2017-00202. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Title: Renewal of Office of Community Services (OCS) Community Economic Development (CED) Standard Reporting Format.

OMB No.: 0970-0386.

Description: The Office of Community Services (OCS) will continue collecting key information about projects funded through the Community Economic Development (CED) program. The legislative requirement for this program is in Title IV of the Community Opportunities, Accountability and Training and Educational Services Act (COATS Human Services Reauthorization Act) of October 27, 1998, Public Law 105-285, section 680(b) as amended. The reporting format, Performance Progress Report (PPR), collects information concerning the outcomes and management of CED projects. OCS will use the data to critically review the overall design and effectiveness of the program.

The PPR will continue to be administered to all active grantees of the CED program. Grantees will be required to use this reporting tool for their semi-annual reports to be submitted twice a year. The current PPR replaced both the annual questionnaire and other semi-annual reporting formats, which resulted in an overall reduction in burden for the grantees while significantly improving the quality of the data collected by OCS. OCS seeks to renew this PPR to continue to collect quality data from grantees. To ensure the burden on grantees is not increased, all questions on the current PPR will remain the same—we propose adding only one question to the PPR regarding the total number of jobs grantees are creating with grant funds. Many grantees have asked about this element on the current PPR and currently do not have a place to report that information. This is information that most grantees are already collecting. Adding this field will allow grantees to provide this information in a consistent format and allow OCS to more accurately reflect the total number of jobs created through the CED program. Since grantees are already familiar with the current format and elements, and all questions on the PPR will remain the same (with one added question based on grantee feedback), there will be no additional burden on grantees.

Respondents: Current CED grantees.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Questionnaire for current OCS—CED grantees	170	2	1.50	510

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 510.

Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: ACF Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. Email address: [e-mail].

OMB Comment:

OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Email: [e-mail], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and Families

Robert Sargis,

Reports Clearance Officer.