SuppStmt, 21-8938, 21-8938-1, (12-4-14)

Supporting Statement for VA Form 21-8938 and 21-8938-1

Student Beneficiary Report - REPS

(2900-0399)

A. Justification

1. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through its Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), administers an integrated program of benefits and services established by law for veterans, service personnel, and their dependents and/or beneficiaries. VA administers the Restored Entitlement Program for Survivors (REPS). This program pays VA benefits to certain surviving spouses and children of veterans who died in service prior to August 13, 1981 or who died as a result of a service-connected disability incurred or aggravated prior to August 13, 1981. The program is funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). Decisions as to entitlement are made by VA using Social Security Administration (SSA) entitlement criteria. Child beneficiaries must be unmarried, between the ages of 18 and 22 and attending approved courses of education or training. Information is requested by this form under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 5101. Regulatory authority is found in 38 C.F.R. Sec. 3.812. The expiration date is being added to these forms.

2. VA Forms 21-8938 and 21-8938-1 are used to verify that a surviving child who is receiving REPS benefits based on schoolchild status is in fact enrolled full-time in an approved school and is otherwise eligible for continued benefits. VA Form 21-8938 is generated by VA’s central computer system each March and sent to all student beneficiaries. If the completed form is not received by the end of May, the beneficiary is sent a system-generated due process letter with another VA Form 21-8938. VA Form 21-8938-1 is used by the REPS Processing Unit in St. Louis, MO if another copy of the form is needed by a respondent.

3. VA Forms 21-8938 and 21-8938-1 are available on the One-VA Website in a fillable electronic format. VBA is currently hosting this form on a secure server and does not currently have the technology in place to allow for the complete submission of the form. Validation edits are performed to assure data integrity. Efforts within VA are underway to provide a mechanism to allow the information to be submitted electronically with a recognized signature technology. There currently is no utility process in place that will allow the data submitted on the form to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database.

4. Program reviews were conducted to identify potential areas of duplication; however, none were found to exist. There is no known Department or Agency which maintains the necessary information, nor is it available from other sources within our Department.

5. The collection of information does not involve small businesses or entities.

6. If the collection were not conducted, VA would be unable to verify continued school attendance and continued entitlement to REPS benefits. If the collection were conducted less frequently than annually, it would be ineffective in identifying individuals who were no longer attending school. REPS benefits would not be properly paid, and substantial overpayments would result.

7. There is no special circumstance requiring collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6 guidelines.

8. The Department notice was published in the Federal Register on June 12, 2014, Volume 79, No. 113, page 33807. No comments were received in response to this notice.

9. No payments or gifts to respondents have been made under this collection of information.

10. The records are maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as 58VA21/22/28, “Compensation, Pension, Education, and Rehabilitation Records—VA” as set forth in Privacy Act Issuances, 1993 compilation found in 74 Fed. Reg. 117 (June 19, 2009).

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of Information Collection Burden.

1. Number of Respondents (students and schools) is estimated at 5,300 per year.

2. Frequency of Response is annually.

3. Annual burden is 1,767 hours.

4. The estimated completion time is 20 minutes. The time allotted is based on the Veteran service personnel and the educational institution completing the form.

5. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Average Hourly Earnings, the cost to the respondent is $24, making the total cost to the respondents an estimated $42,408 (1,767 burden hours x $24 per hour).

13. This submission does not involve any recordkeeping costs.

14. Estimated Costs to the Federal Government:

1. Processing/Analyzing costs $75,560

(GS-9/5 @ $28.04 x 5,300 x 20/60 minutes = $49,537)

(GS-3/5 @ $14.73 x 5,300 x 20/60 minutes = $26,023)

2. Printing and production cost $839

3. Total cost to government $76,399

15. There is no change in the reporting burden. The expiration date is being added to these forms.

16. The information collection is not for publication or tabulation use.

17. We are not seeking approval to omit the expiration date for OMB approval.

18. This submission does not contain any exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.