Supporting Statement A

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Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps)
AmeriCorps Seniors Application Instructions, Progress Reporting, 
Independent Living and Respite Surveys 
OMB Control Number 3045-0035

Justification – Part A Supporting Statement


Overview of Information Collection: 

This is a revision to an information collection that consists of the applications for AmeriCorps Seniors grants—consisting of RSVP, Foster Grandparent Program (FGP), Senior Companion Program (SCP), and Senior Demonstration Program (SDP) grants—and project progress reports for projects funded by those grants, and independent living and respite surveys. The information is collected through eGrants. 

Revisions to the information collection are to eliminate the progress report supplement (PRS) and instead incorporate the questions that were asked in the PRS into the project progress report (PPR).   The questions being moved from the PRS to the PPR are:
    • For all ACS grants
        ◦ Total number of Volunteers who are below 200% of the state poverty line
        ◦ Age of volunteers (55 to 59, 60 to 69, 70 to 79, 80 to 84, 85 and over)
        ◦ Sex of volunteers (female, male)
        ◦ Race/nationality of volunteers
        ◦ Number of veterans serving as Volunteers
        ◦ Total number of family members of US Armed Forces service members served
        ◦ Total number of US Armed Forces Service members served
        ◦ Total number of veterans served
    • For FGP/SCP 
        ◦ Total number of federally funded volunteer service years (VSYs) achieved
        ◦ Total number of non-federally funded VSYs achieved
        ◦ Total number of hours spent by non-stipended Volunteers
    • For RSVP and SDP (already in FGP/SCP)
        ◦ Total number of Volunteers 
        ◦ Total number of hours served

The revisions also add two certification statements but they are simple certifications that do not impose any additional burden hours: 

"Please confirm that National Service Criminal History Checks will be completed for all employees or Volunteers who receive a salary, stipend, or similar payment from this grant (federal or non-federal share) prior to beginning work on the grant."
 
"Please confirm that the insurance required by program regulations will be provided for Volunteers. This includes accident and personal liability for all Volunteers, and excess automobile liability for Volunteers who drive as part of their assignment."

    1. Need & Method for the Information Collection. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) dba AmeriCorps awards grants to states, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, Indian tribes, and U.S. Territories to operate AmeriCorps Seniors programs. This information collection comprises the application package for AmeriCorps Seniors grants, progress reports, and independent living and respite surveys. (The progress report supplement (PRS) is being eliminated with this revision). 

Collection of this information is necessary for several reasons. Application information is required to meet the legislative requirements in the Domestic Volunteer Service Act (DVSA) that AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP grants enter in competition and to implement AmeriCorps’ authority to award FGP, SCP, and SDP grants. See 42 U.S.C. 5001, 5011, 5013, 5028. Information within the application is needed to make award decisions to ensure the awarded funds are used for the purposes set out in the DVSA. The DVSA does not impose any deadline for collection of the information, but in order to award grant funds in a timely manner, AmeriCorps establishes deadlines for applicants to submit their application materials (e.g., April 1 deadline for grant awards being made June 1). 

Collection of the progress report is needed to meet the requirements in 42 U.S.C. 5056 for evaluating programs and the government-wide regulations in 2 CFR § 200.329 (monitoring and reporting program performance), which state that the “non-Federal entity must submit performance reports at the interval required… to best inform improvements in program outcomes and productivity. Intervals must be no less frequent than annually....” Requirements are also found in AmeriCorps General and AmeriCorps Seniors Terms and Conditions. While the regulations do not establish specific deadlines for progress reports, AmeriCorps Terms and Conditions issued with each grant establish specific deadlines. AmeriCorps does not collect the surveys; rather, they are provided as a tool for grantees if they wish to use them in collecting their own information for reporting in the progress report and PRS.

If the information is not collected, AmeriCorps Seniors will not have the information needed to make awards and AmeriCorps Seniors will not be able to review and aggregate program performance information. The legal obstacles to reducing burden are that information is collected as least frequently (annually) as allowed in 2 CFR § 200.329 and the information collected is necessary for AmeriCorps to determine whether providing funding meets statutory and regulatory requirements and the grantee is performing in accordance with applicable laws.

