BHMC Supporting Statement Part A_05.08.2018

SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A

Building Healthy Military Communities Pilot

Rapid Needs Assessment

No. 0704-AAKS

1. Need for the Information Collection

The Building Healthy Military Communities (BHMC) pilot is a multi-year initiative that aims to better understand unique challenges faced by geographically dispersed Service members and their families that may impact force readiness and well-being. The BHMC pilot derives guidance from Senate Report (S.R.) 113 – 85, which calls for the Department of Defense (DoD) to progress and expand well-being efforts utilizing the Total Force Fitness (TFF) framework by submitting “a plan for the comprehensive coordination and delivery of TFF onto the existing health and community programs”. As outlined in the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction (CJCSI) 3405.01, Chairman’s Total Force Fitness Framework, TFF is a “methodology for understanding, assessing, and maintaining Service members’ well-being and sustaining their ability to carry out missions”. The pilot additionally derives guidance from Senate Report 114-63, which calls for the “enhancement of recruitment, retention, readiness, and resilience” of the total force.

In response to S.R. 113-85, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness (OASD(R)) is leading the BHMC pilot in conjunction with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), National Guard Bureau (NGB), and the Services across the Reserve Component (RC), hereafter referred to as the BHMC pilot team. The BHMC pilot is a multi-year initiative across seven states (Maryland, New Mexico, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Florida, Indiana, and Minnesota) that aims to better understand and address the unique challenges faced by geographically dispersed Service members and their families. The pilot will be conducted in three phases over the course of three years: 1) Planning, 2) Implementation, 3) Evaluation. The pilot is currently in the planning phase. Phases 2 and 3 will be conducted iteratively to allow for periodic evaluation and adjustment of interventions, as necessary. The pilot Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) aims to conduct a baseline assessment of needs to support well-being and readiness of Service members, particularly those that are geographically dispersed, across the RC and the programmatic capabilities to meet these needs.

2. Use of the Information

To conduct the RNA, the OASD(R), NGB, USUHS, and the RC will conduct in-person interviews with program representatives at the state and local community level that are located in each of the seven states participating in the BHMC pilot. These personnel will be state or local program managers of health and well-being resources that may provide support to the DoD community. In-person interviews conducted during the RNA will provide the unique perspective of community-based programs and resources located within each pilot state. These in-person interviews will assist the BHMC pilot team in fully contextualizing and capturing the existing capabilities of the community to support Service members and their families. These personnel were suggested to the BHMC team through existing relationships with the various stakeholders involved in the pilot. All program representatives will be contacted via email or telephone to schedule a date and time for the in-person interview (please see attachments for copies of the outreach language).

For this convenience sample, we chose interviewees from Service member-dense geographic sections of each pilot state in order to maximize our travel budget and human resources. In addition to soliciting names of interviewees from BHMC team members, we asked State Coordinators, State Family Program Directors and other colleagues in our seven pilot states for suggestions of Resource Managers they felt would be important to interview.

These in-person interviews will be conducted for up to 90 minutes by a facilitator on the BHMC pilot team. A note-taker will record all responses from each interviewee without collecting personally identifiable information (PII) or requiring any written responses from the interviewee. During this time, the interviewer will mention the Agency Disclosure Notice (ADN) verbally. The ADN is also displayed on the collection instrument. The notes from the interviews will be uploaded by a member of the BHMC pilot team into a secure electronic repository and analyzed using a secure computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software tool.

The end result of the RNA is part of an effort to enrich the DoD’s methodology for creating a well-informed strategic plan aimed at optimizing force readiness and well-being through community capacity building and better coordination among DoD and non-DoD resources in support of TFF. The RNA interviews with non-DoD program managers are anticipated from January 2018 to April 2018.

3. Use of Information Technology

All respondents will respond through a one-on-one in-person interview conducted on-site at each interviewee’s location. There will be a maximum of 280 interviews, which each interview lasting up to 90 minutes. Please see section 12 for more information on burden time.

As mentioned in Section 2, the in-person interviews conducted during the RNA will provide a unique perspective of community-based programs and resources located within each pilot state. Information technology will be used to analyze the responses provided by each interviewee. All information collected from in-person interviews will be uploaded by a member of the BHMC pilot team into a secure electronic repository and analyzed using a secure computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software tool. This cloud-based system facilitates processes for qualitative data analysis. The system also allows for multiple researchers to work simultaneously on the same project to import and organize files, collaboratively analyze themes, and produce data depictions in table and graph format.

