SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A
Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) Program
OMB Control Number 0704-0556
1. Need for the Information Collection
The Department of Defense (DoD) Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) Program is the primary source of education, career and employment counseling for all military spouses who are seeking post-secondary education, training, licenses and credentials needed for portable career employment. The SECO system delivers the resources and tools necessary to assist spouses of service members with career exploration/discovery, career education and training, employment readiness, and career connections at any point within the spouse career lifecycle. It is imperative that the DoD collect data to ensure that the SECO program is meeting its overarching goal of increasing employment opportunities for military spouses. The DoD requires the information in the proposed collection for program planning and management purposes. Collected information will ensure that the SECO program will be able to collect relevant metrics and make determinations of program viability and improvement. Additionally, the data collected is utilized to build a spouse profile that allows information to be saved over time and to prepopulate information into tools such as resume builders and career and education planning resources.
This program was developed in compliance with 10 U.S.C. §1144, “Employment Assistance, Job Training Assistance, and Other Transitional Services”, 10 U.S.C. §1784a, “Education and Training Opportunities for Military Spouses to Expand Employment and Portable Career Opportunities”, and DoDI 1342.22 “Military Family Readiness”.
2. Use of the Information
Users may learn about this collection in various ways including through the Military OneSource program, installation service providers, from other military spouses and via general online searches. Once aware of the collection users access by simply going online to the following URL: https://myseco.militaryonesource.mil. Users are able to review resources at that time or select to log in to create an account.
All information is collected from military spouses online via the SECO system and utilized to provide military spouses with education and employment resources tailored to their specific needs. Appropriate disclosures are provided to military spouses during the log in process as well as the information being made available via hyperlinks in the website footer.
Once logged in, military spouses have the option of opting in to receive email notifications about their account reminding them of actions they still need to take (e.g. completing their profile) as well as to receive email updates about upcoming events and news, as well as new relevant job listings. Spouses who opt to receive email updates about upcoming events and news receive emails once to twice a month. Spouses who opt to receive email updates about new job postings receive email notifications on average once per week, depending on the frequency of new jobs being added to the MSEP Job Search.
3. Use of Information Technology
100% of all responses are collected electronically through the SECO system. All military spouses use this system to assist with their education and employment.
4. Non-duplication
The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.
5. Burden on Small Businesses
This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.
6. Less Frequent Collection
The frequency of this collection is collected as required and is primarily dependent on the users. Military spouses register one-time and provide additional information to utilize specific SECO resources at their convenience.
7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines
This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation and Public Comments
Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE
A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. The 60-Day FRN citation is 87 FR 23502 FRN 23502-23503.
No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Monday, September 26, 2022. The 30-Day FRN citation is 87 FR 58331 FRN 58331.
Part B: CONSULTATION
No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.
9. Gifts or Payment
No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.
10. Confidentiality
A Privacy Act Statement is available to all respondents in the footer of every page in the SECO system (via the Legal & Security section). It is also directly accessible at the following link: https://myseco.militaryonesource.mil/portal/consent-to-monitor.
A draft copy of the SORN DPR 46 DoD, “Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) Program, has been provided with this package for OMB’s review.
A draft copy of the PIA, Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO), has been provided with this package for OMB’s review.
These records are retained and disposed of consistent with the National Archives and Records Administration approved records disposition schedule (General Records Schedule 3.2, Item 30). Temporary. Destroy when business use ceases.
11. Sensitive Questions
No questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.
12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs
Part A: ESTIMATION OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
[SECO]
Number of Respondents: 26,000
Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1
Number of Total Annual Responses: 26,000
Response Time: 45 minutes
Respondent Burden Hours: 19,500 hours
Part B: LABOR COST OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
[SECO]
Number of Total Annual Responses: 26,000
Response Time: 45 minutes
Respondent Hourly Wage: $7.25
Labor Burden per Response: $5.44
Total Labor Burden: $141,440
Military spouses work at all levels and in all sectors of employment. The labor cost was determined by using the Federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr.
13. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs
There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
Part A: LABOR COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
[SECO]
Number of Total Annual Responses: 26,000
Processing Time per Response: 3 minutes
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $30.90
Cost to Process Each Response: $1.545
Total Cost to Process Responses: $40,170
Part B: OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS
Cost Categories
Equipment: $0
Printing: $0
Postage: $0
Software Purchases: $0
Licensing Costs: $0
Other: $746,000
Total Operational and Maintenance Cost: $746,000
Part C: TOTAL COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $40,170
Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $746,000
Total Cost to the Federal Government: $786,170
15. Reasons for Change in Burden
There has been no change in burden since the last approval.
16. Publication of Results
The results of this information collection will not be published.
17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date
We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.
18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”
We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kaitlin Chiarelli |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2022-10-05 |