646241 - GJHC Implementation OMB Supporting Statement_Part A 12 27 2011

SUPPORTING STATEMENT A

FOR THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995

Data Collection

for the Green Jobs and Healthcare Grants Implementation Study

Part A: Justification

This information collection request is to collect data from recipients of four Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL/ETA) grants that provide funding to train unemployed, underemployed, dislocated, and incumbent workers for employment and to create career pathways in healthcare and other growing industries. DOL/ETA is seeking approval to administer a web/telephone survey of all grant project directors and selected program partner staff as part of the Green Jobs and Healthcare Implementation Study. This project seeks to understand the processes surrounding the design and implementation of the four grant programs. IMPAQ International and its subcontractor, Academy for Educational Development (AED), are conducting the implementation study of the four grants.

1. Circumstances Necessitating the Data Collection

In February 2009, President Obama signed The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) into law in an effort to preserve and create jobs, promote economic growth, and assist those impacted by the recession. The Recovery Act included funding for the Employment and Training Administration of DOL/ETA under four Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGAs) with the goal of training workers in the skills required to be employed in specific high growth and emerging industries including healthcare, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. The four SGAs are:

• Energy Training Partnership ($100 million allocated across 25 projects)

• Pathways Out of Poverty ($150 million for 38 projects)

• State Energy Sector Partnership and Training ($190 million for 34 projects)

• Healthcare and Other High Growth Emerging Industries ($225 million for 55 projects).

The Energy Training Partnership grant program is designed to provide training for workers that will prepare them to enter the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, as well as green occupations within other industries by investing in partnerships made up of a diverse set of stakeholders. The Pathways Out of Poverty grant program intends to provide individuals living at or below the poverty level with training and supportive services to help them find pathways into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. The State Energy Sector Partnership grant program is specifically tailored to develop a workforce that is ready to work in the emerging green industries by supporting state efforts in implementing a comprehensive statewide energy sector strategy. The Healthcare and Other High Growth Emerging Industries grant program aims to train individuals for employment and create career pathways in Healthcare and other growing industries. In total, DOL/ETA awarded grants to 152 organizations across the four SGAs.

The Recovery Act also provided funding for conducting research in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries (see Appendix A for the ARRA legislation specifically intended for DOL activities). As a result, in the fall of 2010, DOL/ETA contracted with IMPAQ and AED to conduct an implementation study of the four grant programs. This Green Jobs and Healthcare Implementation Study will address research in six key areas: (1) Program Context, (2) Program Components and Service Delivery Strategy, (3) Partnerships, (4) Program Management, Funding, and Sustainability, (5) Program Outcomes, and (6) Program Replicability and Lessons Learned. Exhibit 1 summarizes the domains to be studied within the six key areas.

Exhibit 1: Research Areas and Domains

Research Area 1: Program Context

Program Context

Grant Timeframe

Program Structure

Policy Context

Research Area 2: Program Components and Service Delivery Strategy

Program Components

Assessment and Case Management Services

Participant Recruitment and Targeting

Support Services

Training Design/Delivery

Research Area 3: Partnerships

Partner Relationships and Selection

Partner Roles and Responsibilities

Research Area 4: Program Management, Funding, and Sustainability

Leveraged Resources

Use of Program Data

Sustainability

Funding and Program Administration

Research Area 5: Program Outcomes

Outcomes Achieved

Career Pathways and Certifications

Linkage Between Grant Program Practices and Outcomes

Research Area 6: Program Replicability and Lessons Learned

Program Replicability

Lessons Learned

To address these six research areas, data will be collected from a web/telephone survey of all grantee project directors and selected partners. Partners could include education/ training partners, workforce partners (Workforce Investment Board or One-Stop Career Center), employer and business partners (including labor unions), local government representatives, and support service partners (case management and outreach). Survey responses will be used to enhance and validate the information gathered during the site visits.

