ACS COVID Study_SSA
ACS COVID Study_SSA.docx
AmeriCorps Seniors Programs COVID Effects Evaluation
OMB: 3045-0200
Corporation for National and Community Service (dba AmeriCorps)
AmeriCorps Seniors Programs COVID Effects Evaluation
OMB Control Number 3045-NEW
Part A: Justification
Overview of Information Collection:
This is a request for approval of a New Collection for the AmeriCorps Seniors program. This information collection includes five survey instruments (one for current volunteers, one for former volunteers, one for station staff, one for Senior Corps Program (SCP) caregivers, and one for Senior Corps Program (SCP) independent living clients), and four interview/focus group instruments. Together, the information collection will allow AmeriCorps to assess the well-being of AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers and communities served and examine current programmatic structure and service delivery processes that grantees and their host sites may have put in place in response to shifts in social, economic, and health due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The information collection will include AmeriCorps Seniors’ three traditional programs: Foster Grandparents Program (FGP), Senior Companion Program (SCP), and Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP); and the Senior Demonstration Program (SDP) which are projects funded under the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
Title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq., which authorizes the AmeriCorps Seniors programs, directs AmeriCorps to assess the impact and effectiveness of these AmeriCorps Seniors programs at least once every three years [Sec. 5056(a)]. The last national evaluation of AmeriCorps Seniors programs was completed in September 2018. Furthermore, in adhering to the 2019 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (FEBP) of 2018, 5 U.S.C. 311 et seq., AmeriCorps outlined a commitment to building an evidence base to inform decision-making and the allocation of resources in the agency’s strategic planning and Learning Agenda. The information collection is necessary to evaluate how participation in AmeriCorps Seniors promotes healthy aging among its older adult volunteers and how the program effectively responded to a public health emergency to address shifting community needs while maintaining the benefits to the volunteers who serve these communities.
Need for the Evaluation
In addition to the legal requirement to assess the AmeriCorps Seniors programs every three years, the public health emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) is the catalyst that triggered an immediate need for a national evaluation of older adult volunteers.
There is robust empirical evidence from independent researchers and national evaluations funded by AmeriCorps prior to COVID-19 showing that AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers reap health benefits from service; and there are social, economic, and health benefits to the constituents the volunteers serve (e.g., caregivers who receive respite services; children who receive support to improve academic performance, school attendance, and study habits). Since COVID-19, emerging studies have focused on physical health in relation to older adult volunteers and the pandemic, but most studies about the effects of COVID-19 and older adult volunteers focus on social and mental health impacts. The evidence suggests that volunteering provided an opportunity for older adults to be socially and physically active during the pandemic. Among older adults who were able to sustain or resume volunteering during the pandemic – there were benefits to mental health associated with volunteering.
It is widely documented that COVID-19 most adversely affected older adults resulting in widespread social isolation and disconnection. The organizations that provide volunteer opportunities for older adults found creative ways to work around physical health risks to serve their communities and devise processes to safely engage volunteers. The evidence also points to challenges of volunteering since the pandemic, such as competing priorities in adapting to the crisis, health risks for in-person volunteering, the digital divide that may affect older adults’ access to training and volunteering opportunities, and the limitations of human connection via virtual platforms. There are also possibilities that older adults were able and willing to adapt to changed circumstances and to determine appropriate levels of risks to sustain their engagement as volunteers.
There are gaps in the emerging research such as documenting and assessing the effectiveness of change in how older adults serve their communities and assessing the appropriate support and training organizations may need to ensure the continued success and effectiveness of AmeriCorps Seniors programs. It is also important to determine which of the changes in how older adults serve are effective, can be replicated, and adapted nationally.
