SUPPORTING STATEMENT – PART A
Enterprise Military Housing – 0703-AADU
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Need for the Information Collection
The eMH suite of housing management modules is used by the Department of Defense (DoD) to efficiently provide housing services to American service members and their families throughout the world. To provide these services, eMH must collect data needed to satisfy the required provision of relocation assistance to service members and their families. This collected data also supports requirements for information on housing costs/availability and home finding services for entitlements. The justification for providing these services and collecting this information is available in United States Code (U.S.C) and DoD housing instructions:
10 U.S.C. § 1056 - Relocation assistance programs10 United States Code, Section 1056 – The law on DoD relocation assistance requirements and programs. Requires to provide information on permanent change of station destination such as available housing, housing cost, moving assistance, etc.
10 U.S.C. 2831, Military Family Housing Management Account – The law on DoD management requirements for family housing. Requires DoD to submit reports on military housing.
DoDI 4165.63 DoD Housing Management – This instruction provides DoD policies and responsibilities for housing management.
The enterprise Military Housing System (eMH) includes a public web site (https://www.homes.mil) that supports military personnel searching for suitable community rental housing within close proximity to military installations. Https://www.homes.mil/Heat allows service members to remotely contact military housing offices to request services and housing information. An average of approximately 80 percent of Service Member’s with families are assigned to military installations and live in community housing within commuting distance.
2. Use of the Information
Property managers and property management companies are the respondents for the https://www.homes.mil web application. These respondents use the web application to voluntarily list properties available for lease by service members and their families. They can only use the web page to access and post information and the system does not require any provided instruments. To access https://www.homes.mil, the respondents must create an account, username, password, contact information and information about their rental listings. Using the site is a voluntary activity.
Some of the listings are input by Military Housing Offices on the phone with property managers. The housing office reads questions off HOMES.mil and the respondent answers the questions to complete their desired listing. This exchange takes about twenty minutes to complete. A copy of the script is included in the PRA package.
Information is used for service members and their families, such as spouses and dependents to view community rental listing information and remotely request assistance and housing from the military housing office.
In addition to viewing complete listing information, service members can create an account to save preferred locations, listings and reports as well as remotely contact military housing offices to request services and housing information.
Information collected on the web site is also used to create metrics on the use and success of the web site (e.g., quantitative metrics on rental listings, listing costs and amenities, and metrics on the number of views by page). Listing information may also be used to support the annual DoD survey for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
The privacy statement is accessible via a web link at the bottom of every page on Homes.mil, the primary instrument for collection. There are no invitations or communications sent to the respondent.
3. Use of Information Technology
enterprise Military Housing System (eMH) public web site (https://www.homes.mil) allows community housing property owners and managers to establish an account to list properties near military installations for rent. It allows military housing offices to validate property owner and manager accounts and review property listings. Property owner and mangers input rental property information allowing users to determine if they are interested in a listing. Service members can use https://www.homes.mil/Heat to remotely contact military housing offices and request services and housing information. 67% of responses on https://www.homes.mil are collected electronically via property managers creating their own listings for advertisement to Service Members.
33% of the listings are input by Military Housing Offices on the phone with property managers. The housing office reads questions off HOMES.mil and the respondent answers the questions to complete their desired listing. This exchange takes about twenty minutes to complete. A copy of the script is included in the PRA package.
https://www.homes.mil users can generate and save preferred location, listings and reports. Service Members and general users, which can be spouses/family must provide email address, pay grade or pay grade equivalent, branch of service, password and preferred location to establish an account. General users use the service member tab to register. Https://www.homes.mil/Heat requests the following information from Service Members: name, email address, phone number, and DoD ID.
The Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) contains person information that can be used to populate most of the person information fields in the DD1746. With Service member approval, HEAT uses a secure web service to send DEERS the service members name and DoD ID. If the data is valid, DEERS then securely sends the private eMH person information verify the requester is associated with DoD and contact information needed to respond to the request. The public web sites HOMES.mil and HEAT do not receive or store person information or any information from DEERS. This process is designed to, as much as possible, eliminate the need for Service members to input sensitive PII into a public web site while still allowing required information to be available for Housing staffs to service their needs and requests.
