Request for No Material or Nonsubstantive Change WIPA Projects 0960-0629

Request for No Material or Nonsubstantive Change

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Projects

OMB No. 0960-0629

Justification for Nonsubstantive Changes

Background

In September 2007, SSA added the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program data collection to the Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program. SSA added the WIPA data collection to provide information for the evaluation of the WIPA Program and to provide ongoing management information for SSA and the WIPA project staff. Approval for non-material or substantive changes to the cleared forms (i.e., screens) was granted in on January 18, 2011 (ICR Reference # 201 011-0960-008) to incorporate the requirements of the Work Incentive Information and Referral Center (WIIRC) and the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND). Subsequent to the most recent clearance, SSA needs to make two additional non-substantive changes in ETO (Efforts To Outcomes) software related to BOND.

BOND/WIPA-ETO

The pilot test of the Benefit Offset National Demonstration, mandated by Congress, (0960-New) requires all of the BOND changes to the WIPA-ETO and WIIRC software be operational at the end of February. As part of the demonstration, the participating beneficiaries will have very different rules as compared to non-participating (almost all other) beneficiaries for how employment affects benefits. Participating beneficiaries will require BOND-specific information and referral services. The WIPAs and the WIIRC, who provide referrals and information on benefits and work for SSA beneficiaries, need to know if a beneficiary is participating in BOND to ensure they will give the correct information and referral. SSA has attempted to modify the ETO screens to show the cleared variety of alerts notifying the WIPAs and the WIIRC that a beneficiary is a participant in BOND and providing BOND-specific instructions and referrals. However, in attempting to implement the system of alerts, we recently learned that we are not able to make all of the changes as cleared. Limitations of the ETO software restrict the alert text to be numbered, where we had displayed the alert fields without numbering. This has required reformatting the alerts to be numbered and renumbering the subsequent sections and questions. The numbering does not affect the storage or retrieval of the information.

BOND/WIIRC

In late 2009, SSA introduced the Work Incentive Information and Referral Center (WIIRC). The WIIRC provides information and referral services, and then refers beneficiaries who need additional WIPA services to a WIPA provider in the beneficiary’s local area. In the cleared forms, limitations in the ETO software required the WIIRC user to separately search for the beneficiary using the search function in the WIPA-ETO software and database, and then search for the beneficiary again in the BOND database. SSA has continued to work to improve the search process and it is now consolidated and streamlined. Search screens and duplicate data entry have been eliminated. SSA expects it will be able to develop a workaround to the limitations of the software to eliminate the remaining redundant screen in the near future.

Summary of the Non-Substantive Changes

Summary of the Changes for BOND/WIPA-ETO

We have added the different types of cleared alerts and instructions to alert the WIIRC and WIPAs that a beneficiary is a participant in BOND. However, limitations of the ETO software restricted the alert text to be numbered, where we had displayed some alert fields without numbering. The alerts are reformatted as numbered and the subsequent sections and questions are renumbered. The numbering does not affect the storage or retrieval of the information. We show examples of the changes to the cleared screens in the attached documents (see ROCIS supplementary documents) and changes are highlighted in red.

Summary of the Changes for BOND/WIIRC

We have made the following changes to consolidate and streamline the participant search process in WIIRC and BOND and eliminate duplicate search screens and data entry. The attached document shows the changes to the cleared screens outlined in red. SSA expects to be able to develop a workaround to the limitations of the software to eliminate the remaining redundant screen in the near future, which is also explained in the document.