1225-0093 Supporting Statement - Black Lung End-to-End Experience Interviews

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number: 1225-0093)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Black Lung Worker’s Compensation Program End-to-End Experience Customer Interviews

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION: To learn about the experience and needs of people who apply for benefits through the Black Lung Compensation Programs. Insights generated by this research will inform recommendations for strategies and tactics to improve the customer experience. Planned deliverables include insights and opportunities report for internal use only.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[X ] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups)

[ ] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] User Testing

ACTIVITY DETAILS

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

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

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Who will you collect the information from?

We will collect the information from people who applied for benefits through the Black Lung Workers’ Compensation Program. We are looking to interview a mix of people whose claims have been accepted and denied, and also people in different phases of the claims process (for example, people with newly accepted claims versus those who have been receiving benefits for at least a year). Participants will be recruited through various means:

• Community outreach groups, Advocacy groups

• Snowball recruiting

• Unions

• Field Offices

• Law firms that specialize in representing these types of cases

3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

We will gather information through synchronous video or phone interviews with participants.

4. What will the activity look like?

The activity will be an interview, a conversation about the participant’s experience applying for and receiving benefits, when applicable, from the Black Lung program. There will be an opportunity for the participant to share their screen and show the researcher how they navigate various Black Lung tools, if time allows. The session will take no longer than 60 minutes. 75% of interviews will be conducted over the Web.

5. Please provide your question list.

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

See attached

6. When will the activity happen?

We plan to conduct these interviews during the months of October and November 2022.

7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS [MOU1]

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time (hours)	Burden Hours
Claimants	8	1	8
Authorized Reps	4	1	4
Survivors	4	1	4
Totals	16	1	16 hours

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

4. Any 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 near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes

7. Upon agreement between OMB and the agency aggregated data may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 requirements only on performance.gov. Summaries of customer research and user testing activities may be included in public-facing customer journey maps.

8. Additional release of data will be coordinated with OMB.

Name: Marisela Douglass

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 1225-0093

Expiration Date: 02/29/2024