OMB Change Justification Memo 0584-0680 - 11.17.23

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: November 15, 2023

SUBJECT: Justification for changes to survey materials for 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. FNS made non-substantive edits to the survey materials that will be administered to intervention participants, including the text of the survey itself and the letter used to recruit participants.

The following is a summary of the changes made:

• Survey

  • Introduction text. We made small updates to the introduction text to better account for web and CATI administration, including some additional programmer boxes (which are not read aloud to respondents, they just indicate what happens next with the case).

  • Survey sections (A-D). Most of these changes are in the Intervention Information Section (section B) of each survey. We made small updates to survey logic or text to better align the survey with the final site interventions. For example, in Rhode Island, we have removed references to “emails” and have added in helpful contextual details like the RI SNAP E&T website link.

  • Conclusion Section (E). We have adjusted these questions slightly to facilitate sending respondents their gift card incentive. We’ve also added in more programmer language to help drive the skips and fills (not visible to respondents).

• Advance letter: We updated the language to specify that participants will receive a call, and also to include a QR code, a phone number, and the survey link, so that respondents have all the information they need to respond to the survey.

The following is a detailed description of the changes made, per appendix:

Appendix E1.1 & E1.2 – Colorado Participant Survey Specifications – English & Spanish

• Introductory material added that is specific to CATI interviews, including gathering verbal consent.

• Programmer box information added for CATI interviews (not read to respondents).

• Changes to the wording in question B1: replaced “In the last ____” with “Starting around ____”.

• Added to the options that can be filled into questions B5, B7, B8, B10, and B13 to make the question specific to the intervention that the participant received (e.g. whether they received a call vs a text message vs text messages and emails vs emails and mail).

• Material added to section E to collect the participant’s information that will be used to send the incentive payment.

Appendix E2.1 & E2.2 – Massachusetts Participant Survey Specifications – English & Spanish

• Introductory material added that is specific to CATI interviews, including gathering verbal consent.

• Programmer box information added for CATI interviews (not read to respondents).

• Question B8 edited to say “This message invited you to respond to about 6 questions” instead of having the software fill in a specific number of questions.

• Question B10 edited to say “someone from DTA’s employment and training team contacted you” instead of having the software fill in the E&T program name.

• Question B11 edited to say “you were referred to an E&T specialist to learn more about available support services”, and then to ask “Have you received any support from an E&T specialist”? Question B11a edited to say “How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding an E&T specialist”. Prior to the changes, there was a space for the software to fill in [BARRIER REDUCTION SERVICES] instead of “E&T specialist” in these questions.

• Question B15 edited to say “after your assessment” – prior to the change it said “after your telephone interview”. Assessment is more accurate.

• Question B19 edited to be about the amount of support the staff provided – previously it asked the participant to rate how frequently the staff contacted them.

• Question B22 edited to add “It looks like you were referred to a MassHire career center for E&T services.” at the beginning of the question. Throughout the question and the answers, the software prompt of [CAREER NAVIGATOR] was replaced with “your career specialist”.

• Material added to section E to collect the participant’s information that will be used to send the incentive payment.

Appendix E4.1 & E4.2 – Rhode Island Participant Survey Specifications – English & Spanish

• Introductory material added that is specific to CATI interviews, including gathering verbal consent.

• The intervention only included a text, not a text and an email. The reference to an email was removed from questions B1, B2, B6, and B9.

• Question B4 was edited to include the website it asks about, for participants to reference when answering.

• Material added to section E to collect the participant’s information that will be used to send the incentive payment.

Appendix E5.1 – Participant Survey Advance Letter

The original letter said that Mathematica would email the participant an invitation to the web survey. Now it lets them know that Mathematica will call to invite them to participate by phone, and it also provides a phone number they can call to participate by phone immediately, and a QR code and log-in information that the participant can use to participate online.

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.

Attachments:

• Appendix E1.1 – Colorado Participant Survey Specifications

• Appendix E1.2 – Colorado Participant Survey Specifications in Spanish

• Appendix E2.1 – Massachusetts Participant Survey Specifications

• Appendix E2.2 – Massachusetts Participant Survey Specifications in Spanish

• Appendix E4.1 – Rhode Island Participant Survey Specifications

• Appendix E4.2 – Rhode Island Participant Survey Specifications in Spanish

• Appendix E5.1 – Participant Survey Advance Letter

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