HEAT does not store session information and there is no log-in. A spouse or dependent could use their Sponsors DoD ID to use HEAT and request Housing services. This can take place when Service members are deployed and can’t access HEAT, have received Permanent Change of Station Orders and their Spouse needs to start the relocation and Housing process.
HEAT and HOMES.mil are two separate web sites satisfying different requirements. HOMES.mil allows Service members to search for listings near military installations and reviewed by Housing staff. HEAT allows Service members to request Housing office assistance or start the process to apply for Housing. HOMES.mil is a public collection as community property managers create accounts and publish information about available community rental housing.
4. Non-duplication
There are no other sources for the information required for the HOMES.mil web site.
5. Burden on Small Business
Data collection is on occasion. Data collection is only done if the small business decides they want to list their rental property on the website.
6. Less Frequent Collection
This is a voluntary collection for property managers to advertise their properties located close to DoD installations to Service Members. As property managers provide listings when they want to rent properties to Service members; the frequency is at its lowest possible amount.
7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines
There are no special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation and Public Comments
A. 60-day notice for the proposed collection was posted in the Federal Register from 02/23/2016 to 04/25/2016, 81 FRN 8946, a result of the 60-day Federal Register Notice. No comments were received.
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Monday, January 30, 2017. The 30-Day FRN citation is 82 FRN 8734.
B. Prior to HOMES.ml, a commercial web site was utilized by the Services for this requirement. Over a 10 year period, the commercial web site was modified as a result of respondent input. Due to changing Information Assurance policies, the Services could no longer utilize a commercial website. The commercial web site can be considered a pilot to the implementation of HOMES.mil.
On the Homes.mil website, respondents can contact the housing office and submit a support request for the website. Homes.mil listings are located in proximity to military housing offices, allowing respondents to make requests by phone or in person at the local military housing office. These requests are reviewed, responded to and provide an avenue for stakeholder feedback.
Not applicable; no gifts or payments are associated with the collection.
10. Confidentiality
The privacy statement is accessible via a web link at the bottom of every page on Homes.mil, the primary instrument for collection. The agency disclosure notice is also located at the bottom of the registrations pages as well Mockup slides are included in the PRA submission package and the website will be updated in June 2017. This information collection does require a SORN and is covered under draft SORN NM11101-1 , DON Family and Bachelor Housing Program. A copy of the draft SORN is included in the PRA submission package. A Privacy Impact Assessment is required and link is listed below: http://www.doncio.navy.mil/uploads/Summary_CNIC_eMH%20II_PIA_8-20-2014.pdf. Records are retained indefinitely in HOMES.mil. The SSIC number for eMH is 11101. Housing Offices keep DD 1746 paper records for 3 years after the end of an occupancy.
Property owners and managers agree to a disclosure and consent statement allowing their information to be publicly displayed on the web site to facilitate interest in their rental properties. Service Members and general user information is not shared and is only used for summary level usage metrics on the https://www.homes.mil. Service Members and general user account information is stored on https://www.homes.mil servers which are located on a secure military installation in a secure hosting center. All web site administrators agree to non-disclosure statements and are compliant with DoD training and certification (DoDD 8570).
Respondents enter their information into a web-based information system enterprise Military Housing System (eMH)’s public web site (https://www.homes.mil and Https://www.homes.mil / Heat). Technological collection techniques used within the public web site HOMES.mil includes:
a) Service member and general user account registration.
b) Property owner and manager account registration.
c) Email communication with service members and property owners and managers to assist in validating accounts, listings and to provide web site support.
d) Email communication to convey information/notifications to service members and property managers (notification of account password expiration and required housing listing update/review timeframe expiration).
11. Sensitive Questions
The https://www.homes.mil web-site support personnel, and military housing personnel do not collect any sensitive information from Housing Customers or Privatization Partners who choose to utilize this service. Homes.mil does not collect, store or retrieve any sensitive information by name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual. Service members using https://www.homes.mil / Heat to remotely contact military housing offices provide name, email address, phone number, and DoD ID, however, this information is not stored or retrieved in https://www.homes.mil /Heat.
