Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through Government
| Published date | 05 May 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 24029 |
| Record Number | 2021-09109 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Management And Budget Office |
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 5, 2021 / Notices
information collection, unless the OMB
approves it and displays a currently
valid OMB Control Number. In addition,
notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, no person shall generally be subject
to penalty for failing to comply with a
collection of information that does not
display a valid OMB Control Number.
See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
DOL seeks PRA authorization for this
information collection for three (3)
years. OMB authorization for an ICR
cannot be for more than three (3) years
without renewal. The DOL notes that
information collection requirements
submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs
receive a month-to-month extension
while they undergo review.
Agency: DOL–ETA.
Title of Collection: DOL-Only
Performance Accountability,
Information, and Reporting System.
OMB Control Number: 1205–0521.
Affected Public: Individuals or
Households; State, Local, and Tribal
Governments; Private Sector—
Businesses or other for-profits and not-
for-profit institutions.
Total Estimated Number of
Respondents: 17,583,750.
Total Estimated Number of
Responses: 41,064,037.
Total Estimated Annual Time Burden:
10,459,627 hours.
Total Estimated Annual Other Costs
Burden: $9,491,287.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).
Dated: April 28, 2021.
Mara Blumenthal,
Senior PRA Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2021–09471 Filed 5–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FM–P
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Methods and Leading Practices for
Advancing Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through
Government
AGENCY
: Office of Management and
Budget, Executive Office of the
President.
ACTION
: Request for Information (RFI).
SUMMARY
: Recent Executive Orders have
charged the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), in partnership with the
heads of agencies, to identify, by July
2021, effective methods for assessing
whether agency policies and actions
(e.g., programs, services, processes, and
operations) equitably serve all eligible
individuals and communities,
particularly those that are currently and
historically underserved. As part of this
effort, agencies are directed to consult
with members of communities that have
been historically underrepresented in
the Federal Government and
underserved by, or subject to
discrimination in, Federal policies and
programs, and to evaluate opportunities,
as allowable, to increase coordination,
communication, and engagement with
community-based and civil rights
organizations. Through this request for
information (RFI), OMB seeks input,
information, and recommendations from
a broad array of stakeholders in the
public, private, advocacy, not-for-profit,
and philanthropic sectors, including
State, local, Tribal, and territorial areas,
on available methods, approaches, and
tools that could assist in this effort.
OMB will consider the usability,
applicability, and rigor of submissions
in response to this RFI as OMB gathers
resources to support agencies as they
conduct internal assessments on the
state of equity in their policies,
programs, services, processes, and
operations. OMB will also use what it
learns from responses to this RFI as
OMB works to expand use of equity-
assessment methods and approaches
across the Federal Government, as
agencies develop agency Equity Action
Plans (due to the Domestic Policy
Council by January 19, 2022) outlining
steps they will take to address identified
gaps in equity.
DATES
: Responses to this RFI should be
received by July 6, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: You should submit
comments via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/.
Follow the instructions for submitting
comments. All public comments
received are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act and will be posted in
their entirety at https://
www.regulations.gov/, including any
personal and/or business confidential
information provided. Do not include
any information you would not like to
be made publicly available.
Written responses should not exceed
20 pages, inclusive of a 1-page cover
page as described below. Attachments
or linked resources or documents are
not included in the 20-page limit. Please
respond concisely, in plain language,
and in narrative format. You may
respond to some or all of the questions
listed in the RFI. Please ensure it is clear
which question you are responding to.
You may also include links to online
material or interactive presentations but
please ensure all links are publicly
available. Each response should
include:
•The name of the individual(s) and/
or organization responding.
•The Area section(s) (1, 2, 3, 4 and/
or 5) that your submission and materials
support.
•A brief description of the
responding individual(s) or
organization’s mission and/or areas of
expertise, including any public-private
partnerships with Federal, State, tribal,
territorial, or local governments within
the past three years that are relevant to
this RFI.
•A contact for questions or other
follow-up on your response.
By responding to the RFI, each
participant (individual, team, or legal
entity) warrants that they are the sole
author or owner of, or has the right to
use, any copyrightable works that the
Submission comprises, that the works
are wholly original (or is an improved
version of an existing work that the
participant has sufficient rights to use
and improve), and that the Submission
does not infringe any copyright or any
other rights of any third party of which
participant is aware.
