FastTrack GenIC - TANF Data Collab Feedback

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0970-0401)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Feedback on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data Collaborative Pilot

PURPOSE: The TANF Data Collaborative is part of the larger TANF Data Innovations (TDI) project funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) and Office of Family Assistance (OFA). The 30-month TANF Data Collaborative pilot program supports government employees who work with the TANF program to use their own data to answer program and policy questions. This information collection is proposed to request feedback about their experiences with the pilot program to date.

OPRE is planning a virtual cross-pilot convening in April 2022 and proposes to host small group discussions to collect feedback about what participants have learned throughout the pilot as they conduct their data analytics projects. In addition, we propose to administer a customer satisfaction survey to the same individual pilot participants immediately following two upcoming monthly webinars. The surveys will gather feedback from participants to inform the design and delivery of subsequent pilot activities.

The information collected will be exclusively qualitative. ACF will use the information internally to improve the pilot program. It may also be included in the final, public project report to describe participants’ feedback and their experience with the pilot. Any written material containing information from this collection will communicate the qualitative nature of the information collected and indicate that any information or data collected is not generalizable to all participants in the TANF Data Collaborative.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Individuals who are government employees who work with the TANF program in their state or county and have been active participants in the pilot program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION:

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [X] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other:

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The primary purpose of the results is not for public dissemination.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name and affiliation: Nicole Deterding, Lead Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families 

To assist review, please provide answers to the following questions:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Information Collection	Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Estimated Time per Response	Burden Hours
Virtual convening small group discussion	Individuals	40 {8 teams*5 members}	1	1 hour {60 min}	40
Webinar survey template	Individuals	20 {assumes 50% of total team members (40) attend each monthly webinar and 50% response rate (10) x 2 webinars}	1	.10 hour {6 min}	2
Totals		40			42

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government for data collection activities under this current request will be $3,365. The estimate includes the costs of project staff time on facilitating the virtual small group discussions and administering the web-based webinar survey.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The universe of potential respondents are individuals who are government employees who work with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in their state or county and are members of the eight pilot agency teams participating in this pilot program. We will not sample from this universe but will invite all who attend the April virtual convening to join the small group discussion. We anticipate having approximately 40 individuals in total (8 pilot teams * 5 staff per team) participate in the small group discussion.

The same individuals who participate in the small group discussion will attend each monthly webinar. We will invite all webinar attendees to respond to the survey. We estimate that 20 individuals will respond to the webinar customer satisfaction surveys.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone and video in virtual small group discussions

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No MDRC staff are the facilitators.

Two attachments are included:

• Virtual convening small group discussion

• Webinar survey template