Abbreviated Supporting Statement

OMB Approval No. 1205-0436

Expiration Date: 01/31/2017

ABBREVIATED SUPPORTING STATEMENT

CLEARANCE FORM

A.1. Title: Quick Turnaround Survey of State Workforce Agencies on Call Center Operations
A.2. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.5: Yes __X_ No _____	A.3. Assurances of confidentiality: None
A.4. Federal cost: $140.00	A.5. Requested expiration date (Month/Year): 12/2015
A.6. Burden Hour estimates: a. Number of Respondents: 53 a.1. % Received Electronically 100% b. Frequency: once c. Average Response Time: 25 minutes . Total Annual Burden Hours: 22 hours	A7. Does the collection of information employ statistical methods? ___x____ No _______ Yes (Complete Section B and attach OCEO review sheet).
A.8. Abstract: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has oversight responsibility for the Federal/State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. ETA proposes to conduct a comprehensive study of UI call center operations by collecting data “to understand key operational issues in light of the Administration’s policy priorities and of other partner programs,” which is the justification for ETA’s generic Information Collection Request (ICR), OMB Control No. 1205-0436, ICR Reference Number 201308-1205-009, Quick Turnaround Surveys on Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Implementation. UI is a key workforce system program and a mandatory One-Stop partner under WIA.UI call centers play a key role in connecting UI claimants to One-Stop reemployment services, therefore, the purpose of the survey fits within this ICR. ETA has contracted with Coffey Consulting, LLC to conduct the survey to do a comprehensive study of state UI call center operations in order to better understand their role in administration of the UI program, to identify best practices, and to identify how states measure call center performance. The overall project is in two phases beginning with this proposed survey to be followed by a more in-depth phone interview. The instrument for the phone interview will be submitted in a separate package. To help support this research effort, ETA seeks approval to conduct a national, Web-based survey of UI SWA Administrators/Directors. The survey is intended to document how states operate their UI call centers, as well as to gather information on how existing state UI call centers’ successful practices and measurable performances are used. The information will be made available to other states to aid in improving their own call center operations. The survey will focus on how UI call centers are operated in all 53 SWAs. Survey questions will cover topics including: technologies used for various UI call center functions; the different UI program functions performed at the call center; the performance metrics utilized in UI call centers; staffing and workload contingency plans. Prior to completing a more intensive and thorough interview with the states, the Office of Unemployment Insurance determined that it would be beneficial to issue the states a preliminary online survey. The survey questions are designed to capture information that is easily obtained through multiple choice or short fill-in responses. This approach should enable respondents to quickly provide answers from readily available sources. The overall objective of the survey is to provide comparative and foundational information about how the call centers in all states are operated and managed, with some information expressed functionally and some numerically, which will assist us in determining the best practices nationwide for call center operations. The goal of this survey is to get a national perspective of UI Call Center operations. It will be necessary to survey one representative from each state as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. DOL/ETA will determine the relevant state contacts to receive this on-line survey. To maximize response rates, respondents will receive an e-mail from ETA providing advance notice of the upcoming survey. Approximately one week later, respondents will receive an e-mail invitation that will contain the Web survey link and login information. The survey will be relatively brief. Based on expert review, it is expected that it will take approximately 25 minutes to complete. From the date it is sent, respondents will then have up to three weeks to submit their responses. To increase response rates, weekly reminder e-mails will be sent by ETA to encourage respondents to complete the survey. For those who do not respond to the Web survey within the three week window, a designated representative from ETA or Coffey Consulting will call the respondent and seek to conduct the survey over the phone. ETA will provide states with an aggregated report based on the survey, highlighting common practices, comparing different policies across states, and provide an overall summary of current UI Call Center operations. This data collection will not duplicate any information currently collected. Although identifiers will be used to monitor survey completion and link survey responses to states and regions, individual respondents will not be identified in published reports. However, responses identified by the SWAs may be shared with representatives from ETA.