82 FR 11526 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Evaluation of the Direct Certification With Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price (DCM-F/RP) Meals Demonstrations

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 36 (February 24, 2017)

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. This is a new collection for the Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (DCM-F/RP) Demonstrations.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11526-11530]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03569]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Evaluation of the Direct Certification With Medicaid 
for Free and Reduced-Price (DCM-F/RP) Meals Demonstrations

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice.

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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. This is a new collection for 
the Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and 
Reduced-Price Meals (DCM-F/RP) Demonstrations.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 25, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions 
of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions that were used; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments may be sent to: Conor McGovern, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 
1040, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to 
the attention of Conor McGovern at 703-305-2576 or via email to 
[email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Room 1040, Alexandria, VA 22302.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Conor 
McGovern at 703-457-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for 
Free and Reduced-Price Meals (DCM-F/RP) Demonstrations.
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: Not Yet Assigned.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: Direct certification has improved access to free school 
meals while easing the burden on families and district staff by 
reducing the use of household applications and decreasing the number of 
students subject to verification for school meal benefit eligibility. 
Direct certification also improves program integrity because it is less 
error-prone than certification by application.
    Recently, FNS has sought ways to further expand direct 
certification, including experimenting with allowing direct 
certification based on data from means-tested programs that do not 
confer categorical eligibility. Prior DCM demonstrations have 
authorized selected States and districts to use income information from 
Medicaid files to determine students' eligibility based on their 
household income and directly certify those students found to be 
eligible for free meals. The new DCM-F/RP demonstration expands the use 
of direct certification using income information from Medicaid files to 
include eligibility for reduced-price meals. The evaluation of the DCM-
F/RP demonstration will investigate the processes, challenges, and 
outcomes of using Medicaid data to directly certify students.
    The study will gather data from State, School Food Authority,\1\ 
and State Agency vendor staff, including (1) site visits and follow-up 
interviews to document DCM-F/RP processes, (2) administrative records 
on certification for school meal benefits and participation in the 
school meal programs, and (3) cost logs and clarification interviews on 
the State-level administrative costs of DCM-F/RP. Data will be 
collected for school year (SY) 2017-2018.
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    \1\ Because nearly all schools in the National School Lunch 
Program and School Breakfast Program are parts of entities commonly 
known as school districts, we use that term in the rest of this 
document instead of School Food Authority to refer to local entities 
that enter into agreements with State agencies to operate the 
National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.
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    FNS is also conducting research with the State Child Nutrition and 
Medicaid agency officials, school district directors and school 
district food service staff to develop, test, and improve the 
evaluation data collection instruments and methodologies. This pre-
testing burden was approved by the Office of Management and Budget on 
December 19, 2016 under OMB # 0584-0606 FNS Generic Clearance for Pre-
Testing, Pilot, and Field Test Studies.
    Affected Public: State and Local Government--Respondent groups 
identified include (1) State Child Nutrition Agency staff who 
administer the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast 
Program from 15 State agencies, (2) State Medicaid Agency staff from 15 
State agencies, (3) staff from 3 other State Agencies that play key 
roles in the direct certification process, and (4) school district 
staff from 32 districts.
    Businesses--Respondent groups identified include 2 State Child 
Nutrition agency vendors and 2 Medicaid Agency vendors that play key 
roles in the direct certification process.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
unique respondents for SY 2017-2018 is 197 (193 respondents and 4 non-
respondents). This count assumes 100 percent response from State Child 
Nutrition Agency staff on site visits, follow-up telephone interviews, 
administrative records requests, and cost data collection. For State 
Medicaid Agency staff, it assumes 100 percent response on site visits 
and 93 percent response on the follow-up telephone interviews and cost 
data collection. For other State Agency staff, it assumes 100 percent 
response on site visits and cost data collection. For school district 
staff, it assumes 100 percent response on site visits and 91 percent 
response on follow-up telephone interviews. For State Agency vendor 
staff, it assumes 100 percent response on site visit interviews. State 
Child Nutrition Agency, State Medicaid Agency, other State Agency, and 
district staff are expected to participate in multiple data collection 
activities, but each individual is counted only once in the total.

[[Page 11527]]

    A total of 45 State Child Nutrition Agency staff (3 per State) will 
take part in the on-site interviews, with 30 of those respondents (2 
per State) also taking part in on-site observations. Of the 45 State 
Child Nutrition Agency respondents, 15 (one from each State) will 
complete the follow-up telephone interview, administrative records 
request, and collection logs used to track State cost data. A total of 
45 State Medicaid Agency staff (3 per State) will also take part in the 
on-site interviews, with 30 of those respondents (2 per State) also 
taking part in the on-site observations. Of the 45 State Medicaid 
Agency respondents, 15 (one from each State) will be asked to complete 
the follow-up telephone interview and collection logs used to track 
State cost data (including 14 respondents and 1 non-responder). A total 
of 3 respondents from other State Agencies (1 in each of 3 States) will 
take part in the on-site interviews and complete the collection logs 
used to track State cost data.
    A total of 96 district respondents (3 per participating district) 
will take part in the on-site interviews, with 64 (2 per district) of 
those respondents also taking part in on-site observations. Of the 96 
district respondents, 32 (one per district) will be asked to complete 
the follow-up telephone interview (including 29 respondents and 3 non-
responders).
    A total of 4 respondents from State Agency vendors (1 for each of 2 
State Child Nutrition Agency vendors and 2 Medicaid Agency vendors) 
will take part in the on-site interviews.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: The average estimated 
annual number of responses per respondent is 5.168 (5.217 for 
respondents and 2.75 for non-respondents). Site visits (including 
interviews and observations--both preceded by advance letters and 
scheduling calls) with State- and district-level staff will take place 
once during the year, and follow-up telephone interviews (preceded by 
scheduling calls) with State- and district-level staff will take place 
once later in the year. Administrative records data will be requested 
via email and collected twice during the year. Cost data will also be 
requested via email and collected through cost-tracking logs and 
interviews with State-level administrators four times during the year.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: We estimate that 1,007 total 
responses will be gathered in SY 2017-2018 (including 1,003 responses 
from state and local government entities and 4 from businesses) from 
193 respondents (189 state and local government entities and 4 business 
entities). A further 11 responses from 4 non-responders (all from state 
and local government entities) are anticipated, for a total of 1,018 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time per response is 
0.879 hours (approximately 53 minutes). The estimated time of response 
varies from 2 minutes to 4 hours depending upon respondent action, as 
shown in the table below.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total estimated 
annual burden is 894.675 hours, as shown in the table below.

BILLING CODE 3410-30-P

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    Dated: February 8, 2017.
Jessica Shahin,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-03569 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-C