The Office of Human Services Emergency
Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), within the Administration for
Children and Families (ACF) seeks to improve the collection and
storage of client data and optimize transfer of case files to
State, Tribal, or Territorial partners upon Immediate Disaster Case
Management (IDCM) program closure. The information collection will
serve to optimize services delivered to individuals and households
impacted by a disaster. In addition, it will better support
State/Tribal/Territorial and Federal planning for disaster
survivors' human service needs. This nonsubstantive change request
is to upload screenshots, per the terms of clearance at approval in
November 2018.
US Code:
42
USC 5189d Name of Law: Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act
The Spanish language version of
the ECMRS was created to support the Hurricane Maria response in
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This reasonable accommodation was
based on the need to provide services to a vast amount of
respondents that did not speak, write, or read English or had
limited to no comprehension of the language, or from a cultural
standpoint, wanted to be spoken to in the Spanish language. Because
the IDCM worker completes the assessments electronically through
the ECMRS and the system automates the creation of a disaster
recovery plan, translating the assessment forms into Spanish was a
necessity. Therefore, this submission is requesting a review of the
Spanish language standard assessment forms that supplement the
English forms. The assessment questions have been translated in to
Spanish and are identical to the English language version. Data
points collected in the English and Spanish assessment versions are
used for the same identical purpose. There is no difference or
change to the electronic completion of assessment forms and
automation processing of an IDCM data file within the ECMRS. This
way, respondents can be processed through the IDCM program services
using Spanish and will receive a Spanish language recovery plan.
The addition of these alternate assessment forms in Spanish also
provides opportunity for the provision of culturally and
linguistically sensitive IDCM services for States where the primary
language spoke is Spanish. A recent increase in disaster responses,
improved data from the responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Maria,
and increased technological efficiencies have prompted ACF to
increase the estimated number of respondents from 3,500 to 630,000
and the corresponding burden from 2,333 hours to 630,000 hours.
When ACF made its 2015 submission, there was no electronic system
for processing intake information. Additionally, the estimate of
the burden underestimated the time necessary for hand processing
the intake information. With the move to the electronic system, ACF
is able to provide relief services to a much larger population in a
much more efficient manner. The increased service provision and
improved efficiency, in combination with the improved data and the
recent increase in disaster responses is the source of the increase
in the burden associated with this submission.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Recovery Plan OMB_PRA.pdf
Memo - Terms of Clearance 0970-0461 - Add Screen Shots.docx
Case Session and information collection and assessments in English and Spanish, of Disaster Survivors immediate unmet needs