Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 4, 2021 / Notices 41945 

1U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and 

Nutrition Service. VENA Value Enhanced Nutrition 

Assessment. Available at: https://wicworks.

fns.usda.gov/resources/value-enhanced-nutritionassessment-vena-guidance. 

requirements. However, this document 

does contain a general solicitation of 

comments in the form of a request for 

information. In accordance with 

implementing regulations of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), specifically 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4), 

this general solicitation is exempt from 

the PRA. Facts or opinions submitted in 

response to general solicitations of 

comments from the public, published in 

the Federal Register or other 

publications, regardless of the form or 

format thereof, provided that no person 

is required to supply specific 

information pertaining to the 

commenter other than that necessary for 

self-identification, as a condition of the 

agency’s full consideration, are not 

generally considered information 

collections and therefore not subject to 

the PRA. 

Timothy English, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16479 Filed 8–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: WIC Nutrition Assessment 

and Tailoring Study—In-Person Data 

Collection 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for 

comments. 

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 collection is a revision of the 

currently approved collection for the 

Special Supplemental Nutrition 

Program for Women, Infants, and 

Children (WIC) Nutrition Assessment 

and Tailoring Study (WIC NATS) [OMB 

Control Number 0584–0663]. The 

revision adds data collection from inperson site visits, where the data 

collection activities planned for the 

currently approved remote site visits 

will be replicated for use with 30 WIC 

clinic sites for in-person site visits once 

WIC clinic sites safely resume in-person 

operations. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before October 4, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: 

Alexander Bush, Office of Policy 

Support, Food and Nutrition Service, 

USDA, 1320 Braddock Place, 

Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may 

also be submitted via fax to the attention 

of Karen Castellanos-Brown at 703–305– 

2732 or via email to Karen.CastellanosBrown@usda.gov. 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 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 on 

or copies of this information collection 

should be directed to Karen CastellanosBrown at Karen.Castellanos-Brown@

usda.gov or Courtney Paolicelli at 571– 

302–6447. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. 

Title: WIC Nutrition Assessment and 

Tailoring Study: In-Person Data 

Collection. 

Form Number: Not applicable. 

OMB Number: 0584–0663. 

Expiration Date: 04/30/2024. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The Special Supplemental 

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, 

and Children (WIC) provides 

supplemental foods, nutrition education 

and breastfeeding support, and referrals 

to health care and other social services 

to safeguard the health of low-income 

women, infants, and children up to 5 

years of age who are at nutritional risk. 

As part of the certification and 

recertification process, WIC staff 

perform a comprehensive nutrition risk 

assessment with each participant to 

screen for certain nutrition risks and 

collect other relevant dietary and health 

information. Based on the nutrition risk 

assessment, WIC staff can individualize 

the food package benefits, nutrition 

education, and referrals the participant 

receives to meet their unique nutritional 

needs. While guidelines for conducting 

a quality nutrition risk assessment are 

described in the Value Enhanced 

Nutrition Assessment (VENA) 

guidance,1 there is flexibility in how 

WIC staff conduct the nutrition risk 

assessment, and specifics of the process 

may vary by WIC State Agency (SA) and 

by WIC Local Agency (LA). Through 

this study, FNS seeks to better 

understand the nutrition services 

process as it transpires at WIC clinics, 

and WIC staff and participants’ 

satisfaction with the process. The 

findings from this study will be used to 

develop guidance for WIC staff to 

enhance service delivery to improve 

program satisfaction, retention, and 

participant health and nutrition 

outcomes. 

