SIF Data Collection Justification

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSIONS

 

A. Justification

A1.  Need for Information Collection

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) awards grants to states, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, Indian tribes, and U.S. Territories to operate AmeriCorps State, AmeriCorps National, AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps VISTA, Social Innovation Fund and Senior Corps programs. This information collection comprises the information that grantees provide as part of ongoing program monitoring and reporting.

A2.  Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used.

Grantees respond to the information requested to report on progress towards the requirements and goals of their Social Innovation Fund grants. The Social Innovation Fund will use the information collection to monitor ongoing progress of the grantees, inform portfolio management and technical assistance, and to inform stakeholders about the progress of the Social Innovation Fund portfolio.

 

 A3.  Minimize Burden: Use of Improved Technology to Reduce Burden

CNCS will be eliciting and accepting applicants’ response to these questions electronically via eGrants the CNCS’ secure online grants management system and via an excel workbook, which grantees have indicated a preference for reporting in terms of reducing burden.

A4.  Non-Duplication

There are no other sources of information by which CNCS can meet the purposes described in A2 (above).

 

A5.  Minimizing for economic burden for small businesses or other small entities.

This collection of information does not impact small businesses because they are not eligible to apply for 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 reducing the frequency of reporting from quarterly to biannually, clarifying the way in which we ask for financial information, and only asking for the information absolutely necessary to assess an organization’s progress towards fulfilling its goals within the Social Innovation Fund grant.

A6.  Consequences of the collection if not conducted, conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

 

The Corporation will be unable to monitor the progress of grantees to ensure they are meeting the goals and requirements of the Social Innovation Fund program.

A7.  Special circumstances that would cause information collection to be collected in a manner requiring respondents to report more often than quarterly; report in fewer than 30 days after receipt of the request; submit more than an original and two copies; retain records for more than three years; and other ways specified in the Instructions focused on statistical methods, confidentially, and proprietary trade secrets.

There are no special circumstances that would require the collection of information in these ways.

A8.  Provide copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the Agency’s notice. Summarize comments received and actions taken in response to comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.

The 60 day Notice soliciting comments was published on Tuesday, August 13, 2013 on page 41386. This comment period ended September 9, 2013. We received one comment from the public regarding the potential additional burden of collecting the information quarterly and of collecting performance measures by subgrantees, and that some of the information to be collected was duplicative. We have addressed those comments in the following ways: First, only first year grantees will submit progress reports quarterly. All other grantees will submit progress reports on a biannual basis. Second, we will not be collecting performance measures by subgrantees and will continue to collect performance measures in aggregate by the intermediary. Finally, grantees will no longer submit performance measures via the project plan in eGrants, but will provide that information in one place in the data supplement, preventing duplication per the concerns of the commenter.

 

 A9.  Payment to Respondents

There are no payments or gifts to respondents

  

A10.  Assurance of Confidentiality and its basis in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

Your responses to this information collection will remain private to the extent permitted by law.

A11.  Sensitive Questions

 

The information collection does not include questions of a sensitive nature.

 

A12. Hour burden of the collection

We expect approximately 27 respondents to use these instructions to complete their progress reports. The frequency of response will not be greater quarterly for first year grantees and biannually for other grantees. The estimated time per response is three hours, with estimated total burden hours being 81.

 

A13. Cost burden to the respondent

There is no cost to the respondent.

 

A14. Cost to Government

There are no additional costs to the Government.

A15. Reasons for program changes or adjustments in burden or cost.

Not applicable.

 

 A16.  Publication of results

Some information from progress reports may be published as part of knowledge sharing products as required by the Social Innovation Fund.  

 

A17.  Explain the reason for seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.

Not applicable.

 

 A18.  Exceptions to the certification statement

There are no exceptions to the certification statement in the submitted ROCIS form.

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