Supporting Justification Statement for OMB Control Number 0990-0430
HHSAR 337.103(d)(3)
Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, Office of Grants and Acquisition Policy, and Accountability, Division of Acquisition is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) grant an extension on a previously approved information collection request, OMB control number 0990-0430, Crime Control Act—Requirement for Background Checks.
Performance of HHS mission requires the support of contractors. In some circumstances, depending on the requirements of the specific contract, the contractor is tasked to provide personnel who will be dealing with children under the age of 18. After contract award, relevant contractor personnel must undergo a criminal background check as required by HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) at 337.103(d)(3) (Contracting officer responsibility) and the clause at HHSAR 352.237-72 (Crime Control Act—Requirement for Background Checks) before working on the contract as required by Public Law 101-647, also known as the Crime Control Act of 1990. The contractor is, therefore, required to provide HHS with a list of the names of its relevant personnel for purposes of enabling HHS to conduct a criminal background check on those individuals.
The Agency is requesting a 3-year extension to collect this information from public or private businesses.
Purpose and Use of Information Collection
The purpose of this information collection is to ensure that criminal background checks are performed during the on-boarding process for all contractor personnel intended to deal with children under the age of 18 to confirm that such personnel do not have criminal histories.
Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction
All data submitted by contractors (100 percent) is requested to be submitted electronically. We use improved information technology to the maximum extent practicable. Where contractors are capable of electronic interchange, the contractors may submit this information collection requirement electronically. Nothing in the HHSAR precludes the use of electronic interchange where the requirement is for written documents. To promote efficiency and reduce burden, the information necessary for the purposes of the Crime Control Act—Requirement for Background Checks is being collected at the same time as other “on-boarding information” such as Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 information.
Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information
The particular names on each list is contract-specific and is typically collected only once during contract performance. The type of information collected from each contractor (i.e., names of personnel who will interact with children under the age of 18) is the same for each of the estimated 160 contracts.
Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities
The requirements of the Crime Control Act apply regardless of the size of the contractor. The data being requested is being provided by the contractor pursuant to the contract requirements and is the requisite information to conduct a criminal background check. Any burden would be the same for any size entity and is necessary for performance of the specific contract. The contract price would reflect the contract requirements. Thus, there is no additional burden or excessive burden placed on small businesses.
Consequences of Collecting the Information; Less Frequent Collection
Collection efforts by contractors are in response to specific federal laws that are drafted to address specific missions of HHS; in this case those who are interacting with children under the age of 18.
Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR Part 1320.5
There are no special circumstances related to collection of this information.
There are no requirements to report information to the agency more often than quarterly.
Generally, contractors will be required to provide the requisite information after award. In certain specific situations within HHS emerging requirements could dictate a quicker turnaround to allow the personnel to report for contract performance more quickly. In those cases, the data might be required to be submitted with proposals or shortly after contract award. These situations would be the exception to the general practice and would be justified within the contract file documentation.
Contractors will not be required to submit more than an original and two copies of any document. In virtually all cases, an electronic submission is sufficient.
Contract laws and regulations specify record retention requirements for contracts.
It is not expected that any contractor would be required to use a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB. The information collected does not include statistical data.
The protection of contractor proprietary, trade secret, or other confidential information and the Government’s right to use that data are covered by contract-specific clauses.
The request fully complies with the regulation.
Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice/Outside Consultation
A 60-day Federal Register Notice was published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2018, vol. 83, No. 137; pp: 33228-33230 (see attachment 0430-resources.docx). No public comments related to data collection were received.
Explanation of any Payment/Gift to Respondents
There will be no payments or gifts offered to the respondents for this collection of information. This collection of information will be part of the requirements of a federal contract.
Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
Data will be kept private to the extent allowed by law. The information requested is a list of names of the personnel for whom the criminal background check is necessary. The contracting activity adheres to HSPD-12 processes and procedures. The COR in conjunction with HHS Office of Security and Strategic Information (OSSI) provides information for the contractor to begin the on-boarding process. From that point forward the contractor works closely with OSSI. The criminal background check is performed concurrently with HSPD-12. The Contracting Office receives a confirmation when the contractor background investigation has been completed and they are cleared. This ICR does not require the contracting office to store the contractors PII. The release of information provided by a contractor is governed by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), but that certain information may be exempt from public disclosure. The information in this supporting statement has been coordinated with HHS privacy personnel.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
No sensitive questions are asked of contractors under this data collection.
Estimates of Annualized Hour and Cost Burden
12.A. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
Type of Respondent |
No. of Respondents |
No. Responses per Respondent |
Average Burden per Response (in hours) |
Total Burden Hours |
Business (contractor) |
160 |
1 |
1 |
160 |
Total |
160 |
1 |
1 |
160 |
12.B. Estimated Annualized Burden Costs
Type of Respondent |
Total Burden Hours |
Hourly Wages |
Total Cost to the Respondents |
Business (contractor) |
160 |
$44.28 |
$7,084.80 |
Estimates of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers/Capital Costs
There are no capital costs associated with this collection.
Annualized Cost to Federal Government
There are no equipment or overhead costs. Government FTEs and contractors, however, are being used to support the data collection. The cost to the federal government would be the cost of the salaries of the HHS staff that collects and disseminates the data and the cost of the contractor staff that supports the analysis and submission of the data.
The total estimated annualized cost to the federal government is $6,775. Table A-14 describes how this cost estimate was calculated and the roles.
Table A-14: Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
Organization |
Role |
Rate |
Hours |
Cost |
OS/ASFR/ OGAPA/OAP |
Federal SME |
$77.50 |
40 |
$3,100.00 |
PL Systems PM |
Contractor Analyst |
$90.00 |
30 |
$2,700.00 |
PL Systems Staff |
Contractor Staff Support |
$65.00 |
15 |
$975.00 |
Total |
|
|
85 |
$6,775.00 |
Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments
This is an extension of the current collection effort. There was no change to the current OMB inventory burden hours of 160 hours.
Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule
Approval is requested prior to November 16, 2018 to meet the date of December 31, 2018 which is when the current approval expires.
Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate
There is no request to not display the OMB Expiration Date.
Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
There are no exceptions to the certification.
SECTION B STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
This does not require any statistical or other analysis.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Tom Reid |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-20 |