Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Application Package for AmeriCorps Diversity Questionnaire Form
| Published date | 13 January 2022 |
| Citation | 87 FR 2145 |
| Record Number | 2022-00474 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Corporation For National And Community Service |
Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2145-2146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00474]
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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Application Package for AmeriCorps Diversity Questionnaire
Form
AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Corporation for National and Community Service (operating as
AmeriCorps) is proposing to renew an information collection.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the individual and office
listed in the ADDRESSES section by March 14, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by the title of the
information collection activity, by any of the following methods:
(1) By mail sent to: AmeriCorps, Attention Sharron Tendai, 250 E
Street SW, Washington, DC 20525.
(2) By hand delivery or by courier to the AmeriCorps mailroom at
the mail address given in paragraph (1) above, between 9:00 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
(3) Electronically through www.regulations.gov.
Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available
to the public through regulations.gov. For this reason, please do not
include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as
sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you send
an email comment, your email address will be automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and
made available on the internet. Please note that responses to this
public comment request containing any routine notice about the
confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comment
that may be made available to the public, notwithstanding the inclusion
of the routine notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharron Tendai, 202-391-1029, or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments
An emergency 30-day Notice requesting public comment was published
in the Federal Register on August 24, 2021 at Vol. 86: 47301. This
comment period ended September 24, 2021. Twelve public comments were
received on this Notice. AmeriCorps grouped the comments around issues
raised and addressed them to the full extent possible in this revised
information collection. Most of the comments focused on the data
collection approach and tool, timeline for the data collection, usage
of the data, safeguarding of data, assessment of burden, and
organizational capacity to complete the tool. For comments related to
revisions of the collection approach and updates to the tool,
AmeriCorps has revised the diversity questions to better align with
U.S. Census terminology and has revised definitions accordingly. For
comments related to revisions to the collection timeline, AmeriCorps
has not made a change, as it aims to create a baseline through this
first data collection and therefore the most comprehensive and
efficient time to collect is during the application process. In terms
of questions related to data usage, AmeriCorps has refined the sections
of the tool on purpose and usage of data. In terms of questions related
to safeguarding, AmeriCorps updated language in the tool to confirm
that it will be collecting data in the aggregate. The information
requested does not include any types of personally identifiable
information, and other than lawfully authorized requests, the
information will not otherwise be disclosed to entities outside of
AmeriCorps. For comments related to the assessment of burden for
information collection, AmeriCorps estimated that the burden of
entering
[[Page 2146]]
existing demographic data into the Diversity Questionnaire data
collection tool is correctly estimated to be 30 minutes and does not
warrant a revision. Finally, for comments related to organizational
capacity, AmeriCorps believes that all organizations have the capacity
to fill out the tool in a timely and responsive manner; instructions in
the tool were updated to say that organizations should complete the
form to the ``best of their ability.''
Title of Collection: AmeriCorps Diversity Questionnaire Form.
OMB Control Number: 3045-0187. Type of Review: Renewal.
Respondents/Affected Public: Businesses and Organizations and
State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,500.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,750.
Abstract: The information provided by prospective and current
grantees and sponsors through the AmeriCorps Diversity Questionnaire
Form will enable AmeriCorps to better understand the demographic
characteristics of current grantees, potential grantees, and the people
served by AmeriCorps programs. The aim is to further AmeriCorps'
efforts to consider the diversity of communities and participants in
its grantmaking and direct service activities and create programs that
represent and serve the full diversity of the community/our country.
The information requested in the Diversity Questionnaire Form will
be collected in the aggregate for each grantee, applicant for funding,
and sponsor receiving an AmeriCorps resource. First, it will provide
AmeriCorps with a deeper understanding of the demographics of grantee
and sponsor organizations and people served by AmeriCorps programs.
Second, AmeriCorps will take the data into account in its grantmaking
and resource allocation decisions, particularly to better reach those
who are underserved. Over the next 5 years, AmeriCorps aims to ensure
that 40% of all those served by AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps
Seniors volunteers are people in poverty. (AmeriCorps uses ``people in
poverty'' as its proxy measure for ``underserved,'' recognizing that
data shows that a higher proportion of people in poverty are people of
color and other minority populations.) Third, the data will enable
AmeriCorps to better target training, technical assistance, and
outreach to potential grantees and sponsors, in particular those who
are new to AmeriCorps, with the goal of creating programs that
represent and serve the full diversity of our nation's communities.
When it collects this data for the first time, AmeriCorps will
request that the Diversity Questionnaire Form be filled by every
current grantee and applicant for funding and resource allocation.
Following this baseline, AmeriCorps expects this questionnaire to be
included with grant renewal and new applications on an annual basis.
Estimated time for completion of the form is less than 30 minutes,
based on staff testing of the survey. Questions have been crafted for
ease of reporting and efficient collection.
In AmeriCorps' grant making processes, the questionnaire will be
submitted electronically as part of the grant application and guidance
about the form will be part of an in-depth set of grant application
instructions. Additionally, the form will be used to collect data from
sponsor applicants for directly-managed programs such as AmeriCorps'
National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). Staff will be available to
provide individualized assistance, if needed, to organizations filling
out the form.
AmeriCorps also seeks to continue using the currently approved
information collection until the revised information collection is
approved by OMB. The currently approved information collection is due
to expire on 3/31/2022.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. Comments are invited
on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e)
estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation,
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden
means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide information
to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, verifying,
processing, and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing
information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a
collection of information; to search data sources, to complete and
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise
disclose the information. All written comments will be available for
public inspection on regulations.gov.
Dated: January 6, 2022.
Anna Mecagni,
Chief of Program Operations.
[FR Doc. 2022-00474 Filed 1-12-22; 8:45 am]
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