Memo to Mr. Andrew Perraut at OMB/OIRA

March 14, 2011

Mr. Andrew Perraut

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Dear Mr. Andrew Perraut:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) requests consideration for a one-time use of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) generic information collection entitled Customer/Partner Customer Satisfaction Service Surveys, OMB Control No. 0910-0360.

The Career Epidemiology Field Officer (CEFO) program will undergo an external peer review that will be conducted by the OPHPR Board of Scientific Counselors (a FACA committee) in June 2011. The Board of Scientific Counselors conducts periodic reviews of scientific programs to advise the CDC Director and HHS Secretary about program improvements, strategies, and goals. This is a very important review for CDC. One of our agency’s priorities is to strengthen support for state and local public health departments, and the CEFO program is a critical means by which CDC accomplishes this goal. This external review will assess the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement for the program at a time of extreme budgetary distress at both our nation’s public health departments and at CDC. To date there has not been a systematic evaluation of the CEFO program. The proposed customer satisfaction survey is one of the key means that will be used to inform the review by obtaining input from our customers (state and local public health departments) on the CEFO program. Given the aggressive timeline of this important review and that there is not an approved OMB mechanism at CDC that will allow us to collect customer satisfaction data, we are requesting this one-time use of the FDA generic information collection mechanism.

CDC is profoundly grateful for your consideration of our request. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Marinda Logan, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR)
404-639-5974
mlogan@cdc.gov

Attachments:

Letter from RADM Ali Khan to State Health Officers

CEFO Program Fact Sheet

CEFO Stakeholder Reminder Survey Letter

CEFO Customer Satisfaction Survey

Career Epidemiologist Field Officer (CEFOs) Assignments by Awardee

CEFO Stakeholder Survey Analysis Plan

Part A. FDA Documentation for the Generic Clearance

Part B. Statistical Plan