20210305 Justification for Nonsubstantive Change

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March 5, 2021

Re: Justification for Request for Non-substantive Change

AmeriCorps Seniors provides grants to organization to engage Americans 55 years and older in volunteer service. AmeriCorps Seniors knows that due to the continued impact of COVID-19, AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers may continue to be unable to serve. AmeriCorps Seniors FGP and SCP grantees have been authorized to continue to pay AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers who are unable to serve a temporary allowance through March 31, 2021. The temporary allowance may be discontinued following this date, following an OMB review of the situation. Information from the survey – detailing how many volunteers are still unable to serve and potential vaccine effect on volunteers’ ability to serve – will be useful in making a determination to extend the temporary allowance.

Additionally, during COVID-19 grantees were to put in place a plan and structure that supports AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in FGP and SCP service in an alternative manner and complies with each programs’ statutory and regulatory requirements. OMB has requested information about service activities during COVID-19.

To gather this information, AmeriCorps plans to utilize select application questions along with eight additional, dropdown, question that represent a de minimis burden change.

There is no estimated annual hour burden outside of the customary and usual business practices. There is no annual cost burden to the Government outside of customary and usual business practices.

This submission includes our original grant application, in which the majority of questions arise and in which we added a small set of COVID-19 related questions.

Finally, as AmeriCorps and OMB have previously communicated, AmeriCorps is working hard to ensure it is fully compliant with the Paperwork Reduction Act and with OMB’s information collection policies and procedures.

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