SUPPORTING STATEMENT
PART ACJUSTIFICATION
Necessity of Information Collection
The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), as, amended, was signed into law in 1984. VOCA established the Crime Victims Fund. Each year, millions of dollars are deposited into this Fund from criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalty fees, and special assessments collected by U.S. Attorneys' Offices, U.S. Courts, and the Bureau of Prisons. These dollars come from offenders convicted of Federal crimesCnot from taxpayers. (See Attachment AB1 for a copy of VOCA).
Section 1403(a)(1) of VOCA provided that "the Director shall make an annual grant from the Fund to an eligible crime victim compensation program of 40 percent in fiscal year 2002 and of 60 percent in subsequent fiscal years of the amounts awarded during the preceding fiscal year, other than the amounts awarded for property damage.@
The elements of the attached Performance Report are based on the eligibility requirements of Section 1403(a)(1), the Program Requirements of the VOCA Victim Compensation Program, the experience of twenty-one years of program implementation, and the request from VOCA Victim Compensation Administrators and the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards to streamline the report and reduce the burden on state grantees. (See Attachment AB2 for a copy of the Victim Compensation Program Guidelines).
2. Needs and Uses
VOCA and the Program Guidelines require each state crime victim compensation program to submit an annual Performance Report. The Report includes information about claims compensated, including terrorism, drunk driving, and domestic violence, disposition of claims, payments for compensable expenses, and use of administrative funds. Every effort has been made to minimize the burdens associated with these reporting requirements.
Information received from state crime victim compensation programs is aggregated to form the basis of the Director's report to the President and Congress on the effectiveness of the activities supported with VOCA funds. This report is submitted to the President and Congress on June 30, every two years.
Information contained in the VOCA Crime Victim Compensation Performance Report provides a vehicle for compensation programs to provide OVC documentation of compliance for each of the eligibility requirements. Additionally, report submissions reflect the effectiveness of the activities supported under VOCA and the crime victim compensation grant program.
If this information was not provided, OVC could not assess the impact or effectiveness of the grant funds on each state crime victim compensation program and could not submit the required report to the President and Congress.
3. Efforts to Minimize Burden
OVC provides each state victim Compensation program with a standard reporting from and instructions for recording and submitting the information requested. Each VOCA crime victim compensation program has developed a database to maintain and track reporting elements. OVC does not foresee any technical or legal obstacle to complying with this program requirement. To minimize the burden on the states, OVC worked with the Office of the Chief Information Officer staff to recreate the form using Microsoft Excel. This provides an easy mechanism for states to provide data to OVC. Using Microsoft Excel allows the data to be tabulated via computer, rather than manually.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
Given the program nature of the state crime victim compensation program this collection effort does not duplicate other activities. Assurances of a state compensation program's eligibility and compliance with the provisions of VOCA can be provided only by the state agency or board designated by statute to administer the state victim compensation program. There is no alternative source for the information and statistics necessary to assess and report on the impact of the federal crime victim compensation grants awarded under VOCA.
Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Business
Collection of information does not pertain to small business or other small entities.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
The annual collection of information has been reduced to the least number of submissions possible. If information was collected less frequently, it would be outdated, would not assist OVC in its monitoring efforts, and would not be available in time for the preparation of the report to the President and Congress.
7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances.
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
OVC has solicited input from the states and the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards to develop a form which captures only data that is pertinent to states as well as provides the federal government with information necessary to monitor compliance and respond to congressional reporting requirements, including the government performance and review act requirements.
9. Payment or Gift to Respondents
The information OVC requests is specifically designed to enable OVC to measure the impact of the monies deposited in the Crime Victims Fund and awarded to state programs. No payment or gift is provided to a grantee for providing this information.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
No assurance of confidentiality has been made to respondents. The information requested does not specifically identify any individual crime victim or victims.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
There are no questions of a sensitive nature. No information commonly considered as private is included in the proposed requested information.
12. Estimate of Hour Burden
A total of 53 respondents (grantees) will be asked to complete the Crime Victim Compensation Performance Report Form annually. The annual hour burden is based on the approved burden of two reporting hours for each respondent. (53 respondents x 2 hours per respondent = 106 hours). Because respondents will utilize a similar database for tracking program statistics, OVC does not anticipate that the hour burden on respondents will vary.
The estimated annualized cost to respondents for completing the above referenced form is based on a total of two reporting hours required for each respondent. An estimated cost for the 53 respondents is based on the time required for one GSB7 (equivalent) statistical clerk to identify and record performance data. The estimated annualized cost for the 53 respondents is $1,347.26. Estimated cost is calculated at $12.71 per hour for one staff person at the GSB7 (equivalent) grade level.
2 hours x 53 respondents = 106 hours
106 hours x $12.71 per hour = $1,347.26
13. Cost Burden to Respondents
Because OVC developed and provided each respondent (grantee) with a comprehensive crime victim compensation database product in 1993, no capital and start‑up costs will be incurred by the respondents.
14. Annualized Cost to Federal Government
The estimated annualized cost to the Federal government for reviewing, compiling, and processing the Performance Report Forms from 53 respondents is no more than 2 hours per form. The estimate is based on the time required for one GSB9 Program Assistant to record this information into a nationwide database and generate an aggregate report. The estimated total cost to the Federal government is $1,643.00.
106 hours x $15.50 per hour $ 1,643.00
There are no other anticipated costs in complying with these requests.
15. Reason for Change In Burden
OVC has no change in burden.
16. Project Schedule
The results of this collection of information are not planned to be published for statistical purposes. This collection of information does not require the employment of statistical methods.
17. Expiration Date
OVC has no objection to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.
18. Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
OVC has no exceptions to the certification statement.
PAPERWORK CERTIFICATION
In submitting this request for OMB approval, I certify that the requirements of the Privacy Act and OMB directives have been complied with including paperwork regulations, statistical standards for directives, and any other information policy directives promulgated under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
__________________________________
Signature (Program Signatory)
__________________________________
Date
Public Reporting Burden
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. We try to create forms and instructions that are accurate, can be easily understood, and which impose the least possible burden on you to provide us with information. The estimated average time to complete and file this information is 120 minutes or 2 hours. If you have comments regarding the accuracy of this estimate, or suggestions for making this form simpler, you can write to the State Compensation and Assistance Division, Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, 810 7th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20531.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | thomast2 |
| Last Modified By | thomast2 |
| File Modified | 2007-03-14 |
| File Created | 2007-03-14 |