OMB Change Justification Memo 0584-0680 - 9.12.23

Food and

Nutrition
Service

1320

Braddock

Place

Alexandria,

VA

22314

T O: Laurel Havas

OMB Desk Officer

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

THROUGH: Ruth Brown

Department Clearance Officer

United States Department of Agriculture

Office of Chief Information Office (OCIO)

Jamia Franklin

Information Collection Clearance Officer

OPS/Planning and Regulatory Affairs Office

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

FROM: Anna Vaudin

SNAP Evaluation Branch

OPS/SNAP Research and Analysis Division

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

DATE: August 2, 2023

SUBJECT: Justification for changes to staff questionnaires for multiple sites in OMB Control No: 0584-0680 “Rapid Cycle Evaluation of Operational Improvements in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training (E&T) Programs”.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is requesting a non-substantive change to the study of Rapid Cycle Evaluation of Operational Improvements in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training (E&T) Programs, approved under OMB Control No. 0584-0680; expiration date of March 31, 2026. The changes being made are to the staff questionnaires, which are administered to E&T staff members who were involved in the intervention operations, to gather information on their experiences.

In the OMB package we submitted a single version of the staff questionnaire, but as the contractor started programming the questionnaire for each site they found that they need to customize them to better reflect sites’ interventions and potential respondents. The customizations are minor and consist of making small clarifications, as well as removing questions and response options that are not relevant to the site. The attached modified questionnaires are for the Minnesota-Hennepin, Minnesota-Rural, and Connecticut sites, and the changes to each questionnaire are described below.

Changes to the Minnesota-Hennepin Staff Questionnaire

• Page 17, Q3 – the agency name was specified

• Page 22, Q15 & 16 – these questions were eliminated because the MN-Hennepin staff who are being interviewed will not have access to this information. (It will instead by obtained from administrative data.)

• Page 23, Q17 option c – this option was edited to clarify for respondents what is meant by treatment group and control group for this intervention.

• Page 24, Q18 - options were removed that are not relevant to this intervention.

• Page 25, Q19 – one option that is not relevant to this intervention was removed.

Changes to the Minnesota-Rural Staff Questionnaire

• Page 28, Q3 – “your organization” was added instead of the agency name because the staff completing the survey work for several different providers.

• Page 31, Q10 – specified what the question means by “the intervention” – during conversations with providers the contractor has called the intervention the “Mathematica SNAP E&T RCE Project”. Also removed the first answer option because MN-Rural staff will not be recruiting or conducting outreach.

• Page 32, Q14 - Changed the examples to resources and trainings that were provided by Mathematica.

• Page 33, Q15 & 16 – these questions were eliminated because the MN-Rural staff who are being interviewed will not have access to this information. (It will instead by obtained from administrative data.)

• Page 34, Q17 option a – this option was removed because it is not relevant for MN-Rural. There were no changes in processes in their intervention.

• Page 34, Q17 option c – this option was edited to clarify for respondents what is meant by treatment group and control group for this intervention.

• Page 35, Q18 - options were removed that are not relevant to this intervention.

• Page 36, Q19 – one option that is not relevant to this intervention was removed.

• Page 37, Q20 – one option that is not relevant to this intervention was removed.

Changes to the Connecticut Staff Questionnaire

• Page 39, Q3 – “Connecticut State” was added instead of the agency name because it is the best way to encapsulate the people who will take the survey.

• Page 46, Q17 – an option was removed that is not relevant to this intervention.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Jamia Franklin, FNS Information Collection Clearance Officer for the Food and Nutrition Service, Planning & Regulatory Affairs Office at (703) 305-2403.

Attachment:

• I1. Staff Questionnaire Specifications

  • This attachment contains the original questionnaire as well as the edited versions for Minnesota-Hennepin, Minnesota-Rural, and Connecticut. Clean and tracked change versions are included.

USDA is an Equal Opportunity Provider, Employer and Lender