish coordinated community responses and facilitate the enforcement of protection orders. By statute, eligible grantees for the Arrest Program are States, Indian tribal governments, State and local courts including juvenile courts, tribal courts, and units of local government. For the purpose of this Program, a unit of local government is any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general-purpose political subdivision of a State; an Indian tribe that performs law enforcement functions as determined by the Secretary of Interior; or, for the purpose of assistance eligibility, any agency of the District of Columbia government or the United States Government performing law enforcement functions in and for the District of Columbia, and any Trust Territory of the U.S.
VAWA requires that AEach grantee receiving funds under this part shall submit a report to the Attorney General evaluating the effectiveness of projects developed with funds provided under this part and containing such additional information as the Attorney General may prescribe.@ 42 U.S.C. 3796 hh-2.
In addition to VAWA, other statutory requirements require that Arrest Program grantees collect and maintain data that measures the effectiveness of the grant-funded projects. As a result of VAWA 2000, all grant recipients are now statutorily required to report on the effectiveness of their programs, and the Attorney General must report to Congress on the effectiveness of each project. Section 1003 of VAWA 2000 states that:
(a) REPORT BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.- The Attorney General or Secretary of Health and Human Services, as applicable, shall require grantees under any program authorized or reauthorized by this division or an amendment made by this division to report on the effectiveness of the activities carried out with amounts made available to carry out that program, including number of persons served, if applicable, numbers of persons seeking services who could not be served and such other information as the Attorney General or Secretary may prescribe.
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.- The Attorney General or Secretary of Health and Human Services, as applicable, shall report biennially to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the grant programs described in subsection (a), including the information contained in any report under that subsection.
42 U.S.C. 3789.
OVW must also comply with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) (Pub. L. 103-62) which was enacted to increase Congressional and Administrative focus on the results from government programs and activities. Information collected on the semi-annual progress report regarding performance measures that OVW has developed for the different types of Arrest grantees will enable OVW to meet its reporting obligations under GPRA.
2. Use of Information
OVW needs to collect information on the effectiveness of Arrest Program grantees’ activities. In particular, OVW is seeking data that includes baseline information to illustrate the effectiveness of any grant-supported activities, including any “before and after” implementation information, i.e. an increase in reporting rates, an increase in the number of law enforcement trainings. In addition, VAWA 2000 requires the submission of information on the number of victims who could not be served. The information that will be collected through the semi-annual progress report will be used by OVW to fulfill, on behalf of the Attorney General, the statutorily mandated reporting requirements of VAWA and VAWA 2000 and provide OVW with data that will enable it to meet its reporting obligations under GPRA.
Use of Information Technology
The collection of information will involve the use of automated, electronic, mechanical or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Duplication of Information Request
There is no other mechanism by which OVW collects information about number of victims served, victims seeking services who could not be served or the effectiveness of funded activities.
Impact on Small Businesses
There is no impact on small businesses.
Consequences to Federal Programs or Policy
Through VAWA, Congress has mandated that the Arrest Program grantees report to OVW on the effectiveness of programs funded. In addition, through VAWA 2000, Congress mandated that all OVW grantees report to the Attorney General on the effectiveness of their activities funded under VAWA including the number of victims served and the number of victims who could not be served. If OVW was not able to collect the information necessary to complete these reports on behalf of the Attorney General, not only would it be failing to meet a statutorily required reporting mandate, but also the existence of this important and necessary grant program could be jeopardized. The Arrest Program is promoting a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system’s response to violence against women. It supports partnerships among law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and victim advocacy organizations to enhance victim safety and hold offenders accountable for their crimes of violence against women.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances as identified in the specific instructions for a supporting statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.
Federal Register Publication
OVW has consulted with persons outside the agency who have advised that the data proposed to be collected is available, the annual collection of such data is not burdensome, the form is clear, and that the information is routinely kept by most grantees receiving funds under the Arrest Program. OVW has solicited public comment on this form in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act. A 60 day notice was published in the Federal Register on November 13, 2007 (Federal Register, Volume 72, page 63927) and a 30-day was notice was published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2008 (Federal Register, Volume 73, , page 3484).
Payment or Gift to Respondents
There will no payment or gift to respondents.
Confidentiality
Although this information is needed for a public report to Congress, it will not involve any personal information about victims that could identify them as specific individuals. However, anecdotal, non-identifying information about the effectiveness of individual programs may be included in the report.
Specific Questions
The semi-annual progress report will not contain any questions of a personal, sensitive nature such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
Hour Burden of the Collection of Information
This semi-annual progress report is not overly burdensome. The data collection tool will be completed by approximately 200 Arrest Program grantees twice a year as there are 2 reporting periods- January 1 through June 30 and July 1 through December 31. There will be 400 annual responses and it is estimated that it will take grantees no more than 1 hour to complete the semi-annual progress report form. Thus, the annual reporting and recordkeeping hour burden is 400. Arrest Program grantees are informed about the reporting requirements during the grant solicitation process and during the grant award process. Because the semi-annual progress report covers a six month period, grantees are not in a position to complete the form until the end of each reporting period.
OVW is seeking basic information that is routinely kept by the Arrest Program grantees in the normal course of their operations. Thus, the requirement that grantees complete this semi-annual progress report within a period of less than 30 days after receipt of it is not overly burdensome. OVW estimates that it will take approximately 1 hour for a grantee to complete the form. OVW developed this estimate based on the fact that information of this nature is already kept by grantees receiving funds under the Arrest Program and that the grantees have been apprized of these reporting requirements during the solicitation process and reminded throughout the grant award process. The semi-annual progress report is divided into sections that pertain to the different types of activities that grantees may engage in, i.e. training, developing a protection order database, and the different types of grantees that receive funds, i.e. law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, courts, victim services agencies, etc. Grantees will only have to complete the sections of the form that relate to their specific activities.
13. Cost Burden of the Collection of Information
OVW does not believe that there is any annual cost burden on respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of this information.
Annualized Costs to the Federal Government
OVW does not believe that there are any annualized costs to the Federal Government resulting from the collection of this information beyond those costs associated with the routine management, monitoring, and oversight of the Arrest Program.
Program Changes or Adjustments
There are no program changes or adjustments for the estimates identified in Section 13 and in Section 14. This is a information collection that is necessary for OVW and its Arrest Program grantees to comply with the statutory reporting requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796 hh-2, 42 U.S.C. 3789, and the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62).
Published Results of Information Collections
There will be no complex analytical techniques used in connection with the publication of
information collected under the request. Information will be gathered twice a year at the end of the reporting periods, January 1 through June 30 and July 1 through December 31. OVW is statutorily required to submit a report on the effectiveness of grant-funded activities on a biennial basis.
Display of the Expiration Date of OMB Approval
OVW will display the Expiration Date of OMB Approval in the upper right hand corner of the Semi-annual Progress Report.
18. Exception to the Certification Statement
OVW is not seeking any exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions, of OMB Form 83-I.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | Cathy Poston |
| Last Modified By | catherine m. poston |
| File Modified | 2008-07-15 |
| File Created | 2008-07-15 |