2020-20062. 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Evaluation of Cohort 1 of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program Expansion

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

DATES:

Comments Due Date: November 10, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB Control Number and should be sent to: Anna P. Guido, Reports Management Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 4176, Washington, DC 20410-5000; telephone [phone] (this is not a toll-free number) or email at [e-mail] for a copy of the proposed forms or other available information. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anna P. Guido, Reports Management Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20410; email Anna P. Guido at [e-mail] or telephone [phone]. This is not a toll-free number. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at [phone].

Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from Ms. Guido.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice informs the public that HUD is seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in Section A.

A. Overview of Information Collection

Title of Information Collection: Evaluation of Cohort 1 of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program Expansion.

OMB Approval Number: Pending.

Type of Request: New collection.

Form Number: NA.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is proposing the collection of information for the Evaluation of Cohort 1 of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program Expansion.

Moving to Work (MTW) is a demonstration program that encourages public housing agencies (PHAs) to test ways to achieve three specific objectives: (1) Increase the cost effectiveness of federal housing programs, (2) increase housing choice for low-income families, and/or (3) encourage greater self-sufficiency of households receiving housing assistance. MTW designation gives PHAs relief from many of the regulations and statutory provisions that apply to the public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs. MTW agencies can also merge their public housing and HCV funds into a single block grant and use these funds (if desired) for local activities outside of the typical public housing and HCV programs, such as providing supportive services or developing housing for populations with special needs. In 2016, Congress authorized HUD to expand the MTW program by 100 high performing PHAs.

The MTW expansion statute emphasizes evaluating the MTW program, directing HUD to expand the program in cohorts that would allow for “one specific policy change to be implemented. . . .” and rigorously evaluated. The first cohort of the expansion will test the impact of MTW designation on small PHAs, defined for these purposes as PHAs administering no more than 1,000 housing units across their HCV and public housing programs. In Cohort 1, PHAs are free to implement any program and policy changes permissible under the MTW program. Under contract with HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, Abt Associates Inc. will conduct an evaluation of Cohort 1 that includes a study of how PHAs use their MTW flexibility to meet the MTW program's goals and a study of the impact of MTW designation on cost effectiveness, self-sufficiency, and housing choice.

The Evaluation of Cohort 1 of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program Expansion will be implemented as a randomized control trial. To carry out the study, HUD randomly assigned the 43 eligible PHAs that submitted a Letter of Interest to HUD for Cohort 1 into one of two groups: A treatment group (33 PHAs) that is invited to complete the application for MTW designation and a control group (10 PHAs) that is not invited to complete the application for MTW designation and therefore is not permitted to receive MTW designation under Cohort 1.

The evaluation will compare the outcomes of the treatment group PHAs to the outcomes of the control group PHAs over a five-year period. To the extent possible, this evaluation will rely on analysis of secondary data that PHAs already prepare and submit to HUD, however, some primary data collection will be required.

This Federal Register Notice provides an opportunity to comment on the information collection for the evaluation. The evaluation will use the data described in this information collection request to clarify and expand on information provided in the existing data sources and to capture qualitative information about the experiences of study PHAs implementing activities related to cost effectiveness, self-sufficiency, or housing choice without MTW flexibility. The proposed information collection consists of: (1) Interviews with MTW (treatment group) PHAs; (2) online surveys to non-MTW (control group) PHAs; and (3) interviews with non-MTW (control group) PHAs.

Respondents: PHA Executive Directors and staff.

Estimated Number of Respondents: This information collection will affect approximately 129 PHA Executive Directors and Staff annually. HUD expects to collect data from approximately three staff at each the 33 treatment group PHAs each year, and approximately two staff at each of the ten control group PHAs every other year.

Estimated Time per Response: The interviews with PHA Executive Directors and staff in the treatment group agencies are expected to take up to 2 hours to complete. The interviews with PHA Executive Directors and staff in the control group agencies are expected to take up to 1.5 hours to complete. Finally, the online surveys with control group PHAs are expected to take 0.5 hours to complete.

Frequency of Response: Interviews with the treatment group PHAs are expected to take place once a year for each of five years. Interviews with the control group PHAs, and the online survey with control group PHAs, will take place every other year (year 1, year 3, and year 5 of data collection).

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Data collection during years 1, 3, and 5 will require up to 233 hours in combined time for all interviews and survey responses. Data collection during years 2 and 4, when data is not collected form the control group PHAs, will require only 198 hours in combined time for all interviews and survey responses.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: The total estimated annual cost for this information collection during years 1, 3, and 5 is $12,148.62. The total estimated annual cost is calculated by multiplying the total number of respondent hours (233) by $52.14. $52.14 was the average hourly compensation (wages and benefits) for state and local government workers in December 2019 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/​news.release/​pdf/​ecec.pdf). The total estimated annual cost for this information collection during years 2 and 4, when data is not collected form the control group PHAs, is $10,232.72. The total estimated annual cost is calculated by multiplying the total number of respondent hours (198) by $52.14. $52.14 was the average hourly compensation (wages and benefits) for state and local government workers in December 2019 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

Legal Authority: The survey is conducted under Title 12, United States Code, Section 1701z and Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44, U.S.C., 35, as amended.

Annualized Burden Table

Information collection	Number of respondents	Frequency of response	Responses per annum	Burden hours per response	Annual burden hours	Hourly cost per response	Cost
Interviews: Treatment PHAs	99	1	1	2	198	$52.14	$10,232.72
Online Surveys: Control PHAs	10	1	1	0.5	5	52.14	260.70
Interviews: Control PHAs	20	1	1	1.5	30	52.14	1,564.20
Total	129				233		12,148.62

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected parties concerning the collection of information described in Section A on the following:

(1) 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) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to these questions.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.

Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Seth D. Appleton, having reviewed and approved this document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this document to submitter, Nacheshia Foxx, who is the Federal Register Liaison for HUD, for purposes of publication in the Federal Register.

Dated: September 8, 2020.

Nacheshia Foxx,

Federal Register Liaison for Housing and Urban Development.