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Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number: 2511-0001)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: HUD Discrimination Complaints CX Research

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION:

As a High Impact Service Provider (HISP), HUD aims to improve the FHEO complaint process, which is HUD’s channel for enforcing the Fair Housing Act. To surface potential actions that HUD/FHEO can take to improve the housing discrimination complaint process, HUD is seeking to gather input directly from previous complainants from protected classes. Data gathered during conversations with individual members of the public will be used to inform what actions HUD and FHEO might take to make targeted customer experience improvements for those filing housing discrimination complaints. Key learnings may be used to produce design artifacts such as user personas or journey maps that, in turn, will serve to inform decision-making for general service improvement and program management purposes.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[ X] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups)

[ ] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] User Testing

ACTIVITY DETAILS

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

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

[ X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ X] Other, Explain

2. Who will you collect the information from?

Explain who will be interviewed and why the group is appropriate for the Federal program / service to connect with. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and if only a sample will be solicited for feedback, how you will select them(e.g., anyone who provided an email address to a call center rep, a representative sample of Veterans who received outpatient services in May 2019, do you have a list of customers to reach out to (e.g., a CRM database that has the contact information, intercept interviews at a particular field office?)

To answer our research question (what is the FHEO housing discrimination complaint process like for complainants?), HUD is seeking to speak directly to individuals who meet the following criteria:

• Have previously filed a complaint stating they have been or will be harmed by a discriminatory housing practice

• Are 18 years of age or older

Participants will come from a diverse range of:

• Ages

• Locations

• Disability Statuses

• Languages

• Completion Dispositions

• Races

• Colors

• National Origins

• Religions

• Genders, Gender Identities, Sexual Orientations

• Familial Statuses

• Disabilities

HUD will pull data from the HEMS database of previous complainants for the initial sample. Discrimination cases that are still open will not be included in the research. Selected individuals from the HEMS database will contacted by HUD’s research to team to schedule a one-on-one interview or focus group discussion.

If additional individuals are needed for research, HUD will work closely with partner organizations (Public Housing Agencies, Housing Counseling Agencies, nonprofits) to identify individuals who may be interested in participating in this effort.

3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

(e.g., after an application is submitted online, the final screen will present the opportunity to provide feedback by presenting a link to a feedback form / an actual feedback form)

All participants from the HEMS database meet the criteria for the research, therefore a screener will not be used. Potential participants will be contacted by email or phone and invited to participate in the research. After signing up for a conversation using an online scheduling tool, an online consent and demographics form will be sent to participants. Participants will also be given the opportunity to consent verbally at the beginning of our conversation with them. The demographics portion of the form is voluntary and anonymous. It will collect additional information to ensure that we speak to people from a diverse range of backgrounds (e.g., gender, location – i.e., state, where they live – i.e., rural/urban/suburbs, age range, education, race/ethnicity, income range, active duty/veteran status, disability status, LGBTQ status, etc.).

4. What will the activity look like?

Describe the information collection activity – e.g. what happens when a person agrees to participate? Will facilitators or interviewers be used? What’s the format of the interview/focus group? If a survey, describe the overall survey layout/length/other details? If User Testing, what actions will you observe / how will you have respondents interact with a product you need feedback on?

Information collection activities will include semi-structured one-on-one hour-long conversations and, if needed, hour-long focus groups. These activities will be led by facilitators from HUD’s Customer Experience Team (including Booz Allen contractors), FHEO employees, and Presidential Management Fellows (detailed to the project). As appropriate, a HUD interpreter will help facilitate conversations.

It is not the intent to ask participants a standardized set of questions. Instead, participants will engage in a loosely guided conversation with facilitators in which they will be asked to share their lived experiences and opinions related to a set of topics. Specific question phrasing and areas of deeper exploration will be determined on an ad hoc basis by facilitators during the conversation. Facilitators will cover key areas of participant’s lived experience to unearth their experiences related to the housing discrimination complaint process. A dedicated facilitator will sit in on the interviews and capture participant feedback using a note taking template. Direct quotes will be captured through notetaking and the Zoom interviews will not be audio or video recorded.

5. Please provide your question list.

Paste here the questions or prompts presented to participants in your activity. If you have an interview / facilitator guide, that can be attached to the submission and referenced here.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

• Initial outreach language (see attached)

• Informed consent and demographics form (see attached)

• Facilitator/Discussion guide (see attached)

6. When will the activity happen?

Describe the time frame or number of events that will occur (e.g., We will conduct focus groups on May 13,14,15, We plan to conduct customer intercept interviews over the course of the Summer at the field offices identified in response to #2 based on scheduling logistics concluding by Sept. 10^th, or “This survey will remain on our website in alignment with the timing of the overall clearance.”)

These activities will take place from March-June of 2022.

7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [ X] No

If Yes, describe:

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Scheduling	40	5 minutes	3.33
Consent and Demographics Form	40	10 minutes	6.66
Interview	40	60 minutes	50.00
Totals	40	1.25 hours	60

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

4. Any 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 near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes

7. Upon agreement between OMB and the agency aggregated data may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 requirements only on performance.gov. Summaries of customer research and user testing activities may be included in public-facing customer journey maps.

8. Additional release of data will be coordinated with OMB.

Name: Amber Chaudhry, Lead Customer Experience Strategist, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Customer Experience team

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 2511-0001

Expiration Date: 09/30/2024

HELP SHEET

(OMB Control Number: 2511-0001)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

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