By responding to the RFI, each
participant (individual, team, or legal
entity) consents to the contents of their
submission being made available to all
Federal agencies and their employees on
an internal-to-government website
accessible only to agency staffpersons.
Participants will not be required to
transfer their intellectual property rights
to OMB, but Participants must grant to
the Federal government a nonexclusive
license to apply, share, and use the
materials that are included in the
Submission. To participate in the RFI,
each participant must warrant that there
are no legal obstacles to providing the
above-referenced nonexclusive licenses
of participant rights to the Federal
government.
Interested parties who respond to this
RFI may be contacted for a follow-on
strategic agency assessment dialogue,
discussion, event, crowdsource
campaign, or competition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Issues regarding submission or
questions on this RFI can be sent to
Amira Boland at 202–395–5222 or to
equityRFI@omb.eop.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
I. Background
E.O. 13985 states: ‘‘Equal opportunity
is the bedrock of American democracy,
and our diversity is one of our country’s
greatest strengths. But for too many, the
American Dream remains out of reach.
Entrenched disparities in our laws and
public policies, and in our public and
private institutions, have often denied
that equal opportunity to individuals
and communities. Our country faces
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converging economic, health, and
climate crises that have exposed and
exacerbated inequities, while a historic
movement for justice has highlighted
the unbearable human costs of systemic
racism. Our Nation deserves an
ambitious whole-of-government equity
agenda that matches the scale of the
opportunities and challenges that we
face.
It is therefore the policy of my
Administration that the Federal
Government should pursue a
comprehensive approach to advancing
equity for all, including people of color
and others who have been historically
underserved, marginalized, and
adversely affected by persistent poverty
and inequality. Affirmatively advancing
equity, civil rights, racial justice, and
equal opportunity is the responsibility of
the whole of our Government. Because
advancing equity requires a systematic
approach to embedding fairness in
decision-making processes, executive
departments and agencies (agencies)
must recognize and work to redress
inequities in their policies and programs
that serve as barriers to equal
opportunity.’’
Within 200 days of the date of the
E.O. (by August 8, 2021), agencies must
submit to the Assistant to the President
for Domestic Policy an assessment of the
state of equity for underserved
communities and individuals, including
on the following points, for example:
•Barriers that underserved
communities and individuals may face
to enrollment in and access to benefits
and services in Federal programs;
•Barriers that underserved
communities and individuals may face
in participation in agency procurement
and contracting opportunities;
•Barriers that underserved
communities and individuals may face
in participation in agency grant
programs and other forms of financial
assistance;
•Opportunities in current agency
policies, regulations, and guidance to
address affirmatively and equitably the
underlying causes of systemic inequities
in society;
•Opportunities in agency community
engagement processes to engage with
and empower marginalized, vulnerable,
or underserved communities more
directly to advance equitable
policymaking; and
•The operational status and level of
institutional resources available to
agency offices or divisions responsible
for advancing civil rights or required to
serve underrepresented or
disadvantaged communities.
Within one year of the date of E.O.
13985 (by January 19, 2022), the head of
each agency will develop a plan for
addressing any barriers to full and equal
participation in programs and
procurement opportunities identified in
its assessment. Such a plan could
include establishing ongoing routines to
assess and rectify gaps in full and equal
participation in programs and
procurement opportunities.
E.O. 13985 uses the following
definitions, which OMB adopts for
purposes of this RFI.
The term ‘‘equity’’ means the
consistent and systematic fair, just, and
impartial treatment of all individuals,
including individuals who belong to
underserved communities that have
been denied such treatment, such as
women and girls; Black, Latino, and
Indigenous and Native American
persons, Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders and other persons of color;
persons facing discrimination or barriers
on account of gender identity; members
of religious minorities; lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and queer
(LGBTQ+) persons; persons with
disabilities; persons who live in rural
areas; and persons otherwise adversely
affected by persistent poverty or
inequality.
The term ‘‘underserved communities’’
refers to populations sharing a
particular characteristic, as well as
geographic communities, that have been
systematically denied a full opportunity
to participate in aspects of economic,
social, and civic life, as exemplified by
the list in the preceding definition of
‘‘equity.’’