    2. Use of the Information. 

Applicants respond to the questions included in these instructions in order to apply for AmeriCorps Seniors funding and to report out on performance of their project. AmeriCorps Seniors uses the information collected to review whether the applicant is eligible for AmeriCorps Seniors grants and whether their program should receive AmeriCorps Seniors grant funding based on the strength of the application and review of risks. 

Progress report and survey information is used to review the work accomplished by grantees during the reporting period and enable staff to monitor grant operations of the award supported activities in accordance with 2 CFR 200.329. Information collected through progress reports is also used in multiple agency report-outs, including the Congressional Budget Justification and in support of agency Strategic Plan objectives. Additionally, the information is used by AmeriCorps staff to track and measure progress, measure contributions of senior volunteers, and review progress toward work plan objectives agreed upon in the granting of the award.

Application information is reviewed by AmeriCorps staff to ensure compliance with requirements and by reviewers. AmeriCorps Seniors staff oversees the overall collection of the information. Progress report information is reviewed by regional staff and then AmeriCorps evaluators at Headquarters.

There is no travel time associated with collecting or submitting this information, nor is there time waiting to speak with agency personnel. Cognitive load, discomfort, and stress is similar to other federal applications.

    3. Use of Information Technology. 

AmeriCorps elicits and accepts applicants’ responses to these questions electronically via eGrants the AmeriCorps’ secure online grants management system. If applicants are unable to apply or report on-line, they can use the attached forms and instructions to submit their application. The collection is fillable and submittable electronically. 

    4. Non-duplication. 
There are no other sources of information by which AmeriCorps can meet the purposes described in 2 (above). 

    5. Burden on Small Business. 
This collection of information does not impact small businesses because they are not eligible to apply for AmeriCorps Seniors grants. There is no economic burden to any other small entities beyond the cost of staff time to collect and report the data. This is minimized to the degree possible by only asking for the information absolutely necessary to assess an organization’s eligibility to apply to administer an AmeriCorps Seniors grant and only information required to assess a grantee’s annual performance.
    6. Less Frequent Collection.

If this information were collected less frequently, AmeriCorps would be unable to assess prospective AmeriCorps Seniors grantees, nor able to assess the performance of AmeriCorps Seniors grants. 

    7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines. 
There are no special circumstances that would require the collection of information in ways that violate the Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines.
    8. Consultation and Public Comments.  
The 60-day notice soliciting comments was published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2026, at 91 Fed. Reg. 38408. Two comments were received. Both comments supported consolidating the PRS questions into the PPR to reduce time spent on redundant data entry and allow project staff to redirect the time to volunteer recruitment, placement, and program delivery. Both commenters also recognized the importance of the independent living and respite surveys. One commenter recommended revisiting the survey to eliminate questions that do not represent the services volunteers are providing. The other stated their support of continued use of the current survey but also looks forward to any future revisions. Additionally, AmeriCorps Seniors proactively reached out to AmeriCorps’ Office of Research and Evaluation who, in conjunction with AmeriCorps Seniors, to identify reporting questions that allow AmeriCorps Seniors to report out on key metrics in as minimally burdensome process as possible. AmeriCorps Seniors will continue to work with grantees to determine whether any future revisions are appropriate.   
    9. Gifts or Payment. 

There are no payments or gifts to respondents.

    10. Privacy & Confidentiality.  
AmeriCorps publishes only public use data that contains no personal information and has been coded to shield potential identification of participants. Respondents are not required to submit proprietary trade secrets or other confidential information. AmeriCorps Seniors does not collect personally identifiable information. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, all data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit data. 
    11. Sensitive Questions.  
The information collection does not include questions of a sensitive nature.
    12. Burden Estimate. 
The number of respondents remains at 1,250. This revision reduces the number of responses per respondent from 5 to 4 per year by eliminating the PRS and accordingly decreases the total number of responses from 6,250 to 5,000.