In summary, the literature shows there is some evidence of the adaptability of social service programs both in terms of how these programs deliver services to their beneficiaries and engage their volunteers to deliver service within a tight budget. There is also evidence of the effects of health benefits to older adults who continue to volunteer through the pandemic. Through meetings and conversations, and grantee performance measurement reports, AmeriCorps Seniors has gathered anecdotal information that some of their grantees may have gone through a period of adjustment in response to the pandemic, while other grantees continued to operate their projects without adverse consequences to their ability to deliver services and recruiting volunteers. Besides the delivery of service to beneficiaries, there is information indicating that there is a decrease in the pool of older adult volunteers while social service programs are facing an increased need to serve the most vulnerable populations. The existing information is anecdotal and, hence, insufficient evidence on which AmeriCorps Seniors can make policy and programmatic adjustments to support grantees to be effective stewards of the Federal investment.
It is in this context that AmeriCorps ventures to gather the scientific evidence on how AmeriCorps Seniors grantees and volunteers have adjusted to the pandemic, assess their needs in serving their communities, and gather the data on the most effective approach to increase recruitment and retention of older adult volunteers to serve their communities.
The information collection includes the following instruments:
Current Volunteer Survey (self-administered paper survey): collects data on volunteers’ experience concerning stipend and benefits; volunteering commitment and hours served; how volunteers deliver services to beneficiaries in the community where they serve; volunteers' engagement with their community; motivation for volunteering; how they learn about AmeriCorps Seniors, and how long they plan to stay in the program; their satisfaction, mental health, and psychosocial health outcomes; and their service experience in the context of Covid-19.
Former Volunteer Survey (self-administered paper survey): collects data on former volunteers' overall experience concerning stipends and benefits; engagement with their community; reasons they stopped volunteering; their satisfaction, mental health, and psychosocial health outcomes; and their service experience in the context of COVID-19.
Station Staff Survey (online survey): collects data from AmeriCorps Seniors host sites (also known as station) staff on how volunteers deliver services in the community; staff role in recruiting and retaining volunteers; and the effects COVID-19 had on how volunteers deliver services, changes in services, and changes in volunteer recruitment and retention.
Caregiver Survey (self-administered paper survey): collects data from caregivers receiving respite services from a Senior Companion volunteer; the data collected includes service experience; satisfaction, mental health, and psychosocial health outcomes; and perception on whether COVID-19 affected the respite services received.
Independent Living Client Survey (self-administered paper survey): collects data from clients that receive companionship services from a Senior Companion volunteer; the data collected include service experience; their satisfaction, mental health, and psychosocial health outcomes; and their perception of whether COVID-19 affected the companionship services received.
Grantee Focus Group (virtual meeting):
Script for independent contractor to lead focus group discussion with AmeriCorps Seniors grantees; the discussion includes grantees’ perceptions of the stipend and benefits provided to volunteers; volunteer recruitment and retention strategies; perception of how Covid-19 affected project’s service delivery, and perception of the effects of Covid-19 on their program’s beneficiaries.
SDP Grantee Interview (virtual meeting):
Script for an independent contractor to lead an interview of SDP projects. The discussion will cover service delivery, partnership with stations, perception of how service delivery affects beneficiaries, volunteer satisfaction, and health and psychosocial outcomes.
SDP Station Staff Interview (virtual meeting):
Script for an independent contractor to lead an interview with AmeriCorps Seniors SDP station staff. The discussion will cover the station’s service activities and how the station delivers services to the community, perception of how service delivery affects beneficiaries, volunteer satisfaction, health, and psychosocial outcomes.
SDP Volunteer Interview (virtual meeting):
Script for an independent contractor to lead an interview with AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serving with the SDP program. The discussion will cover service experience and satisfaction, training and support provided, and their perception of the effects of COVID-19 on their volunteer experience.
AmeriCorps will use the information for regulatory compliance as discussed under A1, program administration, and inform policy and guidance affecting the agency’s grant funding. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the implementation of AmeriCorps' strategic goals has faced greater complexity and challenges, such as declining civic engagement, which negatively affects recruitment and retention of national service participants, unprecedented community needs which is exacerbated by reduced financial and labor resources to address these needs. The information will assist AmeriCorps in establishing strategic goals, performance targets, and guide innovation to address these complexities and challenges, and demonstrate program impacts on the volunteers, beneficiaries, and the communities the volunteers serve. Beyond the legislative requirements, the information collection with the SDP projects will provide evidence of implementation challenges and successes of the SDP projects as well as assess whether these projects can be scaled alongside AmeriCorps Seniors’ three traditional programs.
Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the implementation of AmeriCorps' strategic goals faces greater complexity and challenges, such as declining civic engagement, which negatively affects recruitment and retention of national service participants, unprecedented community needs which is exacerbated by reduced financial and labor resources to address these needs.
Beginning-to-end experience for respondents
FGP, SCP, RSVP Current and Former Volunteers will receive a paper survey distributed by their grantees. No learning costs are anticipated, as the survey is a scannable form. Any psychological costs will be minimal because the survey is optional to complete and there are no questions of an intrusive nature. Of the proposed questions, those on self-assessment of symptoms of depression, and loneliness may cause discomfort, but the listed reasons are written in a non-judgmental and objective manner.
FGP, SCP, RSVP Station Staff will receive a link to the survey via email. The surveys will be aggregated at the grantee level and will not contain any personal or attributable information.
Grantee and station staff will participate in focus groups and interviews and are not likely to experience any learning costs as the focus groups and interviews are in a meeting format. No psychological costs are anticipated as the individual representatives may decline to respond to any question.
SDP Volunteers will participate in interviews and are not likely to experience any learning costs as the interview is in a meeting format. No psychological costs are anticipated as the volunteer may decline to respond to any question.
AmeriCorps will disseminate the results as an agency report to Congress and with the public through its website. The data collection will inform agency policy. All published reports will protect privacy as no personally identifiable information will be collected.
Specific Research Questions the Study will Address
The information collection has four objectives, each with a set of research questions. The research questions under the first objective focus on gathering evidence of the effectiveness of the stipend and other benefits (e.g., health insurance, transportation) on the recruitment and retention of volunteers. The questions under the first objective are:
What are volunteers’ perceptions of the stipend and benefits?
How do volunteers use the stipend?
How important is the stipend in volunteers’ motivation to serve?
How does the stipend and benefits affect economic well-being (e.g., the ability to purchase certain goods that could have not been afforded otherwise)?
Is there an optimal stipend amount?
How do grantees use the stipend and benefits for their volunteer recruitment and retention strategies?
The evidence from this objective will inform discussion about changes in policies and program guidance on the stipend and other benefits set forth by AmeriCorps to support and strengthen grantees' recruitment and retention efforts.
The research questions under the second objective focus on gathering evidence on grantees’ current programmatic structure and service delivery processes, as well as the variation that exists across grantees and their stations. The questions under the second objective are:
What is the current mix of service delivery methods (e.g., in person, virtual, remote, socially distant)?
To what degree is virtual, remote, and socially distant service delivery methods permanent or transitory?
What factors contributed to grantees and stations’ ability to adjust their service delivery in response to Covid?
How do service delivery methods differ by geographic areas?
To what extent do service delivery methods differ by types of stations (e.g., focus areas, organization characteristics)?
To what extent do service delivery methods differ in communities with different levels of Covid infection?
To what extent do community Covid health outcomes and policy contribute to differences in service delivery methods by focus areas and grantee characteristics?
What are the barriers and facilitators to recruitment and retention across stations? What are the differences by station focus areas? To what extent does any shift in volunteer recruitment affect the station's capacity to serve beneficiaries and the communities?
The evidence from the third objective will inform how best to adjust policies and program guidance that lay the foundation for a flexible infrastructure that allows grantees and their stations to adeptly respond to changing community needs while remaining strong stewards of the Federal investment.
The third objective will inform the psychosocial health and mental health benefits to volunteers and the beneficiaries. The research questions are:
How do current volunteers’ demographic characteristics differ from years prior to Covid?
What are the levels of volunteer commitment hours? How do current levels of volunteer commitment hours differ from years prior to Covid?
To what extent are there differences in volunteer service experience (e.g., volunteer satisfaction, volunteer commitments) and community engagement? What are the differences by types of stations (e.g., focus areas, type of service delivery)?
