National Farm to School Network’s (NFSN) information collection process for the Racial Equity Learning Lab

Request for Approval under the “FNS Fast Track Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0584-0611)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: National Farm to School Network’s (NFSN) information collection process for the Racial Equity Learning Lab.

PURPOSE: In partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Nutrition Service (FNS), the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is implementing the Racial Equity Learning Lab (the “Lab”) to advance racial equity within the farm to school movement. This project will help to support the diverse group of customers, such as farm to school coordinators, agricultural producers, community organizers, or individuals invested in the farm to school community, to develop a deeper understanding of how to incorporate racial equity into their work. This project supports the current Administration’s advancement of equity as a key priority and aligns with Executive Order 13985 entitled “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” The Lab will have a total of two successive cohorts (13 clients/per cohort, 26 clients/total), with the first beginning in fall 2023. Through facilitated co-learning sessions in small groups, cohort clients will engage around the challenges and opportunities for working in diverse, multi-racial audiences in their farm to school organizations, networks, and communities. NFSN will also hold public webinar training sessions to educate and share with customers about the work being done within the cohorts to advance racial equity within the farm to school movement.

As part of the cooperative agreement, NFSN has developed a customer evaluation plan to understand the needs of Lab clients and public webinar customers and continuously improve information and resources for them. The results can also be used to inform FNS’ approach in farm to school publications, trainings, and communication.

The data collection process will consist of a two-pronged approach:

1) Surveying customers before and after public webinars/virtual trainings (Summer 2024 and Summer 2025) with a short intake survey and exit survey. These surveys will gather customer perception of where they are in their racial equity journey in their farm to school work and get a sense of tools/resources needed to advance racial equity in farm to school. The exit survey will gauge knowledge gained by customers and will gather feedback of their experience in the webinar. The survey instruments found in Appendices A and B are tailored to information collection for public webinar customers.

2) Conducting brief interviews and surveys with the 26 clients of the cohorts. These will gauge how well the curriculum engages clients in critical thinking around racial equity in the farm to school movement. The data will be used to enhance facilitation practices and resources available to future cohorts, to understand how co-creation and co-learning concepts are adapted by clients in their farm to school settings after the cohort, and to gauge how practitioners change their collaboration strategies as a result of participating in the Lab. Appendices C, D, and E tailored to information collection for the Lab clients.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will include cohort clients and customers who attend NFSN’s free public webinars. Each cohort will have 13 members, all of whom voluntarily applied and were selected. There will be a total of two cohorts, equaling a total of 26 cohort members. For the webinars, expected attendance is 150 customers per webinar. Cohort clients and webinar attendees include individuals and organizations with an interest in the farm to school movement, such as farm to school coordinators, agricultural producers, and community organizers.

TYPE OF COLLECTION:

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Short Interviews [Appendix C]

[X ] Quick census or surveys [Appendices A, B, D, E]

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

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. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

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

6. The 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 future.

Name: Alli Phillips 9/18/2023______________________________________________

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 (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Sensitive Information:

1. Will sensitive information, such as demographic characteristics, be collected from respondents?

[ X ] Yes [ ] No

2. If yes, explain the necessity of such information to the programmatic objective(s)?

The data will be used to ensure that the webinar reaches customers of different demographics and that it meet customers’ needs. It will also help FNS carry out EO 14058 to ensure government is carrying out more equitable and effective services.

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals/Households for Public Webinars	300	20 minutes	100 hours
Individuals/Households for Cohort Clients-Interview	26	1 hour	26 hours
Individuals/Households for Cohort Clients-Surveys	26	1 hour	26 hours
Totals	352		152 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $0.00¹_________

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?

[ X] Yes [ ] No

2. If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

NFSN has a partner organization listserv which contains about 200 contacts. NFSN also has a following on various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook where outreach for the public webinars will be conducted.

Further, respondents will also include the selected cohort members that voluntarily applied and were selected to join the Lab.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media [Appendices A, B, D, and E]

[ ] Telephone

[ X ] In-person [Appendix C]

[ ] Mail

[ X ] Other, Explain: Plan for in-person at in-person cohort meeting, but could also be held via zoom if needed/delayed.

The surveys will be sent out via web-based platforms.

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Interviewers will be used for the short, in-person interviews.

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

Appendix A - Intake Survey (For Public Webinar Clients)

Appendix B - Exit Survey (For Public Webinar Clients)

Appendix C - Interviews (For Cohort Clients)

Appendix D - Post Lab Experience Feedback Survey (For Cohort Clients)

Appendix E - Follow-Up Survey (For Cohort Clients)

1 NFSN has been awarded funds for a FY2022 USDA-FNS-CN Cooperative Agreement (Federal Award ID Number: 228CA155N7903) to implement the Racial Equity Learning Lab. The evaluation plan and associated activities were included in the scope of the project, and thus FNS will not expense additional funds.