Requested
Program Change Due to New Statute
Program Change Due to Agency Discretion
Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses
5,000
0
-1,250
0
0
6,250
Annual Time Burden (Hr)
5,000
0
-1,250
0
0
6,250
Annual Cost Burden ($)
336,950
0
-61,863
89,500
0
309,313
  
IC Burden
Approximately 1250 respondents apply via the application package, submit a progress report, and complete each of the annual surveys. The instruments used to collect this information are the application package for AmeriCorps Seniors grantees, progress reports and Independent Living and Respite Surveys. These are submitted by all AmeriCorps Seniors grantees and each is collected annually (resulting in a frequency per respondent of 4 times a year) and should not exceed one hour of effort per respondent per response. 
The estimated respondent burdens and labor costs are shown in the following table.
Estimation of Respondent Burden
Number of respondents
1250
Responses per respondent
4
Number of responses
5000
Hours per response
1
Total estimated hours (number of responses multiplied by hours per response)
5000
Cost per hour (hourly wage)
$67.30
Annual public burden (estimated hours multiplied by cost per hour)
$336,950 (rounded)

Note: The cost per hour is based on the June 2026 Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics hourly wage rate (see BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – June 2026 (USDL-26-1494, released September 9, 2026, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Summary - 2026 Q02 Results), wages and salaries for civilian workers ($49.46) plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate from OMB memorandum M-08-13. The hourly rate is $49.46 + $17.93 ($49.46 hourly rate x 36.25% fringe) = $67.39 (rounded to the nearest penny).
This ICR requests a change in net time burden to account for the elimination of the PRS. This ICR also requests a change to the annual IC cost burden to account both for the elimination of the PRS (program change due to agency discretion) and to account for the increase based on updated Bureau of Labor Statistics hourly wage rate. 
The total IC cost burden was originally $309,313 but decreased by $61,863 due to the reduction of 1,250 responses, for a total IC burden of $247,450. However, the increase in estimate based on recent Bureau of Labor Statistics hourly wage results in an increase of $89,500, resulting in a final cost estimate of $336,950. 
Burden per Response: 
  
Time Per Response 
Hours 
Cost Per Response 
Reporting 
1 hour
1
$67.39
Record Keeping 
0
0
0
Third Party Disclosure 
0
0
0
Total 
  
 1
$67.39



Annual Burden: 
  
Annual Time Burden (Hours) 
Annual Cost Burden
(Dollars) 
Reporting 
5,000
$336,950
Record Keeping 
0
0
Third Party Disclosure 
0
0
Total 
5,000
$336,950


    13. Estimated nonrecurring costs. 

AmeriCorps does not estimate any annual cost burden to respondents apart from the hourly burden reflected in the above section – applicants and grant recipients are expected to already have a computer and internet access to provide the information in the format requested.

    14. Estimated cost to the Government. 

The estimated cost to the Government is shown in the following table. It is estimated that it will take the Government 1 hour to review and verify the information contained in each response. This estimate was developed by staff involved in the management of current activity.
 
Estimation of Cost to the Government
Number of responses
5000
Hours per response
1
Total estimated hours (number of responses multiplied by hours per response)
5000
Cost per hour (hourly wage)
$55.78
Annual burden (estimated hours multiplied by cost per hour)
$278,900 (rounded)
 
Note: The cost per hour is based on the 2026 OPM GS hourly rate (base + locality pay for DC-MD-VA-WV-PA) for a GS-11, step 1 employee, plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate from OMB memorandum M-08-13. The average cost per hour is $40.94 (average hourly rate) + $14.84 ($40.94 hourly x 36.25% fringe) = $55.78/hour (rounded to the nearest penny).


    15. Reasons for changes.  

AmeriCorps Seniors reduced the number of responses by 1,250 and corresponding time burden by 1,250 to account for the elimination of the Progress Report Supplement. AmeriCorps Seniors also updated the annual cost burden in two ways: reducing it by $61,863 to account for the elimination of the Progress Report Supplement and increasing it by 89,500 to account for a change due to calculating based on the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics wage information available, resulting in a total increase in annual cost burden of 27,637 (from 309,313 to 336,950). 

    16. Publicizing Results. 

AmeriCorps publishes the results of their grant competition on the agency website within six months of the award. Aggregate results of the annual Progress Reports are published annual via the Congress Budget Justification and annually contribute to updating AmeriCorps’ Strategic Plan. Annual Progress Reports are collected and analyzed in September-November. Aggregated results for publication are identified in November-December. There are no complex analytical techniques that will be used. 

    17. OMB Not to Display Approval. 

Not applicable. 

    18.  Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions.” 

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

    19. Surveys, Censuses, and Other Collections that Employ Statistical Methods.  

AmeriCorps will not employ statistical methods as part of these collection mechanisms.