CF CE Feedback Surveys Supporting Statement A FINAL 3.9.22

Supporting Statement for Feedback Surveys for the Creative
Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network Community Arts
Engagement Grant Program, Part A
Last updated: March 9, 2022

Table of Contents
A1. Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. ......................................... 3
A2. Purpose and use of the information........................................................................................ 13
A3. Use of information technology and burden reduction. ........................................................ 13
A4. Efforts to identify duplication. ............................................................................................. 14
A5. Impacts on small businesses or other small entities. ........................................................... 14
A6. Consequences of collecting the information less frequently. .............................................. 14
A7. Special circumstances relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.6..................................... 15
A8. Comments in response to the Federal Register Notice and efforts to consult outside
Agency. ......................................................................................................................................... 15
A9. Explain any decisions to provide any payment or gift to respondents. ............................... 15
A10. Assurances of confidentiality provided to respondents. .................................................... 16
A11. Justification for any questions of a sensitive nature. ......................................................... 16
A12. Estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. ......................................... 16
A13. Estimates of other total annual cost burden. ...................................................................... 17
A14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government. .................................. 17
A15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported on the burden
worksheet. ..................................................................................................................................... 17
A16. Plans for tabulation, and publication and project time schedule. ...................................... 17
A17. Displaying the OMB Approval Expiration Date.................................................................. 18
A18. Exceptions to the certification statement identified in Item 19. ........................................ 18
B.

Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods ................................................. 18

Table of Attachments
Attachment A: Program Feedback Survey
Attachment B: Event Feedback Survey

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Part A. Justification
A1. Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a
copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the
collection of information.
The National Endowment for the Arts (“the Arts Endowment”) is requesting a new
information collection to gather feedback from participants of the Creative Forces®: NEA
Military Healing Arts Network Community Engagement Grant Program
(http://www.maaa.org/creativeforces/). This collection will include two feedback surveys to be
administered by grantees of the Community Engagement Grant Program: the Program Feedback
Survey and the Event Feedback Survey (see Attachments A and B, respectively). The data to be
collected are not available elsewhere unless collected through this information collection. The
data collection activities will occur annually through the Creative Forces Community
Engagement Grant Program, with the first cycle of grants awarded in 2022.
The Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network seeks to improve the health,
well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, and for
their families and caregivers through clinical and non-clinical programs
(https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/creative-forces). Creative Forces is funded through
Congressional appropriation. The Congressional Committee on Appropriation “supports the
NEA’s continued efforts to expand upon this successful program to embed Creative Arts
Therapies at the core of integrative care efforts in clinical settings, advance collaboration among
clinical and community arts providers to support wellness and reintegration efforts for affected

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families, and advance research to improve our understanding of impacts of these interventions in
both clinical and community settings.” 1
According to the National Endowment for the Arts 2018-2022 Strategic Plan (page 20),
evidence building for Strategic Objective 2.4, Support Access to Creative Arts Therapies and
Evidence-Based Programs in the Arts and Health, involves “the development of a community
engagement research agenda and framework for defining indicators and developing metrics for
measuring the impact and benefits from participation in therapeutic arts interventions and
community-based arts engagement programs aligned with, or complementary to, Creative Forces
clinical program outcomes.”
Beginning in 2022, Creative Forces will award Community Engagement Grants to
support non-clinical arts engagement programming for military-connected populations 2 through
matching grants of $10,000 to $50,000 for emerging (“Emerging”) and established (“Advanced”)
community-based arts engagement projects to serve military-connected populations. The Arts
Endowment anticipates awarding approximately 35 awards annually, with the first round of
grant-funded projects taking place after July 1, 2022. The grant program will support a range of
program models (e.g., ongoing class, drop-in studio, single event) designed to meet local needs.
The grant program will be the largest coordinated effort in the U.S. to provide community arts
engagement programming for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, and for their

1
S. Rept. 115-276 - DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2019. Congress.gov, Library of Congress, 16 November 2021,
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/115th-congress/senate-report/276.
2
Creative Forces broadly defines the military-connected population as including active-duty service
members, guardsmen, reservists, veterans, military and veteran families, as well as caregivers and healthcare
workers providing care for military service members and veterans.

