0524-NEW 4-H Conference Forms Supp. Stmt. A 12.11.23v2

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture

National 4-H Conference Registration Form, Leadership Position Interest Form, and Scholarship Interest Form

OMB No. 0524-NEW

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY

This is a new information collection intended to support the successful planning and delivery of activities associated with the National 4-H Conference. This supporting statement provides descriptions of the rationale, procedures, and burden calculations associated with registration, leadership interest, and scholarship awards for the conference.

The National 4-H Conference is administered by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA has determined that the Conference is reasonably and logically related to carrying out its statutory authority under Section 7511(f)(2) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), as amended.

The National 4-H Conference is known as the “Secretary’s Conference” and has been the flagship youth development opportunity of USDA since 1927. The objectives of the National 4-H Conference are to: develop the next generation of leaders; increase youth familiarity with the government and future career opportunities; and provide an opportunity for young people involved in 4-H in rural, urban, and Tribal communities to share their voice on a national level with the federal government through a Youth Perspective Briefing. The USDA NIFA National 4-H Conference is requesting to issue forms once a year for the annually held National 4-H Conference.

2. HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED

USDA NIFA exercises overall oversight and development of the program for the National 4-H Conference and entered into a Cooperative Agreement with S. Stewart and Associates, Inc. on logistics, authorized under 7 U.S.C. 3318 and award 2022-38811-38005, to provide the required goods and services to ensure the National 4-H Conference is successful at achieving its objectives. The information collected is used by NIFA and the logistics company to ensure youth and adults who would like to attend, serve in leadership, or apply for a scholarship role at the National 4-H Conference can be contacted, submit activity and dietary preferences, meet eligibility requirements, and provide the permissions required by law such as parental/guardian consent.

USDA is committed to providing a safe and secure environment where youth can participate and learn while preparing for and participating in the National 4-H Conference. This information collection is necessary for USDA NIFA to safely operate, improve, and promote the National 4-H Conference. The collection of information aligns with NIFA’s Division of Youth and 4-H’s Risk Management Policy at National 4-H Conference. While the policies primarily protect minors, they also serve to protect adults who work with minors.

All land-grant colleges and universities are invited to select and send high school aged 4-H members along with adult chaperones to the National 4-H Conference. Each is encouraged to partner within their state to select a diverse state delegation based on age, background, geographic distribution, and/or experience with the 4-H program. The selected youth must be 15 to 19 years old during the dates in which the National 4-H Conference is held to participate.

Registration Form

It is the responsibility of each land-grant university to register their state delegation by submitting a Registration Form for each participant, whether a youth delegate or adult chaperone, to event organizers.

The collected personal data may include:

a. registration information (such as name, grade level, age or age range, the 4-H program with which the participant is involved, t-shirt size, etc.)

b. contact information (email, address, phone number, or mailing address)

c. health and dietary information (such as food allergies or dietary restrictions)

d. contact information of a parent, guardian, or a consenting participant (such as name, address, email address, phone number, etc.)

e. demographic information (such as race, ethnicity, etc.)

f. name badge information (such as nickname, affiliated land-grant college or university, etc.)

g. activity preferences (such as workshops, service project, or roundtable topics)

Each youth delegate and adult chaperone must fill out the required sections of the Registration Form and certify they have read, understand, and agree to adhere to the National 4-H Conference Code of Conduct, which is outlined in the Delegate Handbook. The Registration Form is used to track if the various consents are received to the items listed below. Participants who do not provide any of the listed consents will still be able to participate in National 4-H Conference. An individual’s consent will be honored throughout all aspects of the National 4-H Conference activities and data processing.

The Registration Form includes boxes to provide the following consents:

1. consent to communicate with participants under 18 years of age (such as email address, phone number or mailing address). This consent allows NIFA’s 4-H Program Coordinators to communicate with minors about conference activities and events.

2. consent to share, feature and/or publish content that identify or can identify the participant (such as essays, stories, notes, artwork, photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, etc.). This consent allows NIFA’s Office of Public Affairs and other federal agencies to post official photos, stories, or audio of participants to tell the story, share the impacts and promote National 4-H Conference.

3. consent to share demographic information and/or participate in observations, evaluations or feedback for data processing or optional reporting (such as assessments or formal observations) This consent allows NIFA’s third party evaluator to compile demographic information of youth attendees and collect their feedback about their conference experience. The information is kept anonymous and aggregated. This work is supported by the AFRI EWD, Food and Agriculture Nonformal Education CEEY Priority Area, project award number 2022-67037-36130. USDA NIFA awarded a grant to National 4-H Council through AFRI grant funding to conduct the evaluation for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 National 4-H Conferences. The Evaluation Team of Jill Lingard, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Wendy Hein, Oregon State University developed a conference Theory of Change, Theory of Action, and Evaluation plan to analyze the conference over this period. Methods included qualitative and quantitative evaluation of participant gains in Positive Youth Development, partner surveys, and a deeper investigation into the inclusivity of the conference. The information assists NIFA with determining improvement for future conferences.

