rocisombSTOPsupportstatement

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission

Annual Progress Report for the STOP Formula Grants Program

A. Justification

1. Statutorily-Mandated Need for Information

The STOP (Services*Training*Officers*Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program (STOP Formula Grants Program) was authorized through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 and reauthorized and amended by the VAWA of 2000 and by the VAWA of 2005. Its purpose is to promote a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system=s response to violence against women. It envisions a partnership among law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and victim advocacy organizations to enhance victim safety and hold offenders accountable for their crimes of violence against women. Eligible applicants for the STOP Program include any state within the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, hereafter referred to as states.

First, VAWA requires the Attorney General to report, not later than180 days after the end of each fiscal year, to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on:

(1) the number of grants made and funds distributed under the STOP (Services* Training* Officers* Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program grants;

(2) a summary of the purposes for which those grants were provided and an evaluation of their progress;

(3) a statistical summary of persons served, detailing the nature of victimization, and providing data on age, sex, relationship of victim to offender, geographic distribution, race, ethnicity, language, and disability; and

(4) an evaluation of the effectiveness of programs funded.

42 U.S.C. ' 3796gg-3(b).

Second, the Department of Justice regulations require state grantees to submit annual performance reports that will include a comparison of actual accomplishments to the objectives established and the reasons for slippage if the objectives were not met. 28 CFR Section 66.40.¹

Third, VAWA 2000 requires all VAWA grantees, including STOP grantees, to report on the effectiveness of their programs to the Attorney General who, in turn, must report to Congress every two years. 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.

Fourth, OVW must comply with the statutory reporting requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) (Pub. L. 103-62). GPRA was enacted to increase Congressional and Administrative focus on the results from government programs and activities. Information collected on the annual progress report regarding performance measures that OVW has developed for the different types of STOP subgrantees will enable OVW to meet its reporting obligations under GPRA.

2. Use of Information

OVW needs to collect information on the effectiveness of STOP state administrators and subgrantees’ 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 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.

3. 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.

4. Duplication of Information Request

There is no other mechanism by which OVW collects information from STOP state administrators and subgrantees about the number of victims served, victims seeking services who could not be served or the effectiveness of funded activities.

5. Impact on Small Businesses

There is no impact on small businesses.

5. Consequences to Federal Programs or Policy

Through VAWA, Congress has mandated that the STOP administrators and subgrantees report to OVW on the effectiveness of grant-funded programs. 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 STOP Formula Grants 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 to increase offender accountability.

5. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances as identified in the specific instructions for a supporting statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.

5. 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 STOP state administrators and subgrantees receiving funds under the STOP 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 December 26, 2006 (Federal Register, Volume 71, Number 247, pages 77412-77413) and a 30-day was notice was published in the Federal Register on February 27, 2007 (Federal Register, Volume 72, Number 42, pages 9776-9777).

5. Payment or Gift to Respondents

There will no payment or gift to respondents.

5. 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.

5. Specific Questions

The annual progress report form 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.

5. Hour Burden of the Collection of Information

This annual progress report is not overly burdensome. The data collection tool will be completed by 56 STOP state administrators and approximately 2,500 subgrantees once a year. There will be 2,556 annual responses and it is estimated that it will take STOP state administrators and subgrantees no more than 1 hour to complete the annual progress report form. Thus, the annual reporting and recordkeeping hour burden is 2,556. STOP state administrators are informed about the reporting requirements during the grant solicitation process and during the grant award process.

OVW is seeking basic information that is routinely kept by the STOP state administrators and subgrantees in the normal course of their operations. OVW estimates that it will take approximately 1 hour for a subgrantee to complete the form. OVW developed this estimate based on the fact that information of this nature is already kept by STOP state administrators and subgrantees. The annual progress report is divided into sections that pertain to the different types of activities that subgrantees may engage in, i.e. training, developing a protection order database, and the different types of subgrantees that receive funds, i.e. law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, courts, victim services agencies, etc. Subgrantees will only have to complete the sections of the form that relate to their specific activities

5. 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 completion of this form.

5. 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 managing, monitoring, and oversight of the STOP Formula Grants Program.

5. 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 the STOP state administrators and subgrantees to comply with the statutory reporting requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg, 42 U.S.C. 3789, and the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62).

5. Published Results of Information Collection

There will be no complex analytical techniques used in connection with the publication of information collected under the request. Information will be gathered once a year. OVW is statutorily required to submit a report on the effectiveness of grant-funded activities under the STOP Formula Grants Program.

17. 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 Annual Progress Report.

18. Exception to the Certification Statement

OVW is not seeking any exception to the certification statement identified, Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions, of OMB Form 83-I.

PART B

OVW does not use statistical methods in connection with this information collection.

1 In addition, VAWA requires that A[U]pon completion of the grant period..., a State or Indian tribe shall file a performance report with the Attorney General explaining the activities carried out, which report shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of those activities in achieving the purposes of this part.@ 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(h).

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