2015-09192. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Title: Office of Refugee Resettlement Individual Development Accounts (ORR-IDA) Program.

OMB No.: New Collection.

Description: Description: The Office of Refugee Resettlement seeks OMB approval to develop three data collection tools for use in the ORR IDA Program.

The ORR IDA Program represents an anti-poverty strategy built on asset accumulation for low-income refugee individuals and families with the goal of promoting refugee economic independence.

IDAs are leveraged or matched, savings accounts. In the ORR Refugee IDA program, IDAs are matched with federal funds that have been allocated as “match funds” from at least 65 percent of the annual federal grant award. IDAs are established in insured accounts in qualified financial institutions. The funds are intended for the Asset Goals specified in this announcement. Although the refugee participant maintains control of all funds that the participant deposits in the IDA, including all interest that may accrue on the funds, the participant must sign a Savings Plan Agreement which specifies that the funds in the account will be used only for the participant's qualified Asset Goal(s) or for an emergency withdrawal.

The objectives of this program are to:

1. Establish IDAs for eligible participants;

2. Encourage regular saving habits among refugees;

3. Promote their participation in the financial institutions of this country;

4. Promote refugee acquisition of assets to build individual, family, and community resources;

5. Increase refugee knowledge of financial and monetary topics including developing a household budget;

6. Assist refugees in advancing their education;

7. Increase home ownership among refugees; and

8. Assist refugees in gaining access to capital.

The tools will collect information from grantees that will help ORR determine whether they are meeting the objectives of the program. Data to be collected will only include specialized, and relevant information to the program such as, number of people enrolled, amount in dollar allocated for matching IDA savings, number and value of assets purchased, confirmation of refugee status, and types and quantity of training provided. Tools will be used for semi-annual reports as well as for monitoring to ensure progress towards success, and appropriate use of federal funds.

Respondents: Office of Refugee Resettlement Individual Development Accounts Program grantees.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total burden hours
Program Status Report	22	2	1	44
Community Impact Report	22	2	1	44
Demographic	22	2	1	44

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 132 hours.

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.