4. consent to transport participants in authorized vehicles to and from activities (such as community service, 4-H flag raising ceremony, federal agencies, monument tours, etc.). This consent allows NIFA’s Cooperator (S. Stewart & Associates, Inc.) for National 4-H Conference under award 2022-38811-38005 to transport registrants to and from the conference hotel to off-site events.

Leadership Position Interest Form

Additionally, those interested may also fill out the Leadership Position Interest Form to voluntarily serve in a leadership position at the National 4-H Conference. Youth and adults can apply to be considered for a position on the 1) Youth Leadership Team (YLT) as a youth or adult advisor to the YLT or 2) Roundtables as a Collegiate Facilitator or adult advisor to the Collegiate Facilitators. NIFA 4-H Program Coordinators will use the information collected on this form to determine participant interest, suitability, and eligibility to serve on the National 4-H Conference leadership team as well as convene and communicate with those selected on planning and implementation activities. The collected data specific to the leadership position interest form may include:

a. registration information (such as name, grade level, age or age range, the leadership position the registrant is interested in)

b. contact information (email, address, phone number, or mailing address)

c. 4-H program information (such as number of years of participation in 4-H, which land-grant university the registrant’s 4-H program is associated with, which college the registrant attends, whether the registrant has attended a 4-H conference previously or has served on other national 4-H teams.)

e. demographic information (such as race, ethnicity, etc.)

f. references

g. narrative answers for leadership candidates requesting candidates describe why they would like to serve as part of the leadership team for the National 4-H Conference

Scholarship Interest Form

Land-grant universities requesting financial assistance for youth or adult chaperones to attend the National 4-H Conference must fill out the Scholarship Interest Form and submit to USDA NIFA through email. The Scholarship Interest Form is utilized to select suitable candidates for specific scholarship awards. The collected data specific to the scholarship interest form may include:

a. registration information (such as name, grade level, age or age range, the leadership position the registrant is interested in)

b. contact information (email, address, phone number, or mailing address)

c. 4-H program information (such as number of years of participation in 4-H, which land-grant university the registrant’s 4-H program is associated with, and whether the registrant has attended a 4-H conference previously)

e. demographic information (such as race, ethnicity, etc.)

f. references

g. narrative questions for youth participants requesting scholarship applicants to describe interest in attending the conference, experience in civic engagement,

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

The forms will be posted on USDA NIFA’s National 4-H Conference website and submitted to NIFA through email or a registration system website. The registration system will utilize mechanisms that reduce the amount of time and effort needed to complete the survey by showing certain questions based on earlier answers provided. This mechanism will ensure that respondents are not asked any irrelevant questions.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

No duplication is involved. There is no similar information available which can be used or modified to meet the information needs of this program. The information requested is specific to the National 4-H Conference.

5. METHODS TO MINIMIZE BUDGET OF SMALL BUSINESSES OR ENTITIES

All respondents are individuals, not small businesses or entities. A concentrated effort has been made to ensure that the forms only collect data of importance and do not collect unnecessary information in an effort to prevent overburdening the individuals that would respond.

6. CONSEQUENCE IF INFORMATION COLLECTION WERE LESS FREQUENT

If NIFA were unable to collect this data, then the USDA NIFA National 4-H Conference would be unable to support the successful planning and delivery of activities associated with the National 4-H Conference. The information to be collected is essential in providing the necessary instructions and paperwork to eligible registrants who would like to attend or serve in a leadership role at the National 4-H Conference. The information must be collected annually since attendees and individuals serving in leadership roles are not the same year to year.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR INFORMATION COLLECTION

There are no special circumstances for this collection.

8. FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE

The notice of this information collection appeared in the Federal Register on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, Vol. 87, No. 40 (88 FR 12910). No comments were received.