What programmatic and policy components contribute to volunteer recruitment and retention? What are the barriers and facilitators to recruitment and retention?
What factors influence volunteer retention?
How satisfied are volunteers with existing operating conditions (examples, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for face-to-face, virtual, remoter, socially distant)?
What are volunteers’ health and psychosocial outcomes? How do volunteers' health and psychosocial outcomes compare to those who no longer volunteer?
Are there differences in volunteer outcomes by type of service delivery methods? What are the programmatic components associated with volunteer outcomes?
Are there differences in beneficiary outcomes by type of service delivery methods? What are the programmatic components associated with beneficiaries’ outcomes?
What factors contribute to volunteers’ ability to adjust to the service experience (e.g., degree of volunteer interaction, satisfaction among volunteers)?
What factors contribute to the effectiveness of different types of service delivery methods?
The evidence from this objective will measure the effects of volunteering on the health benefits of volunteers, as well as the benefits to the beneficiaries the volunteers serve. These benefits will reflect the return on the Federal investment for older adult volunteer programs to serve their communities.
The research questions from the fourth objective focus on the successes and challenges grantees funded through SDP faced in implementing their projects. There is a particular emphasis on how AmeriCorps Seniors’ adaption of temporary waivers and the flexible policies and guidance afforded to these projects may have contributed to these projects’ success in recruiting and retaining volunteers, and the health benefits to the SDP volunteers. The research questions are:
What SDP programmatic components affect volunteer satisfaction, health, and psychosocial outcomes?
What are the effects of SDP programs on the grantees’ capacity? To what extent do temporary waivers and flexibilities of AmeriCorps Seniors Policies and Guidance contribute to SDP projects’ capacity to recruit and retain volunteers?
What are the effects of SDP programs on beneficiaries and communities? To what extent do the temporary waivers and flexibilities affect SDP service delivery to beneficiaries and the communities?
Which, if any SDP programs, could AmeriCorps Seniors support and replicate alongside traditional programs? Which, if any, of the temporary waivers and flexibilities should AmeriCorps Seniors adopt as policies for its three legacy programs?
The evidence from this fourth objective, like the second objective, will provide AmeriCorps the evidence on how best to adapt and adjust its policies and guidance to allow grantees and their stations the required flexibilities to adeptly respond to changing community needs while remaining strong steward of the Federal investment.
Strengths and limitations of the design
The study uses quantitative and qualitative data sources such as surveys, focus groups and interviews, when integrated strengthen the validity of the conclusions by triangulating multiple sources. The design allows for comparison of different subgroups: long-term volunteers who were in the program before and after Covid and volunteers that joined the program after Covid. The study will utilize data from the emerging literature on older volunteers and the impact of Covid to benchmark AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers to other volunteers from published reports and articles. One limitation to the design is that it cannot measure whether the outcomes are caused by the pandemic.
The surveys with FGP, SCP, RSVP current and former volunteers and SCP caregivers and clients will be a self-administered scannable paper survey which will be coded electronically; a telephone survey will be used to contact nonrespondents. The station staff survey will be administered online, via a link the station staff receive by email.
Basis for a self-administered survey. AmeriCorps held multiple conversations with an established field working group, conducted preliminary focus group with fewer than nine grantees, as well as its previous work with AmeriCorps Seniors grantees, stations, and volunteers confirm that a self-administered paper survey is the most effective method to reach the target population of volunteers, caregivers and clients. A process that embeds the survey distribution in the project’s planned activities with the target population will be most effective in achieving high response rate.
Grantees will actively participate in the enrollment of study participants (volunteers, caregivers and clients). The process makes explicit the assurances of privacy and permissions for the station and grantee to share contact information and program status with researchers. Respondents will receive a toll-free number to contact the research staff if they wish to complete the survey by telephone. Each scannable survey form will include a URL for those participants who wish to complete the survey online.
The interview and focus groups with FGP, SCP, RSVP grantees, and SDP grantees, station staff, and volunteers will use online meeting tools, to allow the participation of individuals in various geographic areas.