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families and caregivers. The Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program is
conducted in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA).
During development of the Community Engagement Grant program, the Arts
Endowment commissioned literature reviews and an evaluation of Creative Forces community
engagement pilot programs3 and convened a working group with subject matter experts.
Collectively, these activities 1) documented the needs of military and veteran populations
exposed to trauma, and of their families and caregivers, 2) identified goals for community arts
engagement programming and four outcomes for participant, 3) produced logic models and
measurement frameworks for the grantee and national program levels, 4) contributed to grant
guidelines, and 5) evaluated methodologies and instruments for data collection. Exhibits 1 and 2
show the Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program Logic Model for the grantee
and national levels, respectively. The grantee logic model shows the outcomes for the militaryconnected program participants and the grantees, and the resources (inputs), program activities,
and products (outputs) that lead to those outcomes. The national logic model provides the same
information from the perspective of the national grant program, comprehensively.

3

For information about the initial Creative Forces Projects and evaluation findings, see
https://www.creativeforcesnrc.arts.gov/our-impact/community-engagement-findings

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Exhibit 1. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program Grantee Logic Model
PROGRAM GOAL: Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S.
Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as
well as their families and caregivers.
GRANTEE PROGRAM GOALS: Creative Forces Community Arts Engagement promotes the health, well-being, and overall quality of life for military and veteran
populations exposed to trauma, and their families and caregivers, through support of arts engagement activities designed to cultivate creative expression, increase
social connectedness, improve resilience, and support successful adaptation to civilian life.

INPUTS
Emerging and Advanced Tier
 Funding
 Program plan
 Existing organizational assets
Advanced Tier Only
 Established arts engagement project
for military-connected populations
 Military cultural competency

ACTIVITIES
Emerging Tier
Develop and implement new or
emerging arts engagement programs
Advanced Tier
Support or advance established arts
engagement programs
Both Tiers participate in Technical
Assistance activities

OUTPUTS
Emerging and/or Advanced Tiers
Data, documents, or materials
reflecting:
 Understanding of needs of the
local military-connected
community
 Grantee capacity and partnerships
 Understanding of military culture
 Arts engagement project
 Participant satisfaction
 Community and military
understanding of the value of arts
engagement
 Sustainability plan
 Evaluation tools

OUTCOMES
PARTICIPANT OUTCOMES





Enhanced creative expression
Increased social connectedness
Improved resilience
Successful adaptation to civilian life

GRANTEE OUTCOMES
 Networked grantee and partner
organizations
 Strengthened capacity
 Increased understanding of the value
of the arts Military and non-arts
partners

RATIONALE
 There is a documented need for programs that improve health and well-being of service members, veterans, families, and caregivers, and community arts
engagement programs are well-positioned to address these needs by providing opportunities for creative expression, increased social connections, and building
resilience.
 Locally-developed programs are best situated for identifying and addressing the specific needs of the local community.
 Partnerships among key organizations/individuals, including program participants, arts organizations, and military-connected services/providers, are more likely
to deliver high-quality, culturally-sensitive opportunities to engage in art.
ASSUMPTIONS AND EXTERNAL FACTORS
 While community arts engagement programs may be therapeutic, they are not intended to provide clinical therapies.
 Participants seek community arts engagement activities for a wide range of reasons – to socialize and build community, for personal expression, to hone a specific
artistic skill, etc.
 Participants possess assets and strengths which they bring to these programs.
 A strengths-based approach benefits all participants, regardless of needs and goals.
 Participants benefit more from consistent and continuous participation than from single events.
 The need for and implementation of community arts engagement programs for targeted military populations will be affected by external factors such as U.S.
military actions or public health crises.

Exhibit 2. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Program National Logic Model
PROGRAM GOAL: Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S.
Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as
well as their families and caregivers.
GRANTEE PROGRAM GOALS: Creative Forces Community Arts Engagement promotes the health, well-being, and overall quality of life for military and veteran
populations exposed to trauma, and their families and caregivers, through support of arts engagement activities designed to cultivate creative expression, increase
social connectedness, improve resilience, and support successful adaptation to civilian life.

INPUTS

ACTIVITIES

OUTPUTS

Grants administration
process

Provide tiered grants
(emerging and
advanced) to
organizations for
community arts
engagement programs
intended to improve
health, well-being,
and quality of life of
service members,
veterans, families, and
caregivers

Grants
administration data

Grantee technical
assistance
Monitoring and
evaluation tools and
process
Learning (existing
evaluation, research,
NRC)

Support Grantee
Implementation
Monitor and Evaluate
the Grant Program
Contribute to the Field

