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DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

FOR THE COLLECTION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH & ASSESSMENT

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Section 5 Grants Pilot Participation Form

[ ] INTERVIEWS

[ ] SMALL DISCUSSION GROUPS

[ ] FOCUS GROUPS

[X] QUESTIONNAIRES

[ ] OTHER

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

1. Intended purpose

Public Law 113-101, The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (“DATA Act”) expands the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 by increasing accountability and transparency in Federal spending. Section 5 of the DATA Act calls for a Pilot program whose participants, in aggregate, represent $1 – 2 billion dollars in Federal awards and cover a diverse group of recipients. The Section 5 Grants Pilot Participation Form (PPF) is the mechanism by which the DATA Act PMO will gauge public interest in participating in various Test Models. The Test Models are the main data collection tool for identifying the sample population for five Test Models of the Section 5 Grants Pilot.

2. Need for the collection

The PPF will allow the DATA Act PMO (HHS DAP) to assign an initial sample of grant recipients into one (or more) Test Models. This will increase the likelihood of participation during the DATA Act’s one year data collection period.

3. Planned use of the data

After reading the descriptions of each Test Model, participants will have the option of selecting one or more Test Models in which they would be interested. Upon collecting the data, HHS DAP will assign the participants to the Test Models based on preference and other constraints. HHS DAP will use the demographic information within the PPF to document the characteristics of the sample, which will be noted in the final report to Congress.

4. Date(s) and location(s)

We are seeking approval to collect data from an online survey held from April 2016 through May 2017.

5. Collection procedures

Participants will receive an introductory email along with a link to an online survey. The participants will voluntarily complete the survey, which will inquire about their preferred Test Model(s), as well as demographic information about their organization.

6. Number of collections (e.g., focus groups, questionnaires, sessions)

HHS DAP will distribute the online survey (via GovDelivery) to an initial population of potential participants. Follow up emails may occur to support a higher response rate.

7. Description of respondents/participants

The population that will receive the PPF was drawn from data from USASpending.gov as well as those recipients who express interest in the Test Models through additional means, such as voluntary outreach to DAP or OMB, or are recommended for participation by a third-party¹.

HHS DAP chose the USASpending.gov data source in order to determine entities of all types and sizes who received Federal funds in FY15. Based on organizational type and the amount of Federal funds awarded, HHS DAP selected a sample of 700 that describes the population as a whole by proportionally allocating across the Recipient Type category defined in the USASpending.gov database. The population size of 700 was determined by the following calculation:

	Parameter	Assumption
1	Minimum Test Model Participation	42
2	Number of Test Models	5
3	Response Rate	50%
4	Participation Rate	60%
5	Minimum Number of Recipients Needed for Outreach	7002

DAP has determined that a minimum sample size of 42 participants for each of the five Test Models (210 participants in total) is both reasonable and manageable for the execution of the Pilot. This will allow DAP to respond individually and promptly to participant concerns or inquiries and allow for inclusion of a diverse group of recipients of Federal awards.

In addition, this survey will be distributed to individuals and organizations which have specifically asked to participate in the pilot, as well as those who are recommended for participation by a third party³. The survey will be distributed to a total of 1,076 individuals at 785 organizations. This is inclusive of the organizations included in the USASpending.gov sample, as well as those who have volunteered or been recommended to DAP.

8. Description of how results will be used

The results will be used to assign willing participants into Test Models. HHS DAP believes that the PPF as an initial form of outreach will help increase recipient engagement and participation. After participants are assigned, HHS DAP will hold an introductory webinar for each Test Model before execution.

Although the sample of participants is being randomly selected, organizations and individuals who complete this form will be choosing the test models in which they are interested and eligible. As mentioned in the generic clearance for the pilot as a whole “Information collected under this generic clearance provides useful information, but it may not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population.”

Description of how results will or will not be disseminated and why or why not

OMB is required to report to Congress following the conclusion of the Pilot in 2017. The aggregate information from the PPF will be included in the final report to Congress scheduled for submission in 2017. Outside of the report to OMB, if it is deemed appropriate and necessary to disseminate information related to this data collection, DAP will follow the HHS “Guidelines for Ensuring the Quality of Information Disseminated to the Public,” and will include specific discussion of the limitation of the qualitative results discussed above. DAP may also receive requests to release the information (e.g., congressional inquiry, Freedom of Information Act requests, etc.), and will comply with those requests as appropriate.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

Not Applicable.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION

Test Model	Type of Respondent	Number of respondents	Average Burden (in hours) per Response	Total Burden Hours
N/A	Pilot Participation Form	1,076	15 minutes	269

OTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: April 15, 2016

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Debbie Kramer

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 202-260-6184

DEPARTMENT/OFFICE/BUREAU: HHS/OS/DAP

1 Additionally, recipients of the GovDelivery email may choose to forward the material to another member of their organization who may be better able to respond to the request.

2 Minimum outreach needed to meet parameters for Test Model participation including response and participation rate.

3 Data collected from self-selected participants and the sources of participation of recipients will be noted in the report to Congress.

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