There are no other sources of information by which AmeriCorps can meet the purposes described in A2. The information collection will measure self-reported volunteer satisfaction, measures of self-efficacy, loneliness and life satisfaction, and basic demographics. The information collection also includes questions intended to inform best practices for recruitment and retention of national service participants. The questions in the proposed surveys combined with existing AmeriCorps Seniors administrative data cover the outcome areas of interest in greater depth and breadth.
There is currently no evidence-based data on the adaptability of AmeriCorps Seniors grantees due to the pandemic, how they are assessing and addressing the needs of the communities they serve, and the overall effects of the pandemic on recruitment and retention of volunteers and its effects on volunteers’ health.
This information collection does not impact small businesses. AmeriCorps has developed the questions to impose as little burden as possible in obtaining the information.
The Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended (Public Law 93-113), directs AmeriCorps to assess the impact and effectiveness of Senior Corps Programs at least once every three years. The last information collection was completed in September 2018. This information collection will provide evidence-based data to AmeriCorps on how to strengthen its national service programs for the volunteers, and the beneficiaries in the communities the volunteers serve.
This information collection fully complies with 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2). There are no special circumstances that would require the collection of information in any other ways specified.
The notice required in 5 CFR 1320.8(d) was completed. The 60-day Federal Notice was published September 7, 2023, in the Federal Register, Volume 88, No. 172 pages 61574-61475. No comments were received about the collection.
AmeriCorps consulted with ten Field Working Group members consisting of nine grantees and one Office of Regional Operations portfolio manager. The consultations were to obtain their views on the availability of data, the administration and frequency of data collection, and the approach to enrolling study participants. AmeriCorps also consulted with seven Technical Working Group members who bring a diverse range of experience and expertise in research and evaluation on adult volunteers, data collection, sampling, analysis, and dissemination of scientific studies.
AmeriCorps published a second notice in the Federal Register on March 5, 2024, providing 30 days for public comment (89 FR 15851).
The information collection requests an incentive for respondents. In prior information collection with AmeriCorps Seniors grantees and volunteers, the use of incentives has been extremely effective resulting in over 90 percent rate among grantees, and over 80 percent among volunteers. The cost-effectiveness of the incentive is that it reduces multiple rounds of contacting respondents, hence reducing overall labor cost to the government. The incentive also increases the response rate among those who are the most difficult to consent to participate; an increase in the most difficult-to-reach respondents minimizes non-response bias. The cost of these multiple rounds and the bias that could be introduced due to non-response outweigh the proposed incentive.
Table 1 Proposed Incentives for Target Participants
Program Type |
Grantee Incentive per Current Volunteer |
Current Volunteer Incentive |
Former Volunteer Incentive |
Caregiver / Independent living client |
RSVP |
$20 |
$30 |
$40 |
-- |
FGP |
$20 |
$30 |
$40 |
-- |
SCP (Independent living clients only) |
$20 |
$30 |
$40 |
$30 |
SCP (Independent living clients and respite services) |
$20 |
$30 |
$40 |
$30 |
SDP (Case study) |
- |
$30 |
- |
- |
AmeriCorps will offer a modest incentive of a $30 gift card to current volunteers, and $40 gift card to former volunteers. SCP caregivers and clients will receive $30 to complete the survey.
A substantial body of research including experimental and meta-analyses supports the use of incentives to increase response rates (Brick et al. 2005; Church 1993; Edwards et al. 2002; James and Bolstein 1992; Shettle and Mooney 1999; Singer et al. 1999; Singer, Van Hoewyk, and Maher 2000; Yammarino, Skinner, and Childers 1991). Those studies demonstrate that the use of incentives has a positive impact on increasing response rates, with no adverse effects on reliability (Jäckle, & Lynn, 2008; Dillman,2000).