4. Non-duplication

The totality of the information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source. Though the DoD currently administers the Status of Forces Survey (SOFS) for the Reserve population, and has targeted questions regarding Readiness and well-being, the RNA will provide a unique value to the Department because the data collected is not available on past surveys. The qualitative interview questions will not be asked directly to Service members during the RNA, but rather at the programmatic level. The BHMC pilot team has reviewed the SOFS-R survey, and will compare results of the RNA to the 2016 data upon its release.

5. Burden on Small Businesses

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6. Less Frequent Collection

The BHMC pilot’s RNA is a one-time information collection event which must be conducted to address the current needs for well-being and readiness and existing gaps in addressing those needs for geographically dispersed Service members and their families in the RC. A one-time collection is the lowest frequency possible to create an informed strategy for the implementation of TFF, as required in Senate Report 113-85.

7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

A 60-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Friday, September 22, 2017. The 60-Day FRN citation is 82 FRN 44395.

No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.

A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Wednesday, December 27, 2017. The 30-Day FRN citation is 82 FRN 61274.

Part B: CONSULTATION

To conduct this collection, the BHMC pilot team consulted internally amongst their representative organizations regarding the availability of requested information, as well as the following organizations: Defense Health Agency, Manpower and Reserve Affairs for each Service, the Military OneSource program within MC&FP, and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. The BHMC pilot also consulted the Adjutant Generals (TAG) of each pilot state. The TAG reports to the state governor and may be able to shed light on state programs, priorities, and policies impacting well-being and readiness of Service members and their families.

9. Gifts or Payment

No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.

10. Confidentiality

The evaluation team will transcribe handwritten interview notes into an electronic template and these electronic documents, which contain no personally identifying information will be retained in a secure, password-protected data repository until completion of the BHMC project. Upon completion of the BHMC project all data documents with transcribed interview notes will be permanently deleted.

A Privacy Act Statement is not required for this collection because we are not requesting individuals to furnish personal information for a system of records.

A System of Record Notice (SORN) is not required for this collection because records are not retrievable by PII.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is not required for this collection because PII is not being collected electronically.

11. Sensitive Questions

No questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.

12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs

a. Estimation of Respondent Burden

1. Interviews for Building Healthy Military Communities Pilot –Rapid Needs Assessment. (OMB No. 0704-AAKS)

a. Number of Respondents: 280

b. Number of Responses per Respondent: 1

c. Number of Total Annual Responses: 280

d. Response Time: 90 minutes or 1.50 hours

e. Respondent Burden Hours: 420 hours

2. Total Submission Burden

a. Total Number of Respondents: 280

b. Total Number of Annual Responses: 280

c. Total Respondent Burden Hours: 420 hours

b. Labor Cost of Respondent Burden

1. Interviews for Building Healthy Military Communities Pilot –Rapid Needs Assessment. (OMB No. 0704-AAKS)

a. Number of Total Annual Responses: 280

b. Response Time: 420 Hours

c. Respondent Hourly Wage: $31.10

d. Labor Burden per Response: $46.65

e. Total Labor Burden: $13,062

2. Overall Labor Burden

a. Total Number of Annual Responses: 280

b. Total Labor Burden: $13,062

The Respondent hourly wage was determined by using the Department of Labor Wage Website (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/index.htm, 2016).

13. Respondent Costs Other than Burden Hour Costs

There are no additional costs other than labor burden to the respondents (see section 12).

14. Cost to the Federal Government

a. Labor Cost to the Federal Government

1. Interviews for Building Healthy Military Communities Pilot –Rapid Needs Assessment. (OMB No. 0704-AAKS)

a. Number of Total Annual Responses: 280

b. Processing Time per Response: 1.5 hours

c. Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $45.54

d. Cost to Process Each Response: $ 68.31

e. Total Cost to Process Responses: $ 19,126.8

2. Overall Labor Burden to Federal Government

a. Total Number of Annual Responses: 280

b. Total Labor Burden: $19,126.8

b. Operational and Maintenance Costs

1. Equipment: $0

2. Printing: $1,650

3. Postage: $0

4. Software Purchases: $0

5. Licensing Costs: $0

6. Other: $858,393.20 (Contracting Fees), $152,845.26 (Travel Costs)

g. Total: $1,012,888.46

1. Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $ 1,012,888.46

2. Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $ $19,126.8

3. Total Cost to the Federal Government: $ 1,032,015.26

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

This is a new collection with a new associated burden.

16. Publication of Results

The results of this information collection are not intended to be published, but may be made available for public awareness through proper approval channels within the DoD.

17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.

18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.