Short Supporting Statement

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

FOR THE COLLECTION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH & ASSESSMENT

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Notice of Award – Proof of Concept Test Model

[ ] INTERVIEWS

[ ] SMALL DISCUSSION GROUPS

[X] FOCUS GROUPS

[X] QUESTIONNAIRES

[ ] OTHER

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

1. Intended purpose

The Department of Health and Human Services DATA Act Program Management Office (DAP) has been designated by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the executing agent for the Section 5 Grants Pilot (Pilot). As such, DAP has developed a framework which includes six Test Models to implement this Pilot.

The Notice of Award (NOA) is a document that contains information that grant recipients need to report to their grantors. NOAs often differ in format and content across Federal and within agencies. For many grant recipients with multiple funding streams, reporting may be burdensome due to fact that award data is inconsistent across NOAs. The purpose of the NOA – Proof of Concept (POC) Test Model is to assess if grantee reporting burden may change if grant recipients have a standardized NOA cover sheet for Federal awards.

In this Test Model, DAP will provide half of Test Model participants with a set of nonstandard NOAs that differ in format and content. Participants will be asked to complete a data collection tool based on the information contained in these NOAs.

DAP will provide the other half of Test Model participants with a set of NOAs that are in a standardized format. These participants will be asked to complete a data collection tool based on the set of information contained in these standardized NOAs. Participants will then be asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their opinions on the standardization of NOAs.

2. Need for the collection

If grant recipients have a standardized NOA Cover Sheet for Federal awards, then grant recipient reporting burden may be reduced by providing information in a uniform format.

3. Planned use of the data

After participants complete the data collection tool, participants will complete a questionnaire to obtain their sentiment on the standardization of NOAs, specifically relating to the reduction of burden. DAP will analyze this data and make recommendations to include in OMB’s report to Congress.

4. Date(s) and location(s)

We are seeking approval to collect data from focus groups (via conferences in the Continental United States) and through an online survey (via webinar) held from September 2016 through May 2017.

5. Collection procedures

Those participating at conferences will be provided with a packet containing instructions, a set of NOAs (either in a standardized format or differing formats), a data collection tool, and a questionnaire.

Those participating via webinar will be sent an email containing instructions on how to participate as well as links to the online data collection tool and questionnaire.

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

DAP will administer the Test Model at multiple conferences. DAP will also administer the Test Model remotely via webinar.

7. Description of respondents/participants

The participants of the Notice of Award – Proof of Concept Test Model will consist of a diverse group of recipients of Federal awards identified through publicly available information on the USASpending.gov website as well as those who volunteer to participate.

8. Description of how results will be used

DAP will use these results to gain insight about possible burden reduction by simplifying access to data necessary to perform routine reporting by use of standardized NOA Cover Sheets. DAP will use the responses to develop non-generalizable recommendations for reducing recipient burden, as applicable.

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

An analysis of the data collection tool and questionnaire results will be included in OMB’s report to Congress 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
5	NOA - POC	100	20 minutes	33.33

OTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: September 23, 2016

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Debbie Kramer

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 202-260-6184

DEPARTMENT/OFFICE/BUREAU: HHS/OS/DAP

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