[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 199 (Friday, October 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55905-55907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26937]
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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request
AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service
(hereinafter the ``Corporation''), 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 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 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 requirement on respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, the Corporation is soliciting comments concerning its
request for approval of a new information collection from individuals
as well as agencies and organizations that are affiliated with the
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) as sponsors of
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects. This information will be used by the
Corporation to evaluate the impacts of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on the
communities they serve and identify ways to improve the program.
Copies of the proposed information collection request may be
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section
of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section by December 14, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Corporation for National and Community
Service Attn: Charles Helfer, Office of Evaluation, 1201 New York
Avenue, NW., 9th floor, Washington, DC 20525.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Helfer, (202) 606-5000, ext.
248.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corporation is particularly interested
in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
Corporation, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
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;
Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity
of the information to be collected; and
Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection
[[Page 55906]]
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
Background
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) was established
by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (Pub. L 103-
82). It is a 10-month, full-time residential program for men and women
18-24 operated directly by the Corporation for National Service.
AmeriCorps*NCCC was designed to blend the best practices of civilian
service with the best practices of military service, including
leadership development and team-building. Members live and train at
campus based on five regions. In three regions, campuses occupy closed
or downsized military bases: The Southeast Region in Charleston, SC;
the Central Region in Denver, CO; and the Western Region in San Diego,
CA. The campus in the Northeast Region occupies a medical facility for
veterans in Perry Point, MD, and the Capital Region is based at a
municipal facility in Washington, DC. AmeriCorps*NCCC service
emphasizes disaster relief, large-scale capital improvements, and
providing leadership to large groups of volunteers. A service-learning
approach that includes planned activities and training is part of all
service projects. Since 1994, more than 4,000 young Americans have
served as members of AmeriCorps*NCCC.
This proposed evaluation of the community impacts of the
AmeriCorps*NCCC program is supported by the legislation that authorized
the program (Pub. L. 103-82) and by the Corporation's strategic and
performance plans prepared in response to the Government Performance
and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Under Pub. L. 103-82, the Corporation
is required to evaluate each of its programs on a continuing basis
(Section 179, or 42 U.S.C. 12639). The Corporation's Fiscal 2000
Performance Plan (required under GPRA) specifically lists this study.
It states that the AmeriCorps*NCCC Community Impact Evaluation is
directly related to Strategic Goals 1 and 2 as presented in its
Strategic Plan for 1997-2002. Those goals are:
Strategic Goal 1: Service will help solve the nation's unmet
education, public safety, environmental and other human needs.
Strategic Goal 2: Communities will be made stronger through
service.
It is an agency priority to evaluate the impacts of its AmeriCorps
programs. This data collection will assess the impacts of the
Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program on direct beneficiaries, agency
and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities served by
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects.
Current Action
The Corporation seeks approval of three survey forms and an
interview protocol for the evaluation of the community impacts of the
Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program. It will allow for the assessment
of the impact of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on direct beneficiaries,
agency and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities they
serve. It will also help the Corporation to determine effective
planning, initiation, and implementation practices for enhancing
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' impacts on communities.
(I) Pre-Project Sponsor Survey
This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' expectations
for their AmeriCorps*NCCC project. It asks for information about the
community needs that led to the project, previous related activities,
alternative ways to achieve project objectives, expected impacts, ways
that impacts will be measured, relative priority or value of expected
impacts, and the processes that led to project approval. This
information will serve as the baseline against which post-project
information will be compared.
Type of Review: New approval.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Pre-Project Sponsor Survey.
OMB Number: None.
Agency Number: None.
Affected Public: Approved agency or organization sponsors for
AmeriCorps* NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects.
Total Respondents: Approximately 108.
Frequency: One time.
Average Time Per Response: 40 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 72.4 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
(II) Post-Project Sponsor Survey
This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' perceptions of
the impacts of their AmeriCorps*NCCC project on their community. It
asks for information about the extent to which community needs that led
to the project were met and the extent to which their expectations were
achieved, evidence used by the sponsor to support perceptions of
project impacts, plans for related future activities, changes in
project activities or objectives during implementation, unexpected
implementation issues, assessments of the reasons for their perceptions
of impacts, and project costs to the sponsor and other community
organizations. This information will be compared to baseline
information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project
impacts reported by other community respondents (from the Post-project
Community Survey) as well as to information gathered from
AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel.
Type of Review: New approval.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Post-project Sponsor Survey.
OMB Number: None.
Agency Number: None.
Affected Public: Agency or organization sponsors for AmeriCorps*
NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects who were administered
the Pre-project Sponsor survey and whose projects were implemented.
Total Respondents: Approximately 103.
Frequency: One time.
Average Time Per Response: 60 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 103.0 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
(III) Post-Project Community Survey
This survey is designed to assess the perceptions of
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' direct beneficiaries of the impacts of the
AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on them and their community. It asks for
information about what the respondent expected from the AmeriCorps*NCCC
project, how that compared to their perceptions of actual impacts, and
the basis on which they are making their comparisons. It also asks for
information about the implementation of the project from the community
respondents' perspectives, including any costs of project
implementation to them. This information will be compared to baseline
information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project
impacts reported by the sponsors in the Post-project Sponsor Survey as
well as to information gathered from AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel.
Type of Review: New approval.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Post-project Community Survey.
OMB Number: None.
Agency Number: None.
[[Page 55907]]
Affected Public: Representatives of organizations or individuals
that were served directly by AmeriCorps*NCCC Class VI (1999-2000
program year) projects included in both the Pre-project Sponsor Survey
and Post-project Sponsor Survey. Not all projects have organizations,
other than the sponsor, or individuals as direct service recipients.
Total Respondents: Approximately 160.
Frequency: One time.
Average Time Per Response: 20 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 53.3 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
(IV) Implementation Interview Protocol
This protocol is designed to obtain detailed information from a
subsample of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects while they are in operation.
Topics addressed include changes in project activities or objectives
since the project was approved and rationales for those changes,
document the activities being conducted by the project and by others
directed toward project activities, document the types and amounts of
resources being expended in support of the AmeriCorps*NCCC project
team, sponsors' and other community representatives' assessments of
project quality, document accomplishments of the project at the time of
the interview relative to project plans, and obtain sponsors' and other
community representatives' assessments of effective implementation
practices. This information will be used directly in the analysis of
the community impacts of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects visited for these
interviews in combination with the Pre-project Sponsor Survey, Post-
project Sponsor Survey, and Post-project Community Survey. The
information will also be compared to the information from the same
projects generated by the surveys to ensure the validity of the
information collections. The information also will be used to inform
the general analysis of all survey data, particularly in seeking
effective practices and explanations for different levels of project
impacts.
Type of Review: New approval.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Implementation Interview Protocol.
OMB Number: None.
Agency Number: None.
Affected Public: Sponsor managers, service-site supervisors,
representatives of other organizations and individuals served by the
projects.
Total Respondents: Approximately 78.
Frequency: One time.
Average Time Per Response: 0.62 hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 48 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a
matter of public record.
Dated: October 8, 1999.
Thomas L. Bryant,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 99-26937 Filed 10-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-U