Grantee technical
assistance data
Monitoring and
evaluation Data
Learning data

OUTCOMES
AGREGGATED GRANTEE OUTCOMES
Grantees and partners sustain and evaluate programs for
military-connected populations. Partners, practitioners, and
communities support participation of military-connected
populations in community arts engagement programs and
understand the value and impact of the arts for militaryconnected populations. Military and civilian communities
become more connected, and there is communication,
understanding, and engagement among military-connected
populations, communities, and partners.
MONITORING & EVALUATION OUTCOMES
National-level program monitoring and evaluation occurs
according to evaluation cycle, is ongoing, and guides program
improvement and contributes to learning for the agency and
field.
LEARNING OUTCOMES

IMPACT
Military-connected
participants in Creative
Forces community
engagement programs have
increased creative
expression, social
connectedness, resilience,
and successfully adapt to
civilian life.
Grantees become
networked organizations,
strengthen their capacity to
effectively deliver programs,
and grantees and partners
have an increased
understanding of the value
and impact of the arts.

Rigorous evidence documents the impact of community arts
participation for military-connected populations. Knowledge
and resources grow through the learning community,
advancing the field and supporting community arts
engagement outcomes for military-connected populations.
Agencies, organizations, practitioners, funders, and
policymakers understand the value and impact of community
arts engagement for military-connected populations, support
programs and policies, become partners, and advocate for
community arts engagement.

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A grantee- and national-level measurement framework is aligned with the logic models
and details the measures, data sources, entity responsible for data collection, entity data is
reported to, and frequency of reporting. The measurement frameworks guide program
monitoring and evaluation at the grantee and national program levels. Data collection items and
instruments designed for the Community Engagement Grant program are compiled in a separate
data collection plan for agency use and summarized in Exhibit 3 below. Together, data collection
associated with this program supports the Arts Endowment’s evidence-building and efforts to
better understand outcomes associated with its investments.
The grant program’s data collection plan provides three data collection forms
administered to participants/attendees of Creative Forces Community Engagement Programs.
There is a separate information data collection request for the Participant Outcomes Survey,
which will be administered by an external evaluator rather than by grantees. This OMB request is
for the following two surveys4:
Program Feedback Survey: To be completed by Creative Forces Community
Engagement program participants at the end of the program to assess engagement and
satisfaction with programming activities.
Event Feedback Survey: To be completed by attendees/audience members at grantees’
Creative Forces public events, such as performances or exhibitions, to assess engagement
and satisfaction with the event and to document the audience composition and
understanding of arts and of military-connected individuals and culture associated with
the event.

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number.

The third survey from the Data Collection Plan is expected to be included in a separate OMB Control

Exhibit 3. Data Collection Instruments
INSTRUMENT
DESCRIPTION

ADMINISTERED BY

COMPLETED BY

FEDERAL REGISTER
DOCUMENT #

Collects organization and
program data during grant
application process
Collects grantee program
implementation, output, and
outcomes data at the end of
the grant

M-AAA

Grant applicant

FR Doc. 2021–03728,
2021-22532

M-AAA

Grantee

FR Doc. 2021–03728,
2021-22532

Collects program
engagement and satisfaction
data at the end of the
program
Collects feedback on events
(exhibitions, performances)
Collects pre/post outcomes
for program participants

Grantee

Program participants

FR Doc. 2021-28515,
2022-04985

Grantee

Audience members

External evaluator

Program participants

FR Doc. 2021-28515,
2022-04985
FR Doc. 2021–16275

Grantee Forms
Supplemental Application Form
Final Descriptive Report

Participant Forms
Program Feedback Survey

Event Feedback Survey
Participant Outcomes Survey

The Arts Endowment worked with a contractor to develop two feedback surveys that are
appropriate to the program service delivery models 5 and based on the logic models and
measurement frameworks. Drafts of both surveys were shared with leaders of the initial cohort of
Creative Forces community engagement programs and Creative Forces personnel for input.
Exhibit 4 provides details about the composition of the two surveys.
Exhibit 4. Data Collection Instruments
INSTRUMENT
DATA COLLECTED
Program Feedback Survey

Participant engagement,
satisfaction, and demographics at
the end of grant-funded activities
or the end of the grant period

Event Feedback Survey

Audience/attendee feedback on
Creative Forces events
(exhibitions, performances) and
demographics at the end of the
event

COMPOSITION
Total items = 22
2 Multiple choice
8 Likert scale
7 Open-ended
5 Demographics
Total items = 16
3 Multiple choice
6 Likert scale
2 Open-ended
5 Demographics

As part of the Community Engagement Grant Program, grantees participate in technical
assistance for performance monitoring and basic data collection. Their grant agreements require
them to utilize the feedback surveys developed by Creative Forces. Anonymous data collected
through the forms will upload to a national database hosted and maintained by M-AAA and used
by the Arts Endowment for grant program monitoring. Grantees will access their site-level data
via secure dashboards, where they can download data and reports for their program only. They
can also use the data in their final grant report. Consistent with best practices for human subjects