As a public web site, HEAT can be accessed by the public in addition to Service members. HEAT functionality to contact Housing offices, however, can only be used by DoD personnel registered with a DoD ID in The Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). While they can access the HEAT website, the public can gain no benefit from using HEAT.
12. Respondent Burden, and its Labor Costs
a. Estimation of Respondent Burden
Estimation of Respondent Burden Hours |
|||||
|
Number of Respondents |
Number of Responses per Respondent |
Number of Total Annual Responses |
Response Time (Amount of time needed to complete the collection instrument) |
Respondent Burden Hours (Total Annual Responses multiplied by Response Time) Please compute these into hours) |
Collection Instrument #1 HOMES.mil |
6,920 |
5 |
34,600 |
20 minutes |
11,533 |
Collection Instrument # 2 Military Housing Office (These responses are collected by phone in an exchange between the respondents (property managers) and the Military Housing Office personnel) |
3,408 |
5 |
17,040 |
20 minutes |
5,680 |
Total |
10,328 |
5 |
51,640 |
20 minutes |
17,213 |
b. Labor Cost of Respondent Burden
Labor Cost of Respondent Burden |
|||||
|
Number of Responses |
Response Time per Response |
Respondent Hourly Wage |
Labor Burden per Response (Response Time multiplied by Respondent Hourly Wage) |
Total Labor Burden (Number of Responses multiplied by Response Time multiplied by Respondent Hourly Wage) |
Collection Instrument #1 HOMES.mil |
34,600 |
20 mins |
$31 Mean wage as reported the U.S. Department of Labor |
$10.33 |
$357,533 |
Collection Instrument #2 Respondents Calling In to the Housing Office |
17,040 |
20 mins |
$31 Mean wage as reported the U.S. Department of Labor |
$10.33 |
$176,080 |
Total |
51,640 |
20 mins |
$31 Mean wage as reported the U.S. Department of Labor |
$10.33 |
$533,613 |
13. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs
There are no other burden costs to the Respondent.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
The web site will support military Housing office community housing referral services provided to service members as well as program management of referral listings. Costs to the federal government include the IT system and end user support, housing office staff validating property owner and manager account requests and the cost to use data collected from the web site to support the annual analysis to determine changes to the amounts of housing entitlements.
Labor Cost to the Federal Government |
|||
|
Collection Instrument #1 Homes.mil (assuming one out of every twenty respondents needs one hour of support) |
Collection Instrument #2 Military Housing Office Entry (assuming half hour per respondent) |
Total |
Number of Responses |
34,600 |
17,040 |
51,640 |
Processing Time Per Response (in hours) |
1 |
.5 |
1.5 |
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses |
$16.61 (2016 OPM GS7 rate) |
$16.61 (2016 OPM GS7 rate) |
$16.61 |
Cost to Process Each Response (Processing Time Per Response multiplied by Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses) |
$16.61 |
$8.31 |
$24.92 |
Total Cost to Process Responses (Cost to Process Each Response multiplied by Number of Responses |
$574,706 |
$141,602.40 |
$716,308.40 |
Operational and Maintenance Costs |
||||||
Equipment |
Printing |
Postage |
Software Purchases |
Licensing Costs |
Other (Hosting/Software Maintenance/Cybersecurity/User Support Costs) |
Total |
|
|
|
|
33,000.00 |
1,300,000.00 |
1,333,000.00 |
Total Cost to the Federal Government |
||
Operational and Maintenance Costs |
Labor Cost to the Federal Government |
Total Cost (O&M Costs + Labor Cost) |
1,333,000.00 |
$716,308.40 |
$2,049,308.40 |
15. Reasons for Change in Burden
There is a change in burden because this is a new collection.
16. Publication of Results
Not applicable; the results of the information collection will not be published.
17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date
Not applicable; the OMB expiration date will be displayed.
18. Exceptions to "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions"
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Supporting Statement A 12152016 |
| Author | Patricia Toppings |
| Last Modified By | Mayra Dalence |
| File Modified | 2017-01-30 |
| File Created | 2016-12-15 |