Fitness for Work Change Memo 2.8.2023

February 7, 2023

TO: Laurel Havas, OMB Desk Officer

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

THROUGH: Jamia Franklin, FNS Information Collection Officer

Planning and Regulatory Affairs

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

Ruth Brown, OCIO Desk Officer

Information Management Division

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

FROM: Amanda Wyant, Social Science Research Analyst

SNAP Research and Evaluation Division

Office of Policy Support

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

SUBJECT: Justification for Non-Substantive Change to OMB Control No: 0584-0675 Assessing SNAP Participants’ Fitness for Work to add a reminder email that was inadvertently excluded and has no effect on burden.

FNS is requesting a non-substantive change to the previously approved collection, Assessing SNAP Participants’ Fitness for Work, (OMB Control No. 0584-0675, exp. 09/30/2025).

The findings from this study will provide FNS with valuable insights into how States develop and implement policies and procedures for making fitness for work determinations. This information can help FNS assess States’ needs for technical assistance around fitness for work issues and identify lessons learned to share across all State SNAP agencies.

The change is needed so that we can fully finish data collection with the use of a reminder email that was inadvertently excluded and has no effect on burden. The language of the email is copied and pasted below:

Subject: [Meeting Request!] Survey of State SNAP agencies about exemptions from work requirements and good cause

Dear [Respondent Name],

We are reaching out about a survey being conducted as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) research study to better understand how States determine whether individuals are exempted from work requirements or have good cause for not meeting work requirements due to a physical or mental limitation. This survey will help provide accurate and useful insights to help FNS assess States’ needs for technical assistance and identify lessons learned to share across all State SNAP agencies.

We have already received responses from almost all other State SNAP agencies, and the Survey officially closed on February 1^st. FNS’s goal is to obtain a response from every State. To ensure your state is represented, we hope to schedule a Zoom call with you to walk through this survey and record your answers. We envision the survey taking approximately 60 minutes to conduct, and we are available to meet on these dates/times:

• Date: Times

• Date: Times

Alternatively, if you would like to complete the survey independently please visit the link below to take the survey or share it with another staff person in your agency who may be better able to answer questions on your State’s processes for determining physical or mental limitations. This survey should take no more than 60 minutes to complete. We ask that you complete the survey within a week.

Personalized link: [link]

If you need additional information about the purpose of the study, please contact Amanda Wyant at amanda.wyant@usda.gov. If you have questions about or need assistance with the web survey, call 703-838-2724 or email us at snapsurveys@mefassociates.com.

Best,

[NAME]

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service in understanding how States assess physical or mental limitations when screening for exemptions from work requirements or determining good cause. This is a voluntary collection and FNS will use the information to determine needs for technical assistance. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584- 0675. The time required to read this information is estimated to average .0357 hours or approximately 2 minutes per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22306 ATTN: PRA (0584- 0675). Do not return the completed form to this address.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Jamia Franklin, FNS Information Collection Clearance Officer for the Food and Nutrition Service, Planning & Regulatory Affairs Office at (703) 305-2403.

Attachments:

Meeting Request Email for Survey Calls