Alternative Supporting Statement for Information Collections Designed for
Research, Public Health Surveillance, and Program Evaluation Purposes
OFA Training and Technical Assistance (TTA)
Formative Data Collections for Program Support
0970 - 0531
Supporting Statement
Part A
June 2022
Submitted By:
Office of Family Assistance
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
3rd Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building
330 C Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Project Officers:
Seth Chamberlain
Part A
Executive Summary
Type of Request: This Information Collection Request is for a generic information collection under the umbrella generic, Formative Data Collections for Program Support (0970-0531).
Description of Request: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received approval in 2020 to request information about grantee characteristics from the 2020-2025 cohort of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) Program Directors to inform technical assistance and program support. This request is to request grantees to make updates to the information provided, as needed, in FastTRAC 2.0 (a grantee-information and performance management system). The information grantees provide will continue inform technical assistance and program support.
We do not intend for this information to be used as the principal basis for public policy decisions.
Time Sensitivity: The data collection activity described in this request will happen on a rolling basis, starting as soon as this request is approved, to allow the technical assistance and program support to accurately reflect the needs of the grantees.
A1. Necessity for Collection
The Office of Family Assistance’s (OFA) Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) program provides training and technical assistance (TTA) to 110+ HMRF grantees. The HMRF program utilizes a TTA website called FastTRAC (First-line Access System for Training, Technical Assistance, Resources, and Communication). FastTRAC includes content, data, and an admin interface that all work together to support various user types and needs. FastTRAC provides information to OFA and its many contractors in real-time, organizes information from multiple sources into a single view, and provides tools and resources for grantees, the TTA team and OFA staff. The use of the FastTRAC system and the data collected within ensures OFA is able to provide efficient and effective technical assistance to HMRF grant programs. The provision of such technical assistance aids HMRF grant programs in achieving their programmatic goals and ultimately supports ACF’s mission in bettering the lives of children and families.
In 2020, OFA received approval to collect specific grantee characteristics in an effort to inform TA and program support1. To ensure that OFA is providing support based on current information, this request is to ask grantees to continue to provide updates to the information they have already provided.
There are no legal or administrative requirements that necessitate this collection. ACF is undertaking the collection at the discretion of the agency.
A2. Purpose
Purpose and Use
The data collected within the FastTRAC system includes content, data, and an admin interface that all work together to provide information to OFA and its many contractors in real-time, organizes information from multiple sources into a single view, and provides tools and resources for grantees, the TTA team and OFA staff. As noted above, grantees have already provided information about their characteristics. This request is to allow OFA to request regular updates to that information, as needed. OFA will use the data collected and stored in FastTRAC to provide efficient and effective technical assistance to HMRF grant programs. Additionally, OFA will use the information to maintain effective communication and resource provision.
This proposed information collection meets the following goals of ACF’s generic clearance for formative data collections for program support (0970-0531):
Delivery of targeted assistance related to program implementation and the development or refinement of program and grantee processes.
Planning for provision of programmatic training or technical assistance (T/TA).
The information collected is meant to contribute to the body of knowledge on ACF programs. It is not intended to be used as the principal basis for a decision by a federal decision-maker and is not expected to meet the threshold of influential or highly influential scientific information.
Contents of Grantee Characteristics
Data Collection Activity |
Instrument |
Respondent, Content, Purpose of Collection |
Mode and Duration |
Grantee Characteristics |
FastTRAC 2.0 |
Respondents: Program Directors
Content: The FastTRAC system will gather information about grantees that fall into three categories:
Purpose: To gather ongoing information updates from grantees to inform technical assistance and program support. |
Mode: online (FastTRAC2.0)
Duration: Updates should take approx. 10 min (0.167 hrs) |
Full list of questions in Appendix A_2020-2025 Cohort Grantee Characteristics
Other Data Sources and Uses of Information
N/A
A3. Use of Information Technology to Reduce Burden
The technical assistance team has developed an online grantee information and performance management system (FastTRAC 2.0) that will house this information. Grantees will have access to this system and will use it to update grantee characteristics.
A4. Use of Existing Data: Efforts to reduce duplication, minimize burden, and increase utility and government efficiency
This is a relatively new cohort of grantees and the information needed to understand how to best support these grantees continues to be collected and analyzed.
A5. Impact on Small Businesses
Many programs will be small, non-profit organizations. Burden will be limited for respondents by collecting grantee information through the online FastTRAC 2.0 portal which can be completed at the respondent’s convenience.
A6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
This is a one-time data collection.
