Monitoring GenIC - OCS Tribal LIHWAP

Request for Approval under the clearance of the “Generic for ACF Program Office Monitoring Activities” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number: 0970-0558

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) Tribal Implementation Check-In

PURPOSE: The Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) provides funds to assist low-income households with water and wastewater bills. The priority is to ensure that households whose services have been disconnected due to non-payment, or are about to be disconnected, are able to have their services restored as quickly as possible. LIHWAP grants are available to States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, and Federally and state-recognized Indian Tribes and tribal organizations.

The purpose of this data collection effort is to gain a deeper understanding of how Tribes are implementing LIHWAP. Since 2021, a total of 97 Tribes and Tribal Organizations have been awarded funding and have begun to implement LIHWAP programs in Tribal communities across the country. The Office of Community Services (OCS) will use the information collected in the following ways:

• Oversight and evaluation of grantee performance: technical/programmatic, financial, and business management.

• Confirmation of compliance with grant requirements including the flow of funds from grant recipient to water vendor, the use of monitoring systems to verify household benefits and water access, and the appropriate determination of household eligibility.

• Verification that the program is carried out in a manner consistent with their OSC approved LIHWAP Implementation Plans.

• Assessment of the program through the collection of additional information on the status, activities, and accomplishments of Tribal grant recipients for office- and program-specific reports.

• Inform the program design as the office pursues permanent authorization.

• Determine if additional actions/support (e.g., T/TA) are needed to increase the potential for success or to protect federal interests (e.g., enforcement actions). LIHWAP is halfway through its program life and this check-in will allow any necessary intervention or course correction to project implementation.

From this information, OCS will be able identify promising practices that could be modeled to enhance LIHWAP administration and implementation, identify barriers and challenges to Tribal LIHWAP implementation, and identify Tribal LIHWAP accomplishments and successes.

This information collection aligns with the overarching generic for monitoring activities, which specifically states that ACF will collect the information for:

• monitoring of compliance with federal practice, guidelines and requirements,

• quick understanding of and remediation to tribe specific issues,

• provision of support as needed,

• accurate assessment of the efficiency and efficacy of recipient activities

• documentation of promising practice, innovative services, and program strengths

• flexible and responsive oversight of federal funds

The proposed uses of the data also align with the overarching generic, which specifies that program offices will use information collected under this generic clearance to monitor the efficiency and efficacy of funding recipient activities and to provide support or take appropriate action, as needed.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: (e.g., states, grantees, or type of non-profit)

The respondents in this data collection effort are the 97 Tribes and Tribal Organizations currently implementing LIHWAP.

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is in compliance with U.S. Health and Human Services regulations.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

Name: Sarah Dalgleish, Program Specialist, Office of Community Services

To assist OMB review of your request, please provide answers to the following question:

PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent per year	Burden per Response	Annual Burden
Tribe/Tribal Organization	97	1	1 hour	194 hours
Totals	97	1	1 hour	194 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government is $48,792.

The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government is based on the average hourly salary for social and community service specialist, job code 21-0000 based on 2021 Occupational Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The base wage is equal to the mean salary of $40.66 per hour.  The base wage was multiplied by two ($81.32) to calculate wage plus fringe benefits and overhead. After, this wage was multiplied by 600 hours which is the estimated burden hours to staff for the collection and analysis of the information.

TYPE OF COLLECTION:

How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based

[ ] E-mail

[ ] Paper mail

[ X ] Other, Explain

OCS will conduct interviews with tribal LIHWAP grant recipients. Interviews may be conducted during web-based meetings or person in during on-site visits.

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