Businesses

I. Electronic Letter with Request to schedule Interview

OMB Number: 0584-NEW

Expiration Date: MM/DD/20YY

From: Maeve Gearing, Project Director

Subject: (eHIP study Interview Request

Dear [State SNAP agency, EBT Processors, Retailers, Third Party Processors, GusNIP Grantee],

I am Maeve Gearing, the Project Director of The Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects study (eHIP study). My company, Westat, was contracted by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to conduct a study that will collect cost data on three Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP) and break down these costs by what the cost is for (for example, changing EBT systems), who is incurring this cost (the State, EBT processors, retailers, or someone else), and whether this is a one-time cost of setting up the project or an ongoing cost of administering eHIP. I am requesting your participation in this important research study. For more information about this research study, please see the attached document.

You were identified as someone who can provide valuable insight for this study into [how electronic healthy incentive projects are implemented, their costs, and best practices /your grantee’s administrative data]. We would like to schedule a virtual interview with you to hear more about your [experience with <insert State-specific eHIP> / knowledge of your grantee’s data]. This interview will focus on [<eHIP name’s> <FIRST INTERVIEW: implementation and start-up costs/ SECOND INTERVIEW: lessons learned throughout the course of the project and cost data> / <specific grantee topics of concern>].

Next Steps

To facilitate scheduling, please review the following list of suggested dates and times and indicate all timeslots when you would be available for the [60- minutes for individuals/90-minutes for groups]-minute interview. Please let us know whether you want to meet over Zoom or Microsoft Teams (video is optional).

[Dates]
[times] a.m. [local time zone]
[times] [local time zone]

Please know that this is a research study and not an audit or review. Your participation is voluntary. Any information you provide will be kept private, and the written notes from the interview will be stripped of your name, employer, and job title to mask your identity.

We are grateful for your cooperation and look forward to speaking with you soon. If you have any questions about the eHIP study, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 301-212-2168.

Sincerely,

Maeve Gearing

Project Director, Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP)

Attachment: Project Summary

This information is being collected to provide the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) with key cost information on Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects conducted by SNAP State agencies. This is a voluntary collection, and FNS will use the information to examine costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects for SNAP. This collection requests personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-NEW. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 0.167 hours (10 minutes) per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-NEW). Do not return the completed form to this address. If you have any questions, please contact the FNS Project Officer for this project, Kathleen Patton, at [email protected] or 703-305-2813.