Information and Key Questions
OMB seeks input in the following
areas:
1. Equity Assessments and Strategies.
Approaches and methods for holistic
and program- or policy-specific
assessments of equity for public sector
entities, including but not limited to the
development of public policy strategies
that advance equity and the use of data
to inform equitable public policy
strategies.
2. Barrier and Burden Reduction.
Approaches and methods for assessing
and remedying barriers, burden, and
inequities in public service delivery and
access.
3. Procurement and Contracting.
Approaches and methods for assessing
equity in agency procurement and
contracting processes.
4. Financial Assistance. Approaches
and methods for assessing equity in the
administration of agency grant programs
and other forms of financial assistance.
5. Stakeholder and Community
Engagement. Approaches and methods
for accessible and meaningful agency
engagement with underserved
communities.
The descriptions below represent a
non-exhaustive accounting of issues that
may fall under each topic area. These
may assist in the formulation of
comments. The list is not intended to
restrict submissions. For all prompts,
OMB requests that commenters
incorporate examples, data, and, in
particular, research or academic
literature whenever possible.
For Area 1 on equity assessments and
strategies:
The work of advancing equity
requires a holistic assessment of agency
practices and policies. Some Federal
agencies will need to implement new
approaches to assess whether future
proposed policies, budgets, regulations,
grants, or programs will be effective in
advancing equity. OMB welcomes
submissions that provide resources,
tools, and examples of how agencies
might conduct effective equity
assessments, with the goal of embedding
equity throughout agency practices and
policies. Submissions might consider
questions such as:
•What are some promising methods
and strategies for assessing equity in
internal agency practices and policies?
What knowledge, skills, or supports do
practitioners need to use such tools
effectively?
•What are some promising methods
and strategies for identifying systemic
inequities to be addressed by agency
policy?
•Jurisdictions at the State, local,
Tribal, and territorial level have
implemented equity assessment tools to
inform their policymaking, budgetary,
or regulatory processes. What are the
lessons these jurisdictions have learned
from implementing or interacting with
those tools?
•What are some promising methods
and strategies for advancing equity on
urgent or immediate agency priorities?
•What types of equity assessment
tools are especially useful for agencies
with national security, foreign policy or
law enforcement missions?
•How might agencies collect data
and build evidence in appropriate and
protected ways to reflect underserved
individuals and communities and
support greater attention to equity in
future policymaking?
•How might agencies build capacity
and provide training and support for
teams conducting this work?
•How can community engagement or
feedback from underserved individuals
with lived expertise on a given policy
problem be integrated meaningfully in
an agency’s use of equity assessment
methods?
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For Area 2 on barrier and burden
reduction:
Members of underserved communities
may experience a variety of external
factors that may disproportionately
affect their access to information about
programs or program eligibility,
applying for benefits, conducting post-
award reporting, and recertification of
eligibility. These barriers may include,
but are not limited to: Non-traditional or
inflexible work hours, childcare needs,
housing insecurity, limited
transportation access, limited
proficiency in English, disability, low
literacy, income or other resource
constraints, stigma in accessing public
programs, and limited access to
technology.
Other barriers are internal to the
administration of programs. While
certain program rules may ensure that
benefits are awarded to eligible
individuals or are otherwise required by
law, others are not necessary for
ensuring benefits are awarded to eligible
individuals and may be remedied via
administrative or regulatory changes.
The latter category of program rules may
include: Unnecessary questions or
requirements to produce
documentation; complex eligibility
formulas; forms or web applications that
are confusingly designed; complicated
instructions; long delays between
application and adjudication; the need
for third-party (e.g., advocacy
organization, legal counsel) support or
consultation; frequent recertification of
eligibility; processes that require
multiple forms or touch-points; and
duplicative or similar information
collections by multiple agencies.
Responses should include, but not be
limited to, information on any or all of
the following points:
•How can agencies address known
burdens or barriers to accessing benefits
programs in their assessments of
benefits delivery?
•What data, tools, or evidence are
available to show how particular
underserved communities or
populations disproportionately
encounter these barriers? Which
underserved communities experience
multiple, cumulative barriers and are
disproportionately burdened by specific
administrative processes or
requirements?