The four study objectives are: (1) 

Provide in-depth descriptive 

information on how a large, diverse 

sample of local WIC agencies performs 

the WIC nutrition risk assessment; (2) 

Systematically describe how a national 

sample of diverse local WIC agencies 

uses the collection of nutrition risk 

assessment information to tailor 

program benefits, including food 

packages, nutrition education, 

breastfeeding promotion and support, 

and referrals to health and social 

services; (3) Investigate relationships 

between WIC nutrition risk services 

processes (to include the nutrition risk 

assessment and the associated tailoring 

of program benefits), and the clinic 

experience, participant and staff 

perceptions, and overall clinic flow and 

efficiency; and (4) Identify specific 

practices or features of nutrition risk 

service processes that facilitate the use 

of nutrition assessment information for 

providing tailored program benefits, and 

that are associated with participant and 

staff satisfaction. 

Under the currently approved WIC 

NATS data collection [OMB Control 

Number 0584–0663], 30 clinic sites will 

be selected to participate in remote site 

visits—where the study team will 

observe remote nutrition assessment 

visits (i.e., assessments done via 

telephone or video call) and then 

interview WIC participants and staff by 

telephone. Under this revision, 30 clinic 

sites will be recruited to participate in 

the same data collection activities— 

including direct observation of nutrition 

assessments and interviews with 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
41946 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 4, 2021 / Notices 

participants and staff—during in-person 

site visits. Information collected under 

this revision will be used to better 

understand how the nutrition risk 

assessment process is conducted in a 

typical, face-to-face setting. This 

information will also be compared to 

similar information collected during the 

remote site visits. 

This phase of data collection for inperson site visits reduces the burden to 

the information collection. While the 

Local Agencies participated in the 

remote data collection, the collection 

activities for the in-person site visits do 

not collect information from them. As a 

result, they have been removed from the 

collection. Although the data collection 

from the in-person site visits actually 

adds burden to the four currently 

approved elements of the collection: (1) 

Direct observation of nutrition 

assessments, (2) interviews with clinic 

site directors; (3) interviews with clinic 

staff, and (4) interviews with WIC 

participants, this increase is offset by 

the removal of the Local Agencies from 

this collection. Estimates of the number 

of respondents and hours associated 

with this data collection are given 

below. The content of the currently 

approved data collection instruments 

has not changed. 

Affected Public: (1) State, Local, and 

Tribal Government; (2) Business or 

Other for Profit; (3), Not For Profit 

Organizations; and (4) Individuals/ 

Households. Respondent groups 

identified include: (1) State, local, and 

tribal governments (WIC clinic sites); (2) 

Businesses/Non-Profits; (WIC clinic 

sites); and (3) Individuals (adults who 

participate in WIC or who have children 

that participate in WIC). 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The total estimated number of 

respondents is 1,050 (540 respondents 

and 510 non-respondents). The total 

includes 30 clinics (21 government and 

9 business), and 1,020 individuals. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: The estimated frequency of 

response across the entire collection is 

4.63. The estimated frequency of 

response is 5.78 annually for 

respondents and 3.42 annually for nonrespondents. For most of the items in 

the collection, respondents reply to 

them only once, with the exception of 

the informed consents for the 

observation and staff interviews, the 

identified risks data collection form, 

and the staff interview guide. The WIC 

Clinic respondents will provide consent 

six times and will complete the data 

collection form and the interview five 

times. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

The estimated total number of annual 

responses is 4,865 (3,120 respondents 

and 1,745 non-respondents). 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated average response time per 

response across all respondents in the 

collection is 0.10 hours (0.15 hours for 

responsive participants and 0.02 hours 

for nonresponsive participants). The 

estimated time of response varies from 

one minute (0.02 hours) to one hour 

depending on the respondent group and 

activity, as shown in table 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: The total public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated at 509.38 hours (annually). 

See table 1 for estimated total annual 

burden for each type of respondent. 

Timothy English, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

EN04AU21.258</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Table I. Total Public Burden Hours 

Responsive Non-re

-

iii 'in' 

-

iii 

:::, .. :::, 

Ill C "' :::, C 

.... C C a, C 

a, 0 

a, .!!. Ill .c "' .!!. 

