Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results f or Children with Disabilities OM B No. 1820

- 0622; 10/18/2013 Page 1 **SPECIAL EDUCATION**

**— INSTITUTIONAL REPORTING ON REGULATORY**  **COMPLIANCE RELA TED TO THE PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT**  **PROGRAM SERVICE OBLIGATION**  **SUPPORTING STATEMENT**

**INTRODUCTION** This submission is a result of regulations which govern the service obligation related to the Personnel Development P rogram in Section 673(h) of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 which requires individuals who receive a scholarship through personnel development projects funded under the Act subsequentl y to provid e earl y intervention, special education or related services to children with disabilities or, for leadership personnel, work in the appropriate field for a period of two ye ars for every year for which assistance was received. Scholarship recipients who do not satisfy their service obligation through service must repay all or part of the cost of their assistance in accordance with the regulations issued by the Secretary . These regulations implement requirements governing, among other things, the service obli gation for scholars, oversight by grantees, repay ment of scholarships, and procedures for obtaining deferrals or exemptions from service or repay

ment obligations. In order for the Federal government to implement these regulations, certain data collections, record keeping and reporting are necessary

. **JUSTIFICATION**
**A1. C**  **ircumstances Making the Collection of Information**  **Necessary** The December 9, 1999 regulations require the institutions of higher education (IHEs) grantees to document scholars’ progress in programs and in their subsequent eligible emplo ym ent. When scholars do not satisfy the requirements of the regulation and are required to repay part or all of their scholarship, IHEs are required to provide the Federal government with the information nece ssary to carryout the Secretary ’s functions. This Paperwork Act submission relates to grants that were awarded in FY2004 and earlier. The Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 transferred documentation of scholars’ eligible employ ment from IH Es to the Federal government. A separate Paperwork Act submission (1820

- 0686) was approved on June 5, 2006 for data collected in FY2005 and later and a renewal is currently in progress
. **A 2.**  **Purpose and Use of the Information** The information gathe red by this collection is used to ensure repay ment by obligees to the Federal government of all or part of the scholarship assistance made to those scholars who received scholar ships from personnel development grants awarded inPersonnel Development to Improve Services and Results f or Children with Disabilities OM B No. 1820

- 0622; 10/18/2013 Page 2 2004 and earlier but who do not complete programs or satisfy the service obligation through service as required by the regulations. **A 3.**  **Use of Technology to Reduce Burden**

. Grantees establish their data collection s ys tems, and these sy stems vary from institution to institution, inclu ding the degree to which they use technology . The grantees send via US mail the necessary information about scholars (approximately 30 each ye ar) who will be required to repay their scholarships to the Department. Grantees will continue to send via US m ail information related to students who have not completed their program of study or who have not completed their service obligation. **A 4.**  **Efforts to Identify Duplication** Nothing in the regulations duplicates other information requests or requirements. Th e requested information is not available from other sources. **A 5.**  **Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Entities** The information requested does not involve the collection of information from small businesses. **A 6.**  **Consequences of Not Collecting Data** The regulations require the minimum amount of data to ensure that IHEs and obligees provide the information necessary to meet the purpose of the Act. To require less frequent collection would result in the inability of the Secretary to assure that grantees and ob ligees are complying with the statutory requirements. **A 7.**  **Special Circumstances** Scholarship recipients are required to maintain their employ ment records until they have satisfied their service obligation as required by ID EA 1997 and 2004. **A 8.**  **Federal Reg ister Comments and Persons Consulted Outside the Agency**  Since the last Paperwork Act submission , no unfavorable comments about the burden of this requirement have been documented. Many obligees have apparentl y either completed their service obligation through service or have repaid part or all of the scholarship received

. Therefore, the burden of this collection is decreasing. **A9**
**. Payments or Gifts**  No pay ments or gifts will be provided to respondents . The grants from FY2004 and earlier have ende d. **A10**
**. Assurances of Confidentiality**  No assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents. **A 11.**  **Justification of Sensitive Questions** There are no questions of a sensitive nature contained in the application form.Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results f or Children with Disabilities OM B No. 1820

- 0622; 10/18/2013 Page 3 **A12. Estimates of Hourly Burden**  All of the FY2004 and earlier grants have closed. Therefore, grantees will no longer establish Pre

- scholarship Agreements or Exit Ce rtifications with scholars/obligees

. It is estimated that 120 grantees will spend one hour each ye ar collecting and do cument ing obligee employ ment data for an average of 20 obligees each. Grantees must report to the Secretary an y obligees who must repay part or all of the funding received, because they

have not completed their obligation through service. The burden for all grantees for each of the next 3 years equals an estimated 2 , 400 hours.
This burden has decreased because grantees are no longer establishing Pre

scholarship Agreements or Exit Certifications. As more scholars complete their service obligations or repay all or part of the funding received , the burden for grantees will continue to decrease.
It is estimated that 2,400 individual scholarship recipients will take 30 minutes each ye ar to report to the grantee the information necessary for the grantee to mai ntain scholars’ eligible emplo yment records . The total average annual burden for all scholars during the next three ye ars is 1,200 hours. An estimated half of the time is focused on recordkeeping and the other h alf on reporting to grantees. As scholars complete their service obligations and no longer need to provide the grantee with information, the burden for scholars will dec rease
. Thus, the total annual reporting burden for this collection is estimated at 2,400 hours annually for all grantees and 1,20 0 hours annuall y for all scholars. The estimated cost to grantees of maintaining obligee information and providing information to scholars and the Secretary is $ 60,000 . This annual cost is determined by multiplying the annual grantee burden hours ( 2,400 ) by the average hourly

salary ($25). Therefore, the estimated average cost for each grantee is $500. **A 13.**  **Estimates of Cost Burden to Respondents** There are no additional costs other than the burden identified in A 12. **A 14.**  **Estimate of annual Cost to the F ederal Government**  The following outlines the cost to the Federal Government: Based on current experience, it is estimated that there will be approximately 30 obligees each ye ar who will be referred to the Department for collection when an obligee fails to meet the requirements of the regulations and must repay all or part of the scholarship received . It is estimated that it will take 55 hours of staff time to resolve each of 30 cases for a total of 1,650 hours. Therefore, the estimated cost burden to the Federal government is 30 cases x 55 hours x th e average hourly pay rate of $40 . The total annual cost burden is $ 66,000

. **A 15.**  **Program Changes or Adjustments**Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results f or Children with Disabilities OM B No. 1820

- 0622; 10/18/2013 Page 4 No change. **A 16.**  **Plans for Tabulation and Publication of Results** The information collected wi ll not be published. **A 17.**  **Approval to Not Display the OMB Expiration Date** There is no request for permission not to display the expiration date for OMB approval. **A 18.**  **Explanation of Exceptions** The information collection will not need an exception to the certification statement in OMB Form 83

- 1.

**B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL**  **METHODS** This collection does not employ statistical methods.Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results f or Children with Disabilities OM B No. 1820

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