Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

The Corporation is particularly interested in comments which: • Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Corporation, including whether the information will have practical utility; • Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; • Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and • Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Background

AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) was established by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (Pub. L 103- 82). It is a 10-month, full-time residential program for men and women 18-24 operated directly by the Corporation for National Service. AmeriCorps*NCCC was designed to blend the best practices of civilian service with the best practices of military service, including leadership development and team-building. Members live and train at campus based on five regions. In three regions, campuses occupy closed or downsized military bases: The Southeast Region in Charleston, SC; the Central Region in Denver, CO; and the Western Region in San Diego, CA. The campus in the Northeast Region occupies a medical facility for veterans in Perry Point, MD, and the Capital Region is based at a municipal facility in Washington, DC. AmeriCorps*NCCC service emphasizes disaster relief, large-scale capital improvements, and providing leadership to large groups of volunteers. A service-learning approach that includes planned activities and training is part of all service projects. Since 1994, more than 4,000 young Americans have served as members of AmeriCorps*NCCC. This proposed evaluation of the community impacts of the AmeriCorps*NCCC program is supported by the legislation that authorized the program (Pub. L. 103-82) and by the Corporation's strategic and performance plans prepared in response to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Under Pub. L. 103-82, the Corporation is required to evaluate each of its programs on a continuing basis (Section 179, or 42 U.S.C. 12639). The Corporation's Fiscal 2000 Performance Plan (required under GPRA) specifically lists this study. It states that the AmeriCorps*NCCC Community Impact Evaluation is directly related to Strategic Goals 1 and 2 as presented in its Strategic Plan for 1997-2002. Those goals are: Strategic Goal 1: Service will help solve the nation's unmet education, public safety, environmental and other human needs. Strategic Goal 2: Communities will be made stronger through service. It is an agency priority to evaluate the impacts of its AmeriCorps programs. This data collection will assess the impacts of the Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program on direct beneficiaries, agency and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities served by AmeriCorps*NCCC projects.

Current Action

The Corporation seeks approval of three survey forms and an interview protocol for the evaluation of the community impacts of the Corporation's AmeriCorps*NCCC program. It will allow for the assessment of the impact of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on direct beneficiaries, agency and organizational sponsors, and the larger communities they serve. It will also help the Corporation to determine effective planning, initiation, and implementation practices for enhancing AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' impacts on communities.

(I) Pre-Project Sponsor Survey

This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' expectations for their AmeriCorps*NCCC project. It asks for information about the community needs that led to the project, previous related activities, alternative ways to achieve project objectives, expected impacts, ways that impacts will be measured, relative priority or value of expected impacts, and the processes that led to project approval. This information will serve as the baseline against which post-project information will be compared. Type of Review: New approval. Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service. Title: Pre-Project Sponsor Survey. OMB Number: None. Agency Number: None. Affected Public: Approved agency or organization sponsors for AmeriCorps* NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects. Total Respondents: Approximately 108. Frequency: One time. Average Time Per Response: 40 minutes. Estimated Total Burden Hours: 72.4 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None. Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(II) Post-Project Sponsor Survey

This survey is designed to assess project sponsors' perceptions of the impacts of their AmeriCorps*NCCC project on their community. It asks for information about the extent to which community needs that led to the project were met and the extent to which their expectations were achieved, evidence used by the sponsor to support perceptions of project impacts, plans for related future activities, changes in project activities or objectives during implementation, unexpected implementation issues, assessments of the reasons for their perceptions of impacts, and project costs to the sponsor and other community organizations. This information will be compared to baseline information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project impacts reported by other community respondents (from the Post-project Community Survey) as well as to information gathered from AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel. Type of Review: New approval. Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service. Title: Post-project Sponsor Survey. OMB Number: None. Agency Number: None. Affected Public: Agency or organization sponsors for AmeriCorps* NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects who were administered the Pre-project Sponsor survey and whose projects were implemented. Total Respondents: Approximately 103. Frequency: One time. Average Time Per Response: 60 minutes. Estimated Total Burden Hours: 103.0 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None. Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(III) Post-Project Community Survey

This survey is designed to assess the perceptions of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects' direct beneficiaries of the impacts of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects on them and their community. It asks for information about what the respondent expected from the AmeriCorps*NCCC project, how that compared to their perceptions of actual impacts, and the basis on which they are making their comparisons. It also asks for information about the implementation of the project from the community respondents' perspectives, including any costs of project implementation to them. This information will be compared to baseline information gathered from the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and to project impacts reported by the sponsors in the Post-project Sponsor Survey as well as to information gathered from AmeriCorps*NCCC program personnel. Type of Review: New approval. Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service. Title: Post-project Community Survey. OMB Number: None. Agency Number: None.

Affected Public: Representatives of organizations or individuals that were served directly by AmeriCorps*NCCC Class VI (1999-2000 program year) projects included in both the Pre-project Sponsor Survey and Post-project Sponsor Survey. Not all projects have organizations, other than the sponsor, or individuals as direct service recipients. Total Respondents: Approximately 160. Frequency: One time. Average Time Per Response: 20 minutes. Estimated Total Burden Hours: 53.3 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None. Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

(IV) Implementation Interview Protocol

This protocol is designed to obtain detailed information from a subsample of AmeriCorps*NCCC projects while they are in operation. Topics addressed include changes in project activities or objectives since the project was approved and rationales for those changes, document the activities being conducted by the project and by others directed toward project activities, document the types and amounts of resources being expended in support of the AmeriCorps*NCCC project team, sponsors' and other community representatives' assessments of project quality, document accomplishments of the project at the time of the interview relative to project plans, and obtain sponsors' and other community representatives' assessments of effective implementation practices. This information will be used directly in the analysis of the community impacts of the AmeriCorps*NCCC projects visited for these interviews in combination with the Pre-project Sponsor Survey, Post- project Sponsor Survey, and Post-project Community Survey. The information will also be compared to the information from the same projects generated by the surveys to ensure the validity of the information collections. The information also will be used to inform the general analysis of all survey data, particularly in seeking effective practices and explanations for different levels of project impacts. Type of Review: New approval. Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service. Title: Implementation Interview Protocol. OMB Number: None. Agency Number: None. Affected Public: Sponsor managers, service-site supervisors, representatives of other organizations and individuals served by the projects. Total Respondents: Approximately 78. Frequency: One time. Average Time Per Response: 0.62 hours. Estimated Total Burden Hours: 48 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None. Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also become a matter of public record.

Dated: October 8, 1999. Thomas L. Bryant, Associate General Counsel. [FR Doc. 99-26937 Filed 10-14-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6050-28-U