C Ill 

-g a, 0 C - c a, 

a, C Ill a. 0 C .... a, Ill 

... 0 C "' a. a, 0 -g C 

iii a. 8. a, Ill 'E 8. 

Respondent Type of Ill .. I!! ._ C 

a, I!! iii :::, a, 0 

Instruments C. Ill .. Ill .c a. Ill 

Category respondents .... I!! :::, a, E "' I!! 

E 0 .... C a. iii :::, I!! .... 

111 .. 0 C Ill :::, z c 0 

V) a, 

< .. C 

.c > :::, C 0 > 

E u iii 0 < z u C C 

a, .... ::c a, 

:::, iii 

z :::, .... :::, 

g- g- a, a, 

.. .. 

u.. u.. 

Site Visit Email to WIC Clinic and 

Schedule Call 21 21 1 21 0.08 1.75 0 1 

Telephone Call with WIC Clinic 21 21 1 21 1.00 21.00 0 1 

Informed Consent for Site Director 

Interview 21 21 1 21 0.08 1.75 0 1 

State, Local, Site Director Interview Guide 21 21 1 21 0.75 15.75 0 1 

or Tribal WIC Clinic Finalize Plans with WIC Clinic on 

Government Day of Site Visit 21 21 1 21 0.25 5.25 0 1 

Informed Consent for Observation 

and Staff Interview 21 21 6 126 0.08 10.52 0 6 

Identified Risks Data Collection 

Form 21 21 5 105 0.08 8.77 0 5 

Staff Interview Guide 21 21 5 105 1.00 105.00 0 5 

TOTAL STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL GOVT 21 21 21.00 441 0.39 169.80 0 0.00 

Site Visit Email to WIC Clinic and 

Schedule Call 9 9 1 9 0.08 0.75 0 1 

Telephone Call with WIC Clinic 9 9 1 9 1.00 9.00 0 1 

Informed Consent for Site Director 

Business or Interview 9 9 1 9 0.08 0.75 0 1 

Other For- Site Director Interview Guide 9 9 1 9 0.75 6.75 0 1 

Profit and WIC Clinic Finalize Plans with WIC Clinic on 

Nonprofit Day of Site Visit 9 9 1 9 0.25 2.25 0 1 

Institutions Informed Consent for Observation 

and Staff Interview 9 9 6 54 0.08 4.51 0 6 

Identified Risks Data Collection 

Form 9 9 5 45 0.08 3.76 0 5 

Staff Interview Guide 9 9 5 45 1.00 45.00 0 5 
BILLING CODE 3410–30–C 

[FR Doc. 2021–16574 Filed 8–3–21; 8:45 am] 


EN04AU21.259</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

TOTAL PROFIT /NON-PROFIT BUSINESS 9 9 21.00 189 0.39 72.77 0 0.00 

Study Brochure for WIC Participant 1,020 510 1 510 0.05 25.55 510 1 

WIC Participant Screener 1,020 510 1 510 0.02 8.52 510 1 

Informed Consent for Observation 

and WIC Participant Interview 510 510 1 510 0.08 42.59 0 1 

Nutrition Services Observation 

Form 510 510 1 510 0.02 8.52 0 1 

Individuals WIC Participant Interview Guide 

and WIC (In-Person) 510 150 1 150 0.50 75.00 360 1 

Households Participants WIC Participant Interview Guide 

(Phone) 255 150 1 150 0.50 75.00 105 1 

Reminder Text for WIC Participant 

Interview to be Conducted Over 

the Phone 255 100 1 100 0.02 1.67 155 1 

Reminder Call for WIC Participant 

Interview to be Conducted Over 

the Phone 155 50 1 50 0.02 0.84 105 1 

TOTAL OF WIC PARTICIPANTS 1,020 510 4.88 2,490 0.10 237.68 510 3.42 1TOTAL REPORTING BURDEN 1,050 540 5.78 3,120 0.15 480.24 510 3.42 1