•Are there specific requirements or
processes (e.g., in-person visits,
frequency of recertification of eligibility)
that have been shown in rigorous
research to cause program drop-off or
churn by underserved individuals and
communities? Similarly, is there
rigorous evidence available that certain
requirements or processes have little
actual effect on program integrity?
•How could agencies incorporate
considerations of the psychological
costs of qualifying or applying for
Federal benefits programs into their
assessments of equitable service
delivery?
•What kinds of equity assessment
tools are more useful for addressing
urgent agency priorities versus making
systemic change?
•What types of overarching metrics
(e.g., program uptake, over- or under-
payments) might an agency use to
measure a benefit program’s outcomes
[or whether it is implemented as
intended?]?
•How might an agency assess or
balance prioritization of potentially
competing values associated with
program administration, such as
program uptake, program integrity,
privacy protection, and resource
constraints, in the context of addressing
equity for underserved individuals and
communities?
•How might agencies assess if
specific barriers (e.g., specific questions
on forms or requirements such as in-
person interviews) are achieving their
intended purpose?
•How might agencies incorporate
into their equity assessments barriers or
duplicative burdens a participant is
likely to experience when seeking
services from multiple agencies?
•How can agencies best balance
collecting demographic information
about program applicants and
participants with the potential effect on
program participation that these
questions may cause? What does
rigorous research show about the effect
of demographic questions on program
participation?
For Area 3, on procurement and
contracting:
The Federal Government is the
world’s largest purchaser of goods and
services, with acquisitions totaling over
$650 billion per year. As the Federal
Government’s purchasing power is used
to fight COVID–19, increase domestic
productivity, combat climate change,
and address other Administration
priorities, agencies will need to assess
opportunities to invest in underserved
individuals and communities by
promoting business diversity (including,
but not limited to, professional services,
financial services, and technology) and
resiliency. Agencies will need to assess
opportunities to direct more
procurement and contracting dollars to
underserved individuals and
communities so that a broad cross-
section of American businesses can
share in the jobs and opportunities
created by Federal buying activities.
Economic research shows that investing
in underserved communities and
closing racial wealth gaps yields
economic growth and job creation that
benefits all Americans.
OMB welcomes submissions that
address questions such as:
•How do we achieve equity in a
procurement system that must balance
competing economic and social goals,
including the need to conduct
procurements in a streamlined and
rapid manner?
•What kinds of equity assessment
tools might agencies use to identify
inequity in their standard practices
throughout the acquisition lifecycle,
including, but not limited to, the
development of requirements, market
research (including outreach to
businesses), selection of contract type,
availability of financing, incentive
structure, negotiation and evaluation of
interested sources, debriefings of
unsuccessful offerors, management of
contracts, evaluation of contractor
performance, and use of past
performance in selection of sources?
•What kinds of tools might agencies
use to determine when there is inequity
in the award of subcontracts under
prime contracts and the cause of such?
•How might agencies identify
opportunities to engage with business
owners and entrepreneurs who are
members of underserved communities
to promote doing business with the
Federal Government? What kinds of
training and capacity building within
agency teams would support equitable
procurement and contracting efforts?
•What kinds of benchmarks and
assessment techniques might support
equitable procurement and contracting
efforts?
•What kinds of data should agencies
collect and use to assess equity in their
procurement practices?
For Area 4, financial assistance:
Federal agencies run financial
assistance programs, including grant
opportunities, that have the potential,
and in many cases, a stated intent, to
channel resources to underserved
communities. OMB welcomes
submissions that address questions such
as:
•How might agencies identify
opportunities to adjust current practices
in grants and other financial assistance
programs to expand access for
underserved communities and to
achieve equity-oriented results? What
are some promising approaches to the
award and administration of Federal
awards (including, for example, the
integration of program planning and
design) that should be considered?
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•What are promising practices for
equitable grantmaking and the
administration of financial assistance
programs that agencies should consider
in the course of their equity
assessments?
•How might agencies engage in
outreach and stakeholder engagement to
identify opportunities to make Federal
grants and other financial assistance
processes more accessible?
