Appendix O.1. Template for email from FNS to Territory NAP agency

O.1. Template for email from FNS to Territory NAP agency

This page has been left blank for double-sided copying.

OMB Control No: XXXX-XXXX

Expiration date: XX/XX/20XX

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

Dear [Name of NAP administrator],

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

FNS strongly encourages all NAP agencies to participate in this important study. For your agency, participation involves participating in a 2 hour telephone interview. The interview will ask about your Territory’s language access policies, procedures, and practices, as well as your program’s understanding of the Federal language access regulations and guidance. The interview 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 and three NAP agencies. The report will include a [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 other States and Territories serve LEP individuals and individuals needing language assistance.

Within three business days, you will receive an email from Mathematica with a pre-interview questionnaire and an invitation for an initial phone call to discuss the interview. If you have any questions, please contact the FNS project officer, Eric Williams, at [email protected] or Maria Boyle, 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 0.0334 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.