2023-18699. Request for Public Comment; 60-Day Information Collection: Application for Participation in the IHS Scholarship Program

AGENCY:

Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments; request for extension of approval.

SUMMARY:

In compliance the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Indian Health Service (IHS) invites the general public to comment on the information collection titled, “Application for Participation in the IHS Scholarship Program,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 0917–0006. The IHS is requesting OMB to approve an extension for this collection, which expires on October 31, 2023.

DATES:

Comment Due Date: October 30, 2023. Your comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having full effect if received within 60 days of the date of this publication.

ADDRESSES:

Send your written comments, requests for more information on the collection, or requests to obtain a copy of the data collection instrument and instructions by one of the following methods:

• Mail: CAPT Michael Bartholomew, Branch Chief, Scholarship Programs, Division of Health Professions Support, Indian Health Service, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop: OHR 11E53A, Rockville, MD 20857.

• Phone: [phone].

• Email: [e-mail].

• Fax: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This previously approved information collection project was last published in the Federal Register (85 FR 16636), on March 24, 2020 and allowed 30 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment. A copy of the supporting statement is available at www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID IHS–2020–01).

Information Collection: Title: “Application for Participation in the IHS Scholarship Program,” OMB Control No. 0917–0006. Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of the currently approved information collection “Application for Participation in the IHS Scholarship Program,” OMB Control No. 0917–0006. Form Number(s): IHS–856–07 through 856–12; 856–14 through 856–16, IHS–856–21 through 856–23, IHS–817, and IHS–818 are retained for use by the IHS Scholarship Program (IHSSP) as part of this current Information Collection Request. Reporting forms are found on the IHS website at www.ihs.gov/​scholarship. Forms IHS–856–03, IHS–856–05, and IHS–856–06 have been moved to the online application process and can be found at www.ihs.gov/​scholarship/​applynow/​. Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS Scholarship Branch needs this information for program administration and uses the information to: solicit, process, and award IHS Pre-graduate, Preparatory, and/or Health Professions Scholarship recipients; monitor the academic performance of recipients; and to place recipients at payback sites. The IHSSP application is electronically available on the internet at the IHS website at: http://www.ihs.gov/​scholarship/​applynow/​. Affected Public: Individuals, not-for-profit institutions and State, local or Tribal governments. Type of Respondents: Students pursuing health care professions.

The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, Estimated Number of Respondents, Number of Responses Per Respondent, Annual Number of Responses, Average Burden Hour Per Response, and Total Annual Burden Hours.

Forms	Data collection instrument(s)	Number of respondents	Responses per respondent	Total annual response	Burden hour per response *	Annual burden hours
	Scholarship Online Application	850	1	850	1.00 (60 min)	850
1	Verification of Acceptance or Decline of Award (IHS–856–7)	300	1	300	0.13 ( 8 min)	40
2	Scholarship Program Agreement (IHS–817)	60	1	60	0.16 (10 min)	10
3	Health Professions Contract (IHS–818)	225	1	225	0.16 (10min)	38
4	Recipient's Initial Program Progress Report (IHS–856–8)	800	1	800	0.13 ( 8 min)	107
5	Notification of Academic Problem (IHS–856–9)	20	1	20	0.13 ( 8 min)	3
6	Change of Status (IHS–856–10)	50	1	50	.045 (25 min)	21
7	Request for Approval of Deferment (IHS–856–11)	60	1	60	0.13 ( 8 min)	8
8	Preferred Placement (IHS–856–12)	150	1	150	0.50 (30 min)	75
9	Notification of Deferment Program (IHS–856–14)	60	1	60	0.13 (8 min)	8
10	Placement Update (IHS–856–15)	170	1	170	0.18 (11 min)	31
11	Annual Status Report (IHS–856–16)	200	1	200	0.25 (15 min)	50
12	Summer School Request (IHS–856–21)	100	1	100	0.10 ( 6 min)	10
13	Change of Name or Address (IHS–856–22)	20	1	20	0.13 (8 min)	3
14	Request for Credit Validation (IHS–856–23)	30	1	30	0.10 (6 min)	3
	Total			3,095	3.28	1,257
* For ease of understanding, burden hours per response are also provided in minutes.

There are no direct costs to respondents other than their time to voluntarily complete the forms and submit them for consideration. The estimated cost for the Federal Government is $145,223.00 (contractor) to work on the program with IHS program staff.

There are no capital costs, operating costs and/or maintenance costs to respondents.

Requests for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are invited on one or more of the following points:

(a) Whether the information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency function;

(b) Whether the agency processes the information collected in a useful and timely fashion;

(c) The accuracy of the public burden estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual respondents to provide the requested information);

(d) Whether the methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates are logical;

(e) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and

(f) Ways to minimize the public burden through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

P. Benjamin Smith,

Deputy Director, Indian Health Service.