SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Grant
Request Automated Submissions Program (GRASP) – DS-573, DS-574,
DS-575, DS-576, DS-577
OMB Number 1405-0036
Why is this collection necessary and what are the legal statutes that allow this?
The Office of Overseas Schools of the Department of State (A/OPR/OS) is responsible for determining that adequate educational opportunities exist at Foreign Service Posts for dependents of U.S. Government personnel stationed abroad, and for assisting American-sponsored overseas schools to demonstrate U.S. educational philosophy and practice. With a professional staff of six Regional Education Officers to carry out these objectives at more than 230 Foreign Service Posts and involving 193 overseas schools, it is essential that current comprehensive information regarding the schools be available so that A/OPR/OS can advise the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies, parents and students, and the private sector regarding overseas schooling and judge the need for and utility of various types of assistance to overseas schools.
The legal requirements that authorize the function of A/OPR/OS and thereby authorize the collection of information are the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as amended), and the Mutual Educational and Cultural Affairs Act of 1961 (as amended), and the Department of State Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as amended by the Foreign Service Act of 1980, PL 96-465.
What business purpose is the information gathered going to be used for?
Availability of adequate educational opportunities for dependents of Government personnel is essential to the task of recruiting, placing, and retaining of Foreign Service personnel at overseas posts. The information gathered enables the Office of Overseas Schools to advise the Department and other foreign affairs agencies regarding current and constantly-changing conditions, and enables A/OPR/OS to make judgments regarding assistance to schools for the improvement of educational opportunities. Without such information it would not be possible for the U.S. Government to recruit, place, and retain personnel at overseas posts
Is this collection able to be completed electronically (e.g. through a website or application)?
Information is collected via electronic media. Currently all 193 schools submitting requests for assistance, do so via GRASP software. The software was placed on Google Drive to make accessibility easier for respondents. Once accessed, the GRASP software is downloaded, the GRASP software installs the GRASP program. The GRASP program has the ability to “roll over” static data and only update changed data, which has resulted in a lessening of the burden on respondents.
Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information?
No other agency gathers information from these schools. Information gathered by A/OPR/OS is used by all Federal foreign affairs agencies. The information is not available from any other source and requires updating on an annual basis.
Describe any impacts on small business.
Methods used to minimize burden for small entities are the same as those described in paragraph 3 above.
What are consequences if this collection is not done?
As noted above, current information is necessary for A/OPR/OS to be knowledgeable about schools and school programs. GRASP provides basic information about the school, its enrollment, staff, program, and budget, which is necessary for appraisal of each school seeking assistance to determine the extent of assistance required and whether the criteria governing assistance are met. The task could not be fulfilled if data were collected less frequently than annually.
Are there any special collection circumstances?
There are no special circumstances exists that would cause an information collection to be conducted more than quarterly, require fewer than 30 days to provide information, require submission of more than original documents, require maintenance of special records, be in connection with a statistical survey, require the use of statistical data, include a pledge of confidentiality, or require respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets.
Document publication (or intent to publish) a request for public comments in the Federal Register
The Department of State, Overseas Schools, will solicit public comments by publishing a 30-day request for comment in the Federal Register.
Are payments or gifts given to the respondents?
No payment is made to respondents other than grants awarded based on data contained in submission.
Describe assurances of privacy/confidentiality
There are no assurances of confidentiality given.
Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked?
The form solicits information of a commercial nature and does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection
Currently there are 193 respondents, the frequency of response is annual, the time burden is 90 minutes, and the annual hour burden is 289.5 (193 x 90, divided by 60). The burden estimate is based on informal consultation with several respondents. The burden estimate for the DS-573 is 15 minutes, the DS-574 is 25 minutes, the DS-575 is 25 minutes and the DS-576 is 30 minutes. The estimated average hourly wage for a school business manager (Other Office and Administrative Support workers) is $19.82i, multiplied by 1.4 = $27.748 (loaded/weighted wage calculator, multiplied by burden (90 minutes $41.622) multiplied by the number of respondents (193) gives a monetized time burden of $8,033.046.
Describe the monetary burden to respondents (out of pocket costs) needed to complete this collection.
There is no monetary burden on the respondent.
Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.
The estimated burden to the Federal Government is $8,033.046.
The Federal Government estimate is based on the number of responses (193) and the average hourly processing time (15 minutes for Post and 30 minutes for Office of Overseas Schools for a total of 45 minutes) = 144.75 minutes, times the average hourly salaries for post and the Office of Overseas schools.
Post:
Average hourly processing time (.15 hour) x 193 = 48.25 hours
Hourly salary of an FS-03/5 Management Officer ($46.75)ii x 48.25 = $2,256 rounded
Office of Overseas Schools:
Average hourly processing time (30 minutes) x 193 = 96.5
Hourly salary of a GS-12/5 Program Analyst ($46.88)iii x 96.5 = $4,524 rounded
Total = $2,256 + 4,524 = $6,780.00
Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission
This collection represents a decrease in the number of respondents as there were fewer schools requesting a grant.
Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published.
Data gathered by this collection is not published.
If applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date.
The Department will display the OMB expiration date.
There is no exception to the OMB Statement
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
i This information was obtained from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics
ii This information was obtained from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
iii This information was obtained from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR |
| Author | USDOS |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-05-08 |