Appendix N.1. Template for email from FNS to SNAP State agency

N.1. Template for email from FNS to SNAP State agency

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OMB Control No: XXXX-XXXX

Expiration date: XX/XX/20XX

To: SNAP State administrator

Subject: Seeking [State/Territory name]’s Participation in a SNAP Language Access Study

Dear [SNAP State administrator FN LN],

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is sponsoring a new study to better understand how SNAP agencies serve individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). The study also explores the language access policies, procedures, and guidance of SNAP agencies. To meet the goals of the study, FNS has contracted with Mathematica to survey all 53 SNAP agencies. Please see the attached study overview for more details.

FNS strongly encourages all SNAP agencies to participate in this important study. For your agency, participation involves completing an approximately two-hour online survey. The survey asks about your [State’s/Territory’s] language access policies, procedures, and practices, as well as your program’s understanding of the federal language access regulations and guidance. The survey will include a request for language access documents; this request is expected to take an additional 30 minutes to complete.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this study. The study findings will be published in a final report that will summarize the language access landscape across all 53 SNAP agencies. The report will include a [State/Territory name] profile that will highlight key findings, including language access policies and procedures, and profiles for each State and territory that you can use to learn how others serve LEP individuals.

Within three business days, you will receive an email from Mathematica with a link to the survey and instructions for completing it. If you have any questions, please contact the FNS project officer, Eric Williams, at [email protected] or Julie Hartnack, the Mathematica project director, at [email protected].

Public Burden Statement

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service to better understand the language landscapes in which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) agencies operate and their associated limited English proficiency (LEP) policies and operations. This is a voluntary collection and FNS will use the information to improve access of SNAP to LEP individuals. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-[xxxx]. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 0.0668 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22306 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx). Do not return the completed form to this address.