Grant application to determine eligibility for the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grant program, to establish grant amounts, and to ensure that technical requirements are met.
Ms. Chandana L. Achanta
OMB Desk Officer
Office of Management and Budget
New Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20503
Dear Ms. Achanta:
The Department is seeking emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements contained in the "Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant Application. The Notice of Paperwork Submission (copy enclosed), proposed for immediate Federal Register publication, explains the burden of the collection requirements and invites public comments on them.
This program is supported by the information collection for the Continuum of Care Program under OMB control number 2506-0112. The revised information collection will significantly reduce the burden of applicants for "Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs and will create electronic submission for FY2008.
The emergency processing is requested due to late requirements that address the development of an electronic submission system. The Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs is creating this electronic system in response to HUDÂs requirement to migrate the majority of its funding opportunities to electronic submission and to streamline the CoC application project. This will allow HUD to improve its competitive funding process. The revised information collection will also address Congressional direction on improving homeless data collection at the local and national levels.
In compliance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.13, this letter requests emergency processing within seven days from the date of the Federal Register publication of the Notice of
Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB. This emergency processing is essential to provide much needed funding for projects serving AmericaÂs most vulnerable population.
Thank you for your consideration and assistance.
Sincerely,
Nelson R. Bregón
General Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Community Planning and Development
The burden hours per respondent were lessened this year by making the application electronic and removing the collection of HMIS Data and Technical Standards data from the application process. The collection of HMIS Data and Technical Standards data will become its own process at a later date as a separate package. The overall amount of time that it will take for an applicant to complete the application should also lessen because the electronic system will ask the applicant for a piece of information only once, store it in a data base, and then populate that answer elsewhere in the application where the information is necessary. We expect the burden hours to decrease dramatically in the 2009 Competition as CoCs and applicants will be able to retrieve the information that they submitted in the 2008 Competition from the data base and change only the necessary items.
$1,392,135
No
No
Uncollected
Uncollected
Uncollected
Uncollected
Ann Oliva 202 402-4497
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form HUD-2991 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant Application
83i 2506-0112.doc
Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant Application