Summary
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. The purpose of this new collection is to collect qualitative and quantitative stakeholder feedback through meetings, focus groups, interviews, other stakeholder interactions and surveys, as well as requests for administrative data, as part of the planning process for FNS regulatory actions, the semi-annual regulatory agenda, research studies, outreach, training and the development of guidance.
Request for Comments
- Comments may be sent to Jamia Franklin, Information Collection Clearance Officer, and Maureen Lydon, Chief of the Planning and Regulatory Affairs Office, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th floor, Alexandria, VA 22314.
- Comments may also be sent via email to Jamia.Franklin@usda.gov and Maureen.Lydon@usda.gov.
- Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public record.
Abstract
The proposed information collection provides a means to garner qualitative and quantitative stakeholder feedback, feedback from state, local and/or tribal agencies and implementers, feedback from program participants, and existing administrative data, in an efficient and timely manner.
This new FNS-wide generic information collection request currently does not exist and would focus on the following:
- Discussion groups, focus groups, stakeholder meetings, interviews and surveys that involve other than routine customer feedback and may involve use of standardized questions such as focus group discussion guides or surveys. These focus groups, meetings, other stakeholder interactions, and surveys would involve stakeholders, program participants, and state, local and/or tribal agencies who would potentially provide valuable input necessary for planning: (a) research studies, including program evaluations such as impact or process evaluations; (b) regulatory actions; (c) program changes; (d) outreach, promotion activities and/or training for stakeholders and program participants; (e) guidance, technical assistance documents, questions and answers, to be issued by FNS; and/or (f) other necessary program or policy analyses. The surveys would include both regular surveys and pulse-type surveys. The pulse-type surveys differ in that they would provide a real-time and reoccurring snapshot on key issues and give FNS an immediate stream of data to understand current program needs.
- This generic ICR would also encompass the ad-hoc collection of extant, administrative data from state, local and/or tribal agencies that administer the various FNS programs and/or demonstration projects (including but not limited to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation demonstration projects). These would be data that FNS knows are in existence and that state, local and/or tribal agencies regularly collect but do not necessarily report to the federal level. FNS is referring to data that are readily available for a state, local and/or tribal agency to provide, but that FNS wouldn't collect on a regular basis.
- Information gathered could potentially yield qualitative and/or quantitative information and, when appropriate, may be shared outside the agency (along with the context and parameters for the subject information collection, and excluding personally identifiable information).
Data gathered through this collection will be combined with information from many other sources and other inputs to inform program and policy decision-making.
This collection allows for ongoing, two-way collaborative and actionable communications between the agency and its state, local and/or tribal partners, program participants, and stakeholders. It also allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement and planning of research studies, program changes, regulatory activities, guidance, outreach and/or training activities. As individual collections occur under this generic umbrella, consideration will be given to the appropriate data sharing, equity issues and transparency per collection.
The information to be collected could focus on a variety of FNS programs, or portions thereof, including but not limited to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), other child nutrition and food distribution activities, the Farm to School program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), nutrition and policy promotion, and any associated challenges in implementing programs or subsets of programs. The annual burden hours requested of 43,360 are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct annually over the requested period for this clearance.