Public Health AmeriCorps Grantee Focus Group

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3045-0137)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Process and Implementation Evaluation of Public Health AmeriCorps: Grantee Focus Group

PURPOSE:

AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service) requests approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a focus group as part of its process and implementation evaluation of Public Health AmeriCorps under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback (OMB Control Number: 3045-0137).” The current application discusses the focus group. An accompanying application discusses the survey.

Public Health AmeriCorps is a partnership between AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with two main goals:

1. Address public health needs of local communities by providing support in state and local public health settings and advancing equitable health outcomes for underserved communities.

2. Create pathways to public health-related careers through onsite experience and training and recruiting AmeriCorps members who reflect the communities they serve.

The proposed Grantee Focus Group is a companion to the Grantee Survey data collection. The purpose of the Grantee Focus Group is to delve into areas where nuances of successes and challenges are not easily ascertained by “yes/no” or Likert scale responses that are typical of surveys. The Grantee Focus Group includes questions to explore successes and challenges of implementation, member recruitment and retention, member training and support, and partnership.

AmeriCorps will use the Grantee Focus Group data to supplement the Grantee Survey results. Together both data sources will be used internally to adapt and innovate the program, particularly member recruitment, training, and grantee-level processes. The users of the results will be AmeriCorps leadership in Public Health AmeriCorps program offices and in the CEO’s office to make decisions about program and service experience improvement for Public Health AmeriCorps members and communities served.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents are Public Health AmeriCorps partners who have completed the Grantee Survey.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[X Focus Group [.] Other:

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Nicole Jones, COR____

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
1 representative from each funded grantee (3 focus groups of up to 5 participants per focus group)	15	90 minutes	22.5 hours
Totals	15	90 minutes	22.5 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $12,044___________

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

There are 82 Public Health AmeriCorps grantees. AmeriCorps anticipates all 82 grantees will participant in the Grantee Survey data collection. AmeriCorps will group participants based on descriptive analysis of the Grantee Survey. AmeriCorps will randomly select up to five participants per focus group; there will be a maximum of three focus groups.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ X ] Other, Explain: Remote video conference

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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