[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 176 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49533-49535]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23703]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request and
Comment Request
In compliance with Public Law 104-13, the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995, SSA is providing notice of its information collections that
require submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). SSA is
soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate;
the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to enhance
its quality, utility and clarity; and on ways to minimize burden on
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
I. The information collections listed below will be submitted to
OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. Therefore, comments
and recommendations regarding the information collections would be most
useful if received by the Agency within 60 days from the date of this
publication. Comments should be directed to the SSA Reports Clearance
Officer at the address listed at the end of this publication. You can
obtain a copy of the collection instruments by calling the SSA Reports
Clearance Officer on (410) 965-4145, or by writing to him at the
address listed at the end of this publication.
1. Referral System for Vocational Rehabilitation Providers 0960--
NEW
Background
In 1996 the Social Security Administration (SSA) initiated an
innovative expansion of its vocational rehabilitation (VR) referral and
payment program. Under this program, SSA pays VR providers for the
costs of VR services provided to disability beneficiaries, if such
services result in the individual going to work at a specified earnings
level for at least nine months. Throughout this project, SSA has
expanded its VR program to increase the base of providers who are
available to serve people with disabilities. By increasing this base,
more people will be able to get the services they need to go to work,
become independent of the benefit rolls, and thus achieve savings to
SSA's trust funds.
In September 1997, SSA contracted with Birch & Davis Associates,
Inc. (B&D), to provide management support to its expanded VR referral
and payment program. This contract is for a three-year demonstration
project known as the Referral System for Vocational Rehabilitation
Providers (Project RSVP). SSA continues to be responsible for awarding
Alternate Participant (AP) contracts to VR providers, determining the
appropriateness of claims submitted by APs, and reimbursing APs for the
costs of their services if the requirements for payment are met.
B&D supports SSA's efforts by marketing to and recruiting VR
providers, training providers on SSA's VR program requirements, and
operating an Information and Referral System to link providers with
beneficiaries. In addition, B&D will conduct surveys of beneficiaries
and APs to determine customer satisfaction and to identify program
areas requiring improvement.
Information Collection
In support of the RSVP project, SSA will conduct semi-annual
voluntary information collections of both AP's and Beneficiaries/
Recipients (B/R). The data collection effort will be conducted in
survey format and has four goals:
1. To help program administrators understand the reasons for
varying levels of satisfaction with the program; 2. To help program
administrators understand the potential causes for varying levels of
success of the program; 3. To guide program change; and 4. If
necessary, to plan continuation of the program after the initial trial
period.
Through these voluntary surveys, SSA will collect three types of
data:
1. Descriptive data that describe the B/R and data that describe
the APs' vocational rehabilitation practice that are not available and
are necessary to evaluate respondents' satisfaction in the context of
their actual experience; 2. Quantitative data on B/R and AP
satisfaction with the program; and 3. Free-text comments by B/Rs and
APs regarding their experience with the program.
The data will be aggregated for all B/Rs and for all APs. A semi-
annual report will be generated for SSA. The information will be used
by AP program administrators at SSA and by B&D project management
staff. The respondents will be SSI/SSDI beneficiaries and APs under
contract with SSA to provide vocational rehabilitation services to
beneficiaries.
[[Page 49534]]
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Average Estimated
Number of Frequency of burden per annual
Survey form respondents response response burden
(minutes) (hours)
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Survey for APs who have submitted claims................ 12 2 20 8
Survey for APs who have not submitted a claim........... 314 2 20 210
Survey for B/Rs who have signed a Rehabilitation or 44 2 20 30
Employment Plan........................................
Survey for B/Rs who have not signed a Rehabilitation or 2,000 2 20 1,334
Employment Plan........................................
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Total Annual Burden Hours Requested................. ............ ............ ............ 1,582
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2. Statement of Income and Resources--0960-0124. The information
collected by the Social Security Administration on Form SSA-8010 is
necessary in the SSI eligibility/payment process. Information about the
income and resources of ineligible spouses/parents/children and
sponsors of aliens is used in the ``Deeming'' process. ``Deeming'' is
the attribution of another's income to an eligible individual/child/
alien. The respondents are ineligible spouses, parents, and children
who live in the same household as an eligible individual/child, and
sponsors of aliens.
