[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1472-1473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-490]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

    In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 concerning opportunity for public comment on proposed 
collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration will publish periodic summaries of proposed 
projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the SAMHSA 
Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of 
information are 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; (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 respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

Proposed Project: Evaluation of the Project Rehabilitation and 
Restitution Program

--New--The Rehabilitation and Restitution initiative of SAMHSA's Center 
for Substance Abuse Treatment seeks to reduce recidivism and increase 
psychosocial functioning and pro-social lifestyle among substance 
abusing state correctional prisoners. Hypotheses of the study are that 
providing intensive, long-term case management services will facilitate 
a pro-social lifestyle leading to higher rates of sealing or expunging 
of criminal records and that the prospect of stigma reduction provided 
by a sealed criminal record will motivate offenders to remain crime and 
drug free for a least three years after completing judicial 
supervision.
    The project consists of (1) providing technical assistance to 
develop and implement intensive case management services, and (2) an 
evaluation of the effectiveness of the intensive case management 
services in increasing the number of people eligible to have their 
records sealed. The study is confined to jurisdictions with statutes 
permitting records to be sealed. Two counties in Ohio involving an 
urban setting (Cuyahoga county which includes the city of Cleveland) 
and a rural setting (Clermont county adjacent to Kentucky) were 
selected based on responses to an RFA. Subjects in each county will be 
drawn from referrals by parole and probation to Treatment 
Accountability for Safer Communities (TASC) case management programs in 
the two counties.
    The target population consists of individuals entering parole or 
probation who are first time nonviolent felons with a history of 
substance abuse and are eligible to have their records sealed. 
Technical assistance to participating counties will be provided to (1) 
develop, an intensive case management treatment model designed to 
increase the proportion of offenders eligible to have records sealed, 
and (2) involve the various stake holders, such as case managers, 
parole officers, district attorney's office, public defender, and 
judges in the implementation of the case management model. A formative 
evaluation will provide feedback on the implementation of the program. 
A systems evaluation will examine the number of services offered to the 
felons, and changes in attitudes towards sealing records on the part of 
critical stakeholders, such as district attorney offices, judges and 
service providers. An outcomes evaluation will examine the effect of 
the intensive case management model on the eligibility to have records 
sealed, social, psychological and health status, HIV risk behavior, and 
the actual proportion of subjects who have their records sealed.
    The experimental study consists of two groups of randomly assigned

[[Page 1473]]

subjects. An intent-to-treat group is scheduled to receive intensive 
case management consisting of an intensive TASC case management model 
during the one-year period of supervision followed by an additional 
three years of less intensive case management services. A control group 
will receive treatment as usual, consisting of the TASC case management 
model now in place. The evaluation procedures will consist of a 
baseline interview and follow-up interviews over a 4-year period that 
tracks outcomes to the point at which subjects are eligible for sealing 
of records. Follow-up interviews and file studies will test for a wide 
array of possible effects, including recidivism, employment, education, 
drug use, family relationships, support of children, mental and 
physical health, HIV/AIDS risk factors, assumption of personal 
responsibility and life adjustment factors.
    The evaluation will involve 880 projected participants over a four-
year period. Evaluation interviews will take place at baseline, 6 
months, 12 months, and 42 months. Each interview will last 1\1/2\ to 2 
hours depending on the memory and speed of the respondents. The 
interview goal is a minimum 80% completion rate. Interview data will be 
supplemented by a file study of arrest records and the number of 
criminal records expunged. Additionally, two focus groups of clients in 
the intent to treat group will be conducted in each county at 3, 6, 12, 
18, 24, and 30 months to provide feedback on client perceptions of the 
case management programs. One group at each site will consist of 
clients in compliance with the program and one group will consist of 
clients not in compliance. Groups will consist of 8 to 10 participants 
chosen at random from the compliant and noncompliant clients. 
Additional file study data will be gathered on the number of case 
management sessions and the number and frequency of other interventions 
in the intent-to-treat and control groups.

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                                                     Number of      Responses/       Hours per       Total hr.
                 Data collection                    respondents     respondent       response         burden
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Baseline Interview..............................             880               1            1.37           1,206
Follow-up Battery: 6-, 12-, & 42-month..........             880               3            1.85           4,884
Client Focus Groups: 3-, 6-, 12-, 18-, 24- & 30-             120               1            1.50             180
 month..........................................
File Data Collection (Staff Time) MCSIS, Ohio                  3               3            2.00              18
 DRC, TASC......................................
Quality Assurance (Treatment Program Staff)                    6               1             .75               5
 Multimodality Quality Assurance (MQA)..........
Stake Holders:
    Workshops/meetings evaluation form..........              18              10             .08              14
    Attitudes Towards Sealing Records...........              18               3             .08               4
    Stakeholders Focus Group....................              12               1            1.50              18
                                                 -----------------
    Total Burden................................             925  ..............  ..............           6,329
                                                 -----------------
4-Year Annual Average...........................             925  ..............  ..............           1,582
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    Send comments to Nancy Pearce, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 16-105, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. 
Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

    Dated: January 6, 2003.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 03-490 Filed 1-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P