5

Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants support a variety of service delivery models: 0ngoing
class/other ongoing engagement, ongoing drop-in program, single event (e.g., workshop), cohort performance (e.g.,
participant showcase, performance), passive art engagement (participants attend a performance, exhibition, etc.),
community building, and organizational networking.

protection in research, the survey forms provide information about the participant’s anonymity,
the purpose of the survey, the use of the data, etc. (see Attachments A and B for the surveys).
Program Feedback Survey. The purpose of the Program Feedback Survey is to
document participant engagement and satisfaction with programming activities. It is estimated to
take five minutes. The survey will be:


Administered by the grantee at the end of grant-funded activities;



Voluntary and completed anonymously by participants;



Accessible via participants’ handheld devices (phone, tablet) but can also be delivered via
other electronic systems (computer) and paper forms;6



Coded to link the survey to the grantee, the program, and the administration date but not
to the respondent; and



Designed to ignore all identifiable data, such as name, IP address, and device ID.
Event Feedback Survey. The purpose of the Event Feedback Survey is to document

attendee/audience member engagement and satisfaction at public events associated with Creative
Forces Community Engagement Grants. For example, grant activities may include public
exhibitions or performances of work created by program participants. In addition, the community
events provide opportunities to build understanding of the value of the arts and connections
among military and civilian communities, as described in this outcome from the national logic
model (see Exhibit 2):

6

Paper forms should include only the survey items, request no identifiers, and use an anonymizing
collection procedure, such as a drop box at the exit.

11

Partners, practitioners, and communities support participation of military-connected
populations in community arts engagement programs and understand the value and
impact of the arts for military-connected populations. Military and civilian communities
become more connected, and there is communication, understanding, and engagement
among military-connected populations, communities, and partners.
The Event Feedback Survey includes one item on understanding of the value of the arts.
It also includes two optional items on understanding of military experience and culture, to be
added by the grantee if that is a goal of the event. It is estimated to take five minutes. The survey
will be:


Administered by the grantee at the end of the event;



Voluntary and completed anonymously by participants;



Accessible via participants’ handheld devices (phone, tablet) but can also be delivered via
other electronic systems (computer) and paper forms;7



Coded to link the survey to the grantee, the program, and the administration date but not
to the respondent; and



Designed to ignore all identifiable data, such as name, IP address, and device ID.
In recognition that some programs may lack technology for data collection, paper surveys

will be a secondary option.

7

Paper forms should include only the survey items, request no identifiers, and use an anonymizing
collection procedure, such as a drop box at the exit.

12

A2. Purpose and use of the information.
Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a
new collection, indicate how the agency has actually used the information received from the
current collection.
The Program and Event Feedback Surveys gather data from program participants and
from attendees/audience members of public events about their satisfaction and level of
engagement with the activities. The Event Feedback Survey also gathers information about
participants’ understanding of the value of arts and understanding of military experience and
culture.
The data is collected by grantees, who administer the surveys, and uploaded to a central,
national database managed by M-AAA. Grantees will receive their site-level data from M-AAA
via spreadsheets to use in ongoing program improvement and for their final grant report.
Grantees of the Community Engagement Grant Program are required to participate in technical
assistance to build capacity for program monitoring and evaluation. This technical assistance will
ensure grantees are able to administer the surveys, collect the data, and use the data to guide
decisions about their programs.
The Arts Endowment will use the data to monitor program outputs as part of grant
program performance measurement. The data will contribute to understanding how well the
grant program is working.
A3. Use of information technology and burden reduction.
Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other
forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and
the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any
consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