Surveys with grantee and partner staff are one of the only ways to collect information on program context, design and goals, implementation, outcomes, replicability, and sustainability and is the focus of this submission.

2. Purpose and Use of Information

DOL/ETA has contracted with IMPAQ and AED to perform three data collection activities in-depth interviews, focus groups, and grantee web/telephone surveys. The first two data collections are submitted separately and the focus of this submission is grantee web/telephone surveys only. As such, IMPAQ and AED will use the data collected to conduct an analysis and provide DOL/ETA with an understanding of how the grants are being implemented.

An analysis of how the grants are being implemented is necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of their similarities and differences. In addition, an analysis is necessary for policymakers and program developers to determine whether the programs developed can be successfully replicated and/or sustained. The information collected through grantee survey data will be used to measure program design, outcomes, and program experiences for participants.

Policymakers will be able to use these results to assess whether the grant programs are effective and whether the programs should be replicated on a larger scale and if so, how it will be sustained. The findings will also be useful to other funders of similar training programs in developing their programs.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology

Improved electronic technology (e.g. web-based materials) will be used whenever possible to reduce the burden on respondents. The grantee survey, for example, will be administered via a web-based/online instrument. The online instrument will be developed using KeySurvey, an intelligent survey software designed to create professional online surveys quickly and easily. The software provides 128 bit SSL encryption capabilities for ensuring privacy of responses to the maximum extent allowed by the law and for exporting responses for future analyses. The software also allows for the identification of responders and non-responders without compromising the privacy of responses.

Web-based surveys are cost-effective and have several advantages over other types of surveys, including the ability to monitor the response rate in real-time, the ability to send customized reminder e-mails to participants, and encouraging response by allowing participants to complete the survey at a convenient time for them.

4. Identification of Duplication of Data Collection Efforts

Previous implementation studies of the Green Jobs and Healthcare grant programs have not been conducted and plans are not in place to collect similar information. The grantee surveys will collect important and new information.

5. Impacts on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

The instruments and procedures for conducting the grantee surveys have been designed to minimize the burden on all respondents and will not have a significant impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences of Not Collecting the Data

This study involves a one-time data collection. If the surveys are not conducted there will be no information regarding the context, design, implementation, operation, outcomes, and/or replicability and sustainability of the grant programs. As such, DOL/ETA will not be able to determine whether the grant programs are effective.

7. Special Data Collection Circumstances

This request is consistent with the general information collection guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2). No special circumstances apply.

8. Federal Register Notice

As required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a notice was published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2011 (Vol. 76, p 53698). No comments were received.

9. Payments/Gifts to Respondents

No payments or gifts will be provided to participants of the grantee surveys.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The administrators surveyed will be assured that their responses will be kept private to the maximum extent allowed by the law. The survey data will be stored on an evaluation contractor’s server that is protected by a firewall that monitors and evaluates all attempted connections from the Internet.  Sensitive information (name and telephone number only) on each survey respondent will be maintained in a separate data file and apart from the survey data so that it is not possible to link particular responses to individual respondents.  Once the survey is completed, all sensitive data on each respondent will be destroyed.  The entire survey database will be encrypted so that any data stored will be further protected.  Finally, access to any data with identifying information will be limited only to contractor staff directly working on the survey.  All findings in any written materials or briefings, delivered to DOL, will be presented at the aggregate level and it will not be possible to link specific responses to individual respondents. 

11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature

Participants will not be asked questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

Exhibit 3 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the respondents to participate in this study.

Each of the 152 grantee organizations will be asked to provide contact information for grantee and partner staff selected to complete the survey. Approximately 760 grantee and partner staff will complete a web/telephone survey. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete.

The total burden hours are estimated to be 266 hours.