Number of Respondents: 355,000.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Average Burden Per Response: 25 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 147,917 hours.
II. The information collections listed below have been submitted to
OMB for clearance. Written comments and recommendations on the
information collections would be most useful if received within 30 days
from the date of this publication. Comments should be directed to the
SSA Reports Clearance Officer and the OMB Desk Officer at the addresses
listed at the end of this publication. You can obtain a copy of the OMB
clearance packages by calling the SSA Reports Clearance Officer on
(410) 965-4145, or by writing to him.
1. Application for Supplemental Security Income-0960-0444. The
information collected on the SSA-8001 is used by the Social Security
Administration to determine whether applicants for SSI benefits meet
all statutory and regulatory requirements for eligibility and, if so,
the amount of benefits payable. The respondents are applicants for SSI
benefits.
Number of Respondents: 1,011,046.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Average Burden Per Response: 15 minutes.
Estimated Annual Burden: 252,762 hours.
2. 0960-NEW. State Partnership Initiative (SPI) Cooperative
Agreements. Executive Order (E.O.) 13078 dated March 13, 1998,
Increasing Employment of Adults With Disabilities, orders that a
National Task Force be established to create a coordinated and
aggressive national policy to bring adults with disabilities into
gainful employment at a rate that is as close as possible to that of
the general adult population. E.O. 13078 specifies that the Task Force
``evaluate and, where appropriate, coordinate and collaborate on,
research and demonstration priorities of Task Force member agencies
related to employment of adults with disabilities.''
To comply with the E.O., SSA released cooperative agreement
announcements in 1998 to approximately 650 State agencies nationwide to
conduct demonstration projects that assist States in developing service
delivery models that increase the rates of gainful employment of people
with disabilities. Eighteen State agencies have been selected to
participate in the demonstration projects.
SSA has employed a monitoring and technical assistance contractor,
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to collect information from the
State awardees' databases on behalf of SSA. VCU will use the
information to evaluate whether and to what extent the service delivery
models achieve the overall goals of the demonstration projects and will
report project results to SSA. SSA will use the results to conduct a
net outcome evaluation to determine the long term effectiveness of the
interventions.
Following is a table that outlines the public reporting burden of
State agencies for this project:
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Average Estimated
Frequency of burden per annual
Title of collection Number of responses response response burden
(minute(s)) (hour(s))
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Demonstration Site Form........ 16 (electronic)................. One Time............ 1 .3
2 (manual)...................... One Time............ 1 .1
Participant Demographic Data 3,080 (electronic).............. One Time............ 15 770
Form.
300 (manual).................... One Time............ 20 100
Participant Employment Data 3,080 (electronic).............. One Time............ 5 257
Form.
300 (manual).................... One Time............ 7 35
Participant Update Form........ 3,080 (electronic).............. Quarterly........... 4 821
300 (manual).................... Quarterly........... 5 100
Change in Employment Status.... 1,540 (electronic).............. (\1\)............... 3 77
150 (manual).................... (\1\)............... 4 10
State Quarterly and............ 72.............................. Quarterly........... (\2\) 18
State Semiannual and........... 36.............................. Semiannual.......... (\2\) 9
Annual Reports................. 18.............................. Annual.............. (\2\) 4.5
Stakeholder Interviews......... 50.............................. Varies per 10 8.3
Stakeholder.
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Total...................... ................................ .................... ........... 2,210.2
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\1\ Completed only if employment changes.
\2\ 15 minutes for each report.
[[Page 49535]]
(SSA Address), Social Security Administration, DCFAM, Attn: Frederick
W. Brickenkamp, 6401 Security Blvd., 1-A-21 Operations Bldg.,
Baltimore, MD 21235.
(OMB Address), Office of Management and Budget, OIRA, Attn: Lori
Schack, New Executive Office Building, Room 10230, 725 17th St., NW,
Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: September 7, 1999.
Frederick W. Brickenkamp,
Reports Clearance Officer, Social Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-23703 Filed 9-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4190-29-P