CONSULTATIONS WITH PERSONS OUTSIDE THE AGENCY

NIFA sought consultation outside the agency with the following individuals:

Brian Luckey, 4-H Youth Development Special Projects Manager

University of Nevada, Reno Extension

Email: bluckey@unr.edu

Earl McAlexander, Youth Program Specialist

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

Email: earlmc@iastate.edu

Morgan Beaty, 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent

University of Tennessee Extension

Email: mbeaty3@utk.edu

Tiffany Franklin, 4-H Youth Development Program Leader

Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Email: tiffany_franklin@suagcenter.com

These four individuals were chosen because they served in Adult Advisor leadership roles for the 2023 National 4-H Conference. The individuals also work for and represent Land-grant Universities which allowed them to provide input as the primary audience that will use the forms. As Adult Advisors for the leadership teams, they filled out leadership forms and registration forms and they reviewed leadership position forms by serving on the leadership selection committee. Stakeholders provided information related to time needed to complete the collection and suggestions to improve instructions and formatting. Suggestions included clarity on age requirements, clarity on steps to complete the form, adding additional questions to questionnaire, adding a birthdate field rather than age field, allowing applicants to select more than one leadership position to apply for, adding mailing address, as well as minor formatting changes for better data collection.

9. DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO RESPONDENTS, OTHER THAN REMUNERATION OF CONTRACTORS OR GRANTEES

The agency does not provide payment or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS

Personal information about minors is collected only if necessary and destroyed in accordance with USDA’s document retention policies and the Federal Records Act. Personal information is not being collected for any purpose other than the National 4-H Conference. USDA does not collect information for commercial marketing.

NIFA consulted with REE Privacy Act Officer, who confirmed that privacy information collected as a part of this information collection is covered by the USDA/NIFA-1 Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Systems of Record Notice (SORN), 83 FR 10423, March 9, 2018.

11. QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE

Optional demographic information is collected to inform USDA NIFA’s understanding of diversity and inclusion among the conference attendees, scholarship recipients, and leadership positions of the National 4-H Conference. Reasonable accommodation requests are collected to provide accessibility services to attendees. Dietary restrictions are collected to provide appropriate meals for attendees.

12. ESTIMATE OF BURDEN

Public reporting burden for the collection of information the survey is estimated to average one hour per response. Respondents include 4-H youth and 4-H professionals from land-grant universities and colleges. The total number of estimated respondents is

400; of the 400 respondents, NIFA anticipates that 200 respondents will also fill out the scholarship form and 100 respondents will fill out the leadership form.

Registration Form

Estimated number of respondents: 400

Estimated number of responses per respondent: 1

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 400 hours

Scholarship Interest Form

Estimated number of respondents: 200

Estimated number of responses per respondent: 1

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 200 hours

Leadership Interest Form

Estimated number of respondents: 100

Estimated number of responses per respondent: 1

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 100 hours

TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS OR RECORDKEEPERS.

For the USDA NIFA National 4-H Conference Forms

	Avg. Hourly Wage	Avg. Hours/Form	Total	Total Form/year	Total Yearly Cost
Youth, high school and college age	$19.31	1	$19.31	500	$9,655
Adult, 4-H Youth Development Staff	$42.06	1	$42.06	200	$8,412

ANNUALIZED COSTS TO RESPONDENTS

The estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents for the collection of information is $18,067.00. This assumes a $19.31 per hour salary (federal minimum wage plus benefits) of the youth respondents and $42.06 per hour salary for adult respondents. Average Hourly Wage was calculated using BLS mean salaries for federal minimum wage (youth) and school and career counselors and advisors (adults). These estimates account for the cost of fringe benefits for the respondents.

13. CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS

There are no capital or startup costs.

14. ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Estimated NIFA staff time and review costs using GS 7 step 5, GS 12 step 5 and GS 15 Step 5:

	Avg. Hourly Wage*	Avg. Hours/Form	Total	Total Form/year	Total Yearly Cost
GS 7, Step 5	$25.72	0.25	$6.43	700	$4,501.00
GS 12, Step 5	$45.63	0.25	$11.41	700	$7,987.00
GS 15, Step 5	$75.42	0.25	$18.86	700	$13,202.00

*Dollar amounts derived from the 2023 Federal Pay Tables for Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS assuming each a step 5 annual salary for each GS level listed.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

This is an existing collection in use without a valid OMB control number.

NIFA grant programs support the annual 4-H Conference, which requires the registration forms in this collection. In the process of reviewing the current 4-H procedures, it was discovered that NIFA did not have an approved OMB Control number for the required conference registration forms. As soon as this became apparent, NIFA immediately began the ICR process to bring this information collection into compliance with the PRA.

16. TABULATION, ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION PLANS

Only aggregate data will be shared for reporting purposes (i.e., total number of youth and adult attendees, universities represented, demographic attendance trends). All other information collected is used solely to administer the program.

17. SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB APPROVAL ON FORM

The Agency is not seeking approval to not display the expiration date of OMB approval of the information collection.

18. EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-1

None.

10