The use of incentive is cost-effective due to the savings incurred by reducing the costs of follow-ups with non-respondents. Certain types, timing, and amounts of incentives may not be effective, but the overall recommendation is that an incentive is an effective means to increase response rate and reduce nonresponse bias. A study on the use of incentives in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Singer and Ye (2013) conclude that:
“Incentives increase response rates to surveys in all modes, including the Web, and in cross-sectional and panel studies;
Monetary incentives increase response rates more than gifts, and prepaid incentives increase them more than promised incentives or lotteries, though they are difficult to implement in Web surveys;
Incentives, thus, have clear potential for both increasing and reducing nonresponse bias. If they can be targeted to sample volunteers who would otherwise fail to respond.”
The Singer and Ye article represents a balanced perspective in that it presents findings that suggest some types of incentives are not effective as well as findings that suggest incentives are effective. Nonetheless, the general conclusion based on research published in the most recent decade is that incentives are effective means to increase response rates.
JBS will make clear that individual responses will not be shared; the basis for the assurance of privacy is from the privacy statement in the survey invitation and consent forms (see Appendix A). All respondents will be assured that their participation is voluntary, that no adverse consequences will accrue to individuals who do not complete the surveys, and that their comments and opinions will be kept private.
The focus group scripts include an assurance of privacy because the notes/recording of the focus group will not include any personally identifiable information, and results will be compiled into a summary that does not identify any specific grantee, organization or individual.
No personally identifiable information, proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information is being collected. Access to any data with identifying information will be limited only to JBS directly working on the survey and with the need to know to perform their work assignments directly related to the project. JBS will de-identify the data prior to analysis, so that individual responses cannot be linked to a specific individual. Additionally, all analyses, summaries, or briefings will be presented at the aggregate-level, and it will not be possible to identify individual respondents in any material that is presented. JBS will provide AmeriCorps a de-identified dataset that can be used for further analysis or shared with other research and evaluators for additional secondary analysis.
Of the proposed questions, those on self-assessment of symptoms of depression, and loneliness are likely to be the most sensitive. The literature suggests that adults respond well to those questions and the data obtained are reliable, valid and of high quality. AmeriCorps proposes these questions because evidence-based findings are needed to better understand how volunteering is associated with these psychosocial outcomes. A rigorous analysis examining this association is important for AmeriCorps to measure and report on progress in meeting its goal to strengthen national service. Self-report of depressive symptoms is the 10-item scale developed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). This widely used scale in research has shown this scale to be reliable and valid. As part of the intake and sign-up process, grantees already collect self-report information on health and medical conditions from caregivers, clients, and volunteers. The privacy assurances, as well as the rapport that exists between the grantees and the participants make these questions less intrusive. Appendix A includes a copy of the consent for to be used for data collection with all participants.
JBS staff will analyze the information in aggregate and survey responses will be de-identified for analysis. Unless required by law, AmeriCorps will hold all personal identifiers such as name and address in total confidence and will not release them. Upon conclusion of the data collection JBS will destroy all personal identifiers.
We estimate a total of 5,048 respondents will respond to this information collection, with a subset also participating in one or more focus groups, resulting in a total of 5,048 responses (that include all respondents in both quantitative see Table 2 below and qualitative data collection see Table 3 below) with an average response time of 0.50 hours for quantitative surveys and 1 hour for qualitative data collection1. The burden hours for each category of respondents subject to this clearance are described in Tables 2 and 3, and are totaled in Table 4.
Table 2 Surveys - Estimates of Hour Burden
|
Total Number of Respondents |
Responses per respondent |
Participation Time (Minutes) per Response |
Burden Hours per Response |
Total Burden Hours |
Station staff |
2,618 |
1 |
20 |
0.33 |
873 |
Current Volunteers2 |
1,560 |
1 |
30 |
0.50 |
780 |
Former Volunteers3 |
260 |
1 |
30 |
0.50 |
130 |
SCP Caregivers4 |
260 |
1 |
30 |
0.50 |
130 |
SCP Clients |
260 |
1 |
30 |
0.50 |
130 |
Total |
4,958 |
1 |
140 |
0.466* |
2,479** |
*Averaged. The time to complete each survey will vary and depend on the characteristics of those completing the survey. Based on the pretest results, JBS estimates that respondents will take between 20 to 30 minutes depending on the survey.
