Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 44552-44553 [2013-17807]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Office of the Secretary

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44552-44553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17807]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID DoD-2013-OS-0157]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Transition to Veterans Program Office, Office of the Secretary 
of Defense for Personnel & Readiness, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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    In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Transition to Veterans Program Office announces a 
proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the 
provisions thereof. 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 information collection; (c) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by 
September 23, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Federal Docket Management System Office, 4800 Mark 
Center Drive, East Tower, Suite 02G09, Alexandria, VA 22350-3100.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The 
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the 
public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the 
Internet at https://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instruments, please write to the Center for Naval 
Analyses, ATTN: Mr. Jeffery Peterson, 4825 Mark Center Drive, 
Alexandria, VA 22311 or call Mr. Jeffery Peterson (703-824-2774) or Dr. 
Lauren Malone (703-824-2741).
    Title; Associated Form; and OMB Number: Veterans' Community 
Reintegration Focus Groups; OMB Control Number: 0704-TBD.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirement is necessary 
to help the Transition to Veterans Program Office identify the 
particular challenges and issues veterans face in reintegrating with 
their communities. These focus groups are necessary since there is no 
single, existing dataset that captures veterans' community 
reintegration, beyond measuring employment or education. Our findings 
will help inform the development and implementation of their new 
transition program, Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success).
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Annual Burden Hours: 225.
    Number of Respondents: 150.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Average Burden per Response: 90 minutes.
    Frequency: One time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary of Information Collection

    In order to populate our focus groups, we will work with veteran 
organizations, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, 
and Student Veterans of America in the metro-DC area, to find 
participants for our groups. We will ask the organizations to help us 
gather groups of veterans who are less than two years removed from 
active duty and who volunteer to participate.
    Upon arrival, we will ask the focus group participants to fill out 
a voluntary intake information sheet that asks for age, gender, race, 
education level, marital status, number of children, service 
affiliation, officer vs. enlisted, rank, and length of time since last 
active duty. At no point will participants be asked to provide their 
names or any other individual-level information other than what is 
listed here. The demographic information will only be used to show how 
our focus group samples compare to the overall demographics of recently 
transitioned veterans, and will not be linked to any participants' 
replies. This is essential for determining the comparability of our 
findings. If, for example, our focus groups were to consist largely of 
females, we would find it important to caveat the implications of our 
findings to the overall military, which is largely male. In addition, 
the new TAP program, Transition GPS, has a goal of

[[Page 44553]]

diversifying its course offerings to meet the needs of all types of 
separating veterans, including first-term separations, mid-career 
separators, and career retirees. These groups are inherently different. 
First-term separators are the most likely to be immediately reentering 
the civilian labor market (and thus may be in need of skills training) 
and to be making use of their GI-Bills. They also have fewer 
experiences with significant transitions and life changes than their 
older, more tenured counterparts. Comparing the demographic 
characteristics of our focus group participants with those of first-
term and other separators will allow us to determine if the inputs we 
receive are likely reflective of the population of transitioning 
veterans at large, or if they likely represent only specific subsets of 
the transitioning population.
    We will audio tape these discussions so that transcription can 
occur after the discussions have been conducted. We will be certain 
that any introductions are made prior to the tape recorder being turned 
on, should the focus group members want to introduce themselves. 
Discussion topics will include:

. Organizations and social structures
 Community location decision
 Initial intentions after separation
 Reintegration challenges
 Transition Assistance Program (TAP) effect on reintegration
 Community involvement effect

    Dated: July 10, 2013.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2013-17807 Filed 7-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P