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The Arts Endowment takes its responsibility to minimize burden on grantees and
respondents very seriously and has designed the surveys with that goal in mind. The surveys will
be administered electronically. This eliminates hours of labor that would have been required to
administer, collect, code, and analyze a paper-based survey. These electronic methodologies are
the most efficient mechanisms for gathering these data.
A4. Efforts to identify duplication.
Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information
already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in item 2
above.
No similar data collection effort duplicates the proposed data collection. The Program
Feedback and Event Feedback Surveys are the only feedback surveys that will be used for the
grant program.
A5. Impacts on small businesses or other small entities.
Creative Forces will fund community-based arts organizations to provide arts
programming for military-connected individuals. This may include smaller organizations. To
minimize the burden on these organizations, Creative Forces will provide technical assistance to
support grantees with this data collection and will use electronic data collection.
A6. Consequences of collecting the information less frequently.
Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not
conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to
reducing the burden.
The Program Feedback Survey will provide grantees and the Arts Endowment with a key
input from program participants on the degree of their engagement and satisfaction with the
programs. This information will enable both grantees and the Arts Endowment to measure the
success of program implementation and areas in need of improvement, which will ultimately
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contribute to achieving the targeted outcomes for participants. It will also contribute to general
knowledge about the most effective approaches for providing community arts engagement for
military-connected individuals.
Data collection occurs once for each program and for each event. Conducting the
collection less frequently or with fewer grantees would impede the Arts Endowment’s ability to
collect data for performance measurement and deprive grantees of an opportunity to obtain
evidence for guiding program improvement.
A7. Special circumstances relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.6.
The information will be collected in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR
1320.6 (Controlling Paperwork Burden on the Public-General Information Collection
Guidelines). There are no special circumstances contrary to these guidelines.
A8. Comments in response to the Federal Register Notice and efforts to consult outside
Agency.
Drafts of both surveys were shared with leaders of initial Creative Forces community
engagement programs as well as Creative Forces personnel for input. Five people provided
feedback.
On Wednesday, January 5, 2022, a 60-day Federal Register Notice was published in 87
FR 490. No comments were received. On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, a 30-day Federal Register
Notice was published in 87 FR 13331.
A9. Explain any decisions to provide any payment or gift to respondents.
Respondents will not receive payments or gifts.

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A10. Assurances of confidentiality provided to respondents.
Both surveys are voluntary and will be completed anonymously. They will be constructed
to ignore all identifiable data, such as name, IP address, and device ID.
A11. Justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.
Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
The surveys collect feedback on grantee programs and events, such as the benefits of the
program and how likely they are to recommend it to family or friends. Demographic data (age
group, military-connected status, race/ethnicity, and gender) will be collected to assess whether
satisfaction or engagement with the programs and events are affected by demographic
characteristics. In the survey introduction, respondents will be informed they may skip any item
or discontinue the survey at any time.
A12. Estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.
Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number
of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the
burden was estimated.
Exhibit 5 shows the total estimated burden for the feedback surveys. Both surveys are
estimated to take no more than five minutes.
The estimate of 420 number of participants for the Program Feedback Survey is based on
multiplying the anticipated number of annual grantee programs (35) by an estimated average
number of participants per program (12) per Creative Forces.
The number of persons for the Event Feedback Survey are based on an estimate of 50%
of the programs (17.5) holding a public event with an average of 30 attendees.

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Exhibit 5. Burden Estimates for Feedback Surveys
Instrument
Program
Feedback
Survey
Event
Feedback
Survey
Total

Average
Hours per
Response

Number of
Responses
per Person

Number
of
Persons

Total
Number
of
Responses

Estimated
Burden
(Hours)

Program
Participants

0.0833

1

420

420

35

Event
attendees/
audience

0.0833

1

525

525

43.7

Participant
Description

78.7

A13. Estimates of other total annual cost burden.
Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers
resulting from the collection of information.
Survey respondents do not incur any costs other than their time spent responding. The
feedback surveys are grant activities and funded through each organization’s grant agreement,
including learning how to administer the surveys, preparing respondents for the survey, and
supporting implementation.
A14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government.
The total one-time contracted cost to the Federal Government for survey development,
is $11,904. The annual cost for administering the Program Feedback Survey and the Event
Feedback survey is estimated to be $40,000.
A15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported on the
burden worksheet.
There are no program changes or adjustments reported in the burden worksheet.
A16. Plans for tabulation, and publication and project time schedule.
For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation
and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the
17

time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection
of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.
Results of the feedback surveys will be aggregated across sites and published annually on
the Creative Forces National Resource Center. Prior to publication, the data will be cleaned and
de-identified by M-AAA and submitted to the National Resource Center for analysis. Analysis
will consist of generating averages by question item for all surveys received; for open-ended
questions, themes in responses will be identified. There are no plans to disaggregate data or
conduct other types of analyses.
A17. Displaying the OMB Approval Expiration Date.
If you are seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.
The Arts Endowment will display the expiration date of OMB approval and the OMB
approval number on all instruments associated with this information collection.
A18. Exceptions to the certification statement identified in Item 19.
Explain each exception to the topics of the certification statement identified in Certification
for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.
No exceptions are necessary for this information collection. The agency is able to certify
compliance with all provisions under Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.
B.

Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Not applicable. This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.

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