**The sum of burden hours is 2,043 but averaging the burden hours per response and multiplying by the number of responses accounts for the difference.
Burden per Response:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Annual Burden:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The $47.36 cost per hour is based on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS) hourly rate of $34.76 for a GS-11, step 1, employee (Salary Table 2024-RUS for calendar year 2023 for the rest of the U.S.) plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate from OMB memorandum M-08-13 ($34.76 + $12.60 = $47.36, rounded to the nearest dollar). There are no direct costs to respondents other than their time to participate in the study.
Table 3 Qualitative Data Collection (Focus Groups and Interviews) - Estimates of Hour Burden
|
Total Number of Respondents |
Responses per respondent |
Participation Time (Minutes) per Response |
Burden Hours per Response |
Total Burden Hours |
Legacy Programs |
|||||
Focus groups (FGP, SCP, RSVP grantees) |
30 |
1 |
75 |
1.25 |
37.5 |
Senior Demonstration Programs (SDP) Case Studies (10 case studies) |
|||||
Interviews (SDP grantees) (estimate 1 grantee per program) |
10 |
1 |
60 |
1 |
10 |
Interviews (Station Staff) (estimate up to 2 station staff per program) |
20 |
1 |
60 |
1 |
20 |
Interviews (Volunteers) (estimate up to 3 volunteers per program) |
30 |
1 |
30 |
0.5 |
15 |
Total |
90 |
1 |
225 |
0.9375* |
84.37** |
*Averaged.
**The sum of burden hours is 82.5 but averaging the burden hours per response and multiplying by the number of responses accounts for the difference.
Burden per Response:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Annual Burden:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The $47.36 cost per hour is based on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS) hourly rate of $34.76 for a GS-11, step 1, employee (Salary Table 2024-RUS for calendar year 2023 for the rest of the U.S.) plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate from OMB memorandum M-08-13 ($34.76 + $12.60 = $47.36, rounded to the nearest dollar). There are no direct costs to respondents other than their time to participate in the study.
Table 4 Total Estimates of Hour Burden
|
No total capital and start-up costs, operation and maintenance costs, or purchase of services beyond customary and usual operating costs are required by this information collection.
The estimated cost to the Government is shown in the following table. It is estimated that it will take the Government 1 hour(s) to review each response. This estimate was developed by staff involved in the management of current activity.
Estimation of Cost to the Government |
|
Number of responses |
5,048 |
Hours per response |
1 |
Total estimated hours (number of responses multiplied by hours per response) |
5,048 |
Cost per hour (hourly wage) |
$52.24 |
Annual burden (estimated hours multiplied by cost per hour) |
$263,708 (rounded) |
Note: The cost per hour is based on the average of eight 2024 OPM GS hourly rates (base + locality) for a GS-11, step 1 employee living in our eight regions of operation, plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate from OMB memorandum M-08-13. The average cost per hour is $38.34 (average hourly rate) + $13.90 ($38.34 average hourly rate x 36.25% fringe) = $52.24/hour (rounded to the nearest penny).
The eight regions of operation and cities used are West (Sacramento - $38.44), Mountain (Denver - $38.65), North Central (Des Moines, IA - $35.02), South Central (Houston - $40.09), Midwest (Chicago - $38.81), Southeast (Atlanta - $36.74), Mid-Atlantic (Washington, DC - $39.66), and Northeast (Boston - $39.27). The average is $38.34 ($306.68/8).
The information collection is a necessary program change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate how participation in AmeriCorps Seniors promotes healthy aging among its older adult volunteers and how the program effectively responded to a public health emergency to address shifting community needs while maintaining the benefits to the volunteers who serve these communities.
Time Schedule
The information collection will occur once OMB is approved for data collection. Figure 1 shows the time schedule from survey administration, data analysis and reporting. The information collection are surveys to volunteers, caregivers, clients and station staff. Grantees will participate in focus groups. A sample of grantees, station staff, and volunteers from the SDP program will participate in interviews. The timeline for the data collection occurs from June 2024 through November 2024, following by analysis of the data then dissemination.