Exhibit 3:  Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Activity	Number of Respondents	Frequency of Response	Average Time per Respondent	Burden Hours
Grantee Surveys:
a. Screening Calls	152	Once	5 minutes	13
b. Web/Telephone Survey	760	Once	20 minutes	253
TOTAL	912	n/a	31 minutes	266

Exhibit 4 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the respondents' time to participate in the study. The total cost burden is estimated to be $7,670.

Exhibit 4: Estimated Annualized Cost Burden

Activity	Number of Respondents	Burden Hours	Average Hourly Wage Rate*	Burden Cost#
Grantee Surveys:
a. Screening Calls	152	13	$44.84	$583
b. Web/Telephone Survey	760	253	$28.01	$7,087
TOTAL	912	266	n/a	$7,670

^* Average hourly wage rates for grantee and partner staff were estimated based on the mean of the average wages, National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2009, “U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.” The average hourly wage rate for item “b” under the grantee survey is an average of the grantee partner staff‘s average hourly wage rates.

13. Estimates of Annualized Respondent Capital and Maintenance Costs

There are no direct costs to respondents and will be no start-up or ongoing financial costs incurred by respondents.

14. Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Government

The cost to the Federal government for carrying-out this data collection effort is $697,898, which represents the total contractor cost of conducting the in-depth interviews, focus groups, and grantee survey.  These costs are comprised of $586,112 for staff labor, $76,165 for travel, and $35,621 in Other Direct/Indirect Costs.

15. Changes in Hour Burden

This is a new, one time data collection effort counting as 266 hours towards ETA’s Information Collection Budget.

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication

16.1 Tabulation. The project will collect secondary data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), American Community Survey (ACS), and labor market information (LMI) generally available through state workforce agency websites. Collection and analysis of these datasets will not impose any burden on outside individuals. Frequency tabulations and other descriptive statistics summarizing these datasets will be prepared with the goal of obtaining a better understanding of the local economy, industry/occupation mix, and worker demographic profile within which each grantee operates.

The primary data for the Green Jobs and Healthcare Implementation Study will be collected through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveys. The web/telephone survey that is the focus of this submission will be conducted with all grant administrators and selected grantee and partner staff. Data from these sources are largely qualitative in nature, and analysis will primarily be conducted through qualitative analysis techniques that extract major themes or commonalities and key quotes.

The project will use NVivo software, which is designed to facilitate analysis of qualitative data. This software enables the analyst to mark specific passages of text in interview notes or focus group transcripts as corresponding to specific research questions or other keywords, and subsequently search on these keywords to identify all passages of text related to a given set of keywords. By “slicing and dicing” the data in various ways, the analyst can identify themes within the data. In addition, frequencies and crosstabulations of data will be conducted in some cases, for example with the responses to selected questions on the grantee web/telephone survey.

16.2 Publication. The project began in October 2010 and will end in October 2012. The project design and interview/survey instruments were prepared in early 2011. The site visits and focus group discussions will begin in January 2012 and end in April 2012. The grantee survey will be conducted between February 2012.

The tabulations and analyses of this data collection effort will be published in two rounds, in the form of an Interim Report delivered to DOL/ETA around the middle of the project, and a Final Report delivered to DOL/ETA at the end of the project. Each report will include a draft version that DOL/ETA will comment on, followed by a final version addressing the comments from DOL/ETA.

The Interim Report was delivered in December 2011 in final version. The Final Report will be delivered July 31, 2012 (draft version) and September 30, 2012 (final version).

The Final Report will include analysis of the site visit and focus group data collected from all 36 grantee sites visited during the course of the study, as well as analysis of the grantee survey data collected from the 152 grantees and their partners.

17. Approval to Not Display the Expiration Date

The OMB approval number and expiration date will be displayed or cited on all information collection instruments. We are not seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date. For the grantee survey, the OMB number and expiration date will be displayed on each page of the online instrument as well as in e-mail communications with the survey respondents. These communications include an email invitation to participate in the survey and any reminder emails. This information will also be provided in the introductory script for any surveys completed by telephone.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

Page 1 Supporting Statement - Part A