•What kinds of training and capacity
building within agencies would support
equitable grantmaking and financial
assistance efforts?
•What kinds of benchmarks and
assessment techniques would support
equitable grantmaking and financial
assistance efforts?
•What kinds of data should agencies
collect and use to assess equity in their
grantmaking and financial assistance
practices?
For Area 5, on stakeholder and
community engagement:
Section 8 of E.O. 13985 instructs
agencies to expand their use of
stakeholder and community engagement
in carrying out the Order. OMB seeks
specific approaches to stakeholder and
community engagement with
underserved communities that others
have successfully used and that Federal
agencies could adapt or apply.
Accordingly, OMB welcomes
submissions that address questions such
as:
•What processes should agencies
have in place to engage proactively with
the underserved individuals and
communities that will be most affected
by agency programs, policies, rules,
processes, or operations? How can
agencies design and implement
community engagement practices that
are accessible to underserved
communities? How might affected
communities be engaged pro-actively
and early to shape agency policy
priorities and strategies?
•What tools and best practices might
agencies deploy to establish advisory
boards, task forces, and commissions
that are inclusive of underserved
communities?
•How can an agency assess the
accessibility of the agency’s rulemaking
and policymaking commenting and
engagement processes, including for
individuals that experience barriers to
participation? Examples of barriers may
include limited language access
assistance, online-only engagement, and
minimal proactive notification of
opportunities to provide comment.
•Do feedback mechanisms for
customers, beneficiaries, and
communities affected by Government
programs exist to inform policy research
and evaluation processes? If so, are
these feedback mechanisms accessible
to underserved communities? If not,
what are best practices that agencies
should consider?
•What tools could agencies develop
for expanding stakeholder input into
programmatic and regulatory changes to
minimize barriers and burden? How
may existing processes (e.g., notice and
comment on information collections) be
enhanced to improve accessibility by
stakeholders?
•What tools can agency offices,
including communications, civic
engagement, enforcement, and
policymaking offices, use to better
engage or reach underserved
communities?
•What are some of the barriers or
factors that challenge underserved
communities’ interactions with Federal
agencies and programs?
•What practices should agencies put
in place to reach underserved
communities in rural areas or
underserved communities that
otherwise are not able to visit
Washington, DC, to engage with
policymakers?
Shalanda Young,
Acting Director, Office of Management and
Budget.
[FR Doc. 2021–09109 Filed 5–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110–01–P
NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE
ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES
30-Day Notice for the ‘‘NEA Panelist
Profile Data’’
AGENCY
: National Endowment for the
Arts.
ACTION
: Notice of proposed collection;
comment request.
SUMMARY
: The National Endowment for
the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, conducts a
preclearance consultation program to
provide the general public and Federal
agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. This program
helps to ensure that requested data can
be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial
resources) is minimized, collection
instruments are clearly understood, and
the impact of collection requirements on
respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, the NEA is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed
information collection for the NEA
Panelist Profile Data. Copies of this ICR,
with applicable supporting
documentation, may be obtained by
visiting www.Reginfo.gov.
DATES
: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments within 30 days from
the date of this publication in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES
: Comments should be sent to
the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the
National Endowment for the Arts, Office
of Management and Budget, Room
10235, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: The
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the
National Endowment for the Arts, Office
of Management and Budget, Room
10235, Washington, DC 20503, (T) 202–
395–7316.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) is
particularly interested in comments
which: (1) Evaluate whether the
proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) Evaluate the
accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of
information including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3)
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and
(4) Could help minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through
the use of electronic submission of
responses through Grants.gov.
Agency: National Endowment for the
Arts.
Title: NEA Panelist Profile Data
Collection.
OMB Number: 3135–0098.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
600.
Total burden hours: 100 hours.
Total annualized capital/startup
costs: 0.
Total annual costs (operating/
maintaining systems or purchasing
services): 0.
The NEA’s mission is ‘‘to strengthen
the creative capacity of our
communities by providing all
Americans with diverse opportunities
for arts participation.’’ With the advice
of the National Council on the Arts and
advisory panels, the Chairman
establishes eligibility requirements and
criteria for the review of applications for
funding. Section 959(c) of the NEA’s
enabling legislation, as amended, directs
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