Figure 1: Project Schedule
Publication Plan
AmeriCorps will disseminate the findings through issue briefs, reports, and AmeriCorps-sponsored webinars, and professional associations presentations (e.g., American Society on Aging).
JBS research staff will analyze the data and provide AmeriCorps with a comprehensive evaluation report detailing the steps taken to conduct the evaluation and present the results; an emphasis will be made on the strengths and limitations of the data and corresponding analyses to ensure appropriate use of results. The report may be in the form of manuscripts intended for academic peer-reviewed journals. The evaluator will provide supporting materials that will include data files and a user’s guide for future research.
Analysis
Depending on the research questions, our approach for the data analysis will include descriptive analysis, multivariate regression analysis, and thematic analysis for qualitative focus groups and interview data. Appendix A includes a table that summarizes the type of analysis for each research question.
Descriptive Analysis. Our data analysis assesses whether the way in which older adults carry out their volunteer activities affects satisfaction and psychosocial health outcomes, and the outcomes for caregivers and clients. The descriptive analysis will answer some of the research questions, and it will enable us to detect errors, determine if any violations of statistical assumptions exist, ascertain the relationships among explanatory variables, assess the direction and size of relationships between explanatory and outcome variables, and generate hypotheses. We will examine variable frequencies, central tendencies, response distribution, and presence of outliers. We will conduct cross-tabulations to assess relationships and statistical measures of association between multiple variables. We will explore data reduction techniques (e.g., Principal Component Analysis) to construct composite variables that could simplify data elements in the dataset, minimize problems associated with multicollinearity, eliminate redundant variables from multivariate analyses, reduce sample size requirements for analyses, and increase the interpretive power of the derived constructs. At the end of the descriptive analysis, we expect to have a solid knowledge base about the data characteristics of the variables of interest and of the relationships among them. Based on the descriptive analysis, we will assess the validity of the instruments and estimate the reliability of the measures.
Multivariate Analysis. The main statistical analysis will estimate the association between the type of service activities and the outcomes. On each type of outcome of interest, we will use regression models to establish the association between outcomes, program structure, and service delivery. The statistical model will be determined by the nature of the dependent variable (i.e., binomial, categorical with more than two groups, continuous) . For a dichotomous variable such as whether the volunteer is in good health or poor health, we will use a logistic regression model controlling for background characteristics. We will use Structural Equation Models (factor or path analysis) to estimate which factors affect volunteers’ psychosocial health outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is a statistical method used to analyze the relationships between latent variables. It is a multivariate analysis technique to model complex and interrelated phenomena. SEM estimates the strength and direction of the relationships between latent variables and identifies the key drivers of observed phenomena.
Thematic Analysis. The quantitative analysis will be triangulated with the focus groups and semi-structured interview data. One of the major strengths of qualitative research is that it provides an excellent way to explore the range of understandings and themes by including both those that are common and those that are rare. The analysis of multiple data sources to answer the research questions of how and to what extent the Covid pandemic changed the programmatic structure, senior volunteerism, and service delivery and service experience will enable the JBS team to triangulate the data across instruments and study participants (grantees, volunteers, and stations).
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This request includes survey and will use statistical estimation technique; Part B supporting statement is completed and appended.
1 Estimates do not match 60-day notice from Federal Register – since posting the notice we added a station level survey increasing the number of estimated respondents. This was added to inform our sampling frame for volunteers. Also, hour estimates were adjusted after piloting instruments to reflect the actual burden time as noted by respondents.
2 For the Station Staff and Volunteer surveys (current and former), it is projected that 452 RSVP, 257 FGP, and 158 SCP grantees will be eligible to participate.
3 Estimated, as AmeriCorps does not track former volunteers.
4 For the SCP Caregiver and Client Survey, it is projected that 144 SCP with independent living client only, and 14 SCP with independent living client and caregivers will be eligible to participate.
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