Monitoring GenIC Submission Form - OHS Improper Payment Reviews

Request for Approval under the clearance of the “Generic for ACF Program Office Monitoring Activities” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number: 0970-0558

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Office of Head Start Improper Payment Reviews – Update 2023

PURPOSE: This information collection will help the Office of Head Start (OHS) examine grant recipients use of federal funds in accordance with the Improper Payments Information Act 2002. More specifically, OHS will review expenditures equal to the sum-total of charged payments to subaccounts in the Payment Management System to determine if there are improper payments among Head Start grant recipients who received Head Start federal funding. ACF will use the reviews to determine if sampled items are supported by adequate documentation and are reasonable, allocable, and necessary to the objective of the Head Start program, and terms and conditions of the Notice of Awards.

A similar information collection was previously approved under this generic clearance and it has been in use since February 2021 (See Attachments B and C for previously approved materials). However, the information collection was designed for implementation with only disaster recovery funding awarded to Head Start grant recipients. Due to an assessment of risk with improper payments and recent significant increases in funding to Head Start programs, OHS is now required to implement improper payment reviews for all Head Start funding sources per Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 200, Subsection 300, "Statutory and National Policy Requirements" [also codified at Title 45, CFR, Part 75, Subsection 300]. This new information collection allows for the implementation of the improper payments review to all Head Start federal funding sources.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents include current Head Start grant recipients who were awarded Head Start federal funding.

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is in compliance with U.S. Health and Human Services regulations.

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

Name: Lizette Lopez, Supervisory Fiscal Specialist, Office of Head Start

To assist OMB review of your request, 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 [X] No

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

BURDEN HOURS

Based on experience with the previously approved Payment Management Reconciliation Instrument, we estimate that responses will take an average of 1 hour to complete.

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent per year	Burden per Response	Annual Burden
Head Start Grant Recipients	300	1	1 hour	300
Totals	300	1	1 hour	300 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government is $54,834.

TYPE OF COLLECTION:

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

[x] Web-based

[ ] E-mail

[ ] Paper mail

[ ] Other, Explain

Please make sure to submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts with the request.

Included is:

Instrument 1: Payment Management Reconciliation Instrument

Attachment A: Improper Payment Reviews Notice

Attachment B: Previously approved submission form

Attachment C: Previously approved Excel file

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