A7. Now subsumed under 2(b) above and 10 (below)
A8. Consultation
Federal Register Notice and Comments
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR Part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29, 1995), ACF published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s intention to request an OMB review of the overarching generic clearance for formative information collection. This notice was published on
November 3, 2020, (85 FR 69627), and provided a sixty-day period for public comment. During the notice and comment period, no substantive comments were received. A subsequent notice was published on December 28, 2020 (85 FR 84343) and provided a thirty-day period for public comment. During the notice and comment period, no substantive comments were received.
On January 28, 2022, ACF a notice (87 FR 4603) providing a sixty-day period related to an extension request to this umbrella clearance. No comments were received. ACF will submit a request to extend approval and publish an additional notice allowing a thirty-day period for public comment prior to July 31, 2022.
N/A
A9. Tokens of Appreciation
No tokens of appreciation for respondents are proposed for this information collection.
A10. Privacy: Procedures to protect privacy of information, while maximizing data sharing
Personally Identifiable Information
Low Risk personally identifiable information is collected. For example, names and work email addresses for grant program staff. OFA has completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the FastTRAC system as part of the Authority to Operate (ATO) process. Grant recipient users will be notified through an annual email communication of this data collection. In this email users will be notified of the type of PII collected and its purpose. In this email users will be provided the option for opt-out of PII collection for relevant individuals (i.e., grant recipient program staff).
Information will not be maintained in a paper or electronic system from which data are actually or directly retrieved by an individuals’ personal identifier.
Assurances of Privacy
Information collected will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. Respondents will be informed of all planned uses of data, that their participation is voluntary, and that their information will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. As specified in the contract, the Contractor will comply with all Federal and Departmental regulations for private information.
Data Security and Monitoring
FastTRAC has recently received and ATO by ACF’s CIO. The system has a System Security Plan, an Incidence Response Plan, and a Contingency Plan. The system is accessible only through password protected, multi-factor authenticated access by approved users. FastTRAC doesn’t interconnect with other external systems.
A11. Sensitive Information 2
There are no sensitive questions in this data collection.
A12. Burden
Explanation of Burden Estimates
The estimated annual burden for this information collection request is $4,232.43 This effort includes updates of grantee characteristics on FastTRAC with a total of 111 respondents, explained in further detail in Table 2. We expect grantees to make updates about 6 times per year and each update will take about 10 minutes
Estimated Annualized Cost to Respondents
The information collection request includes one type of respondent: Program Directors. The hourly wage rate for Program Directors was calculated using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey 2022 According to this survey, the median weekly earnings for full-time employees aged 25 and over with bachelor’s degrees is $1,525. We assume a full-time work week for program staff is 40 hours per week. Therefore, the estimated hourly wage is $38.13.3
Instrument |
No. of Respondents (total over request period) |
No. of Responses per Respondent (annual) |
Avg. Burden per Response (in hours) |
Annual Burden (in hours) |
Average Hourly Wage Rate |
Total Annual Respondent Cost |
FastTRAC |
111 |
6 |
10
min |
111 |
$38.13 |
$4,232.43 |
A13. Costs
The are no additional cost to respondents.
A14. Estimated Annualized Costs to the Federal Government
The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government includes FTE of federal staff to review information updates. The hourly wage rate for federal staff was calculated using the 2022 General Schedule (GS) Pay scale for a GS-13 step 5 at 58.01 per hour. We estimate the review would require approximately 55 hours annually. The estimated annual cost is $3,190.55.
A15. Reasons for changes in burden
This is for an individual information collection under the umbrella formative generic clearance for program support (0970-0531).
A16. Timeline
All grant recipients utilize an online tool, FastTRAC (a training and technical assistance website). All grant recipients completed an initial data collection effort between October 2020 and December 1, 2020 (as approved under this umbrella generic: 0970-0531; ICR Ref. No.: 202004-0970-006). Grant recipients will continue to access the website and update information as needed, though updates should take less time (approx. 10 min per update per grantee) than the burden originally approved (approx. 1 hour per grantee). For example, changes in staff are updated as changes occur. There are no plans to publish these data.
A17. Exceptions
No exceptions are necessary for this information collection.
1 OMB #: 0970-0531; ICR Ref. No.: 202004-0970-006
2 Examples of sensitive topics include (but not limited to): social security number; sex behavior and attitudes; illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close relationships, e.g., family, pupil-teacher, employee-supervisor; mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to respondents; religion and indicators of religion; community activities which indicate political affiliation and attitudes; legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians and ministers; records describing how an individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment; receipt of economic assistance from the government (e.g., unemployment or WIC or SNAP); immigration/citizenship status.
3 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). News Release: Usual Weekly Earning of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2022. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.nr0.htm
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | ACF PRA |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2022-07-14 |