[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 66 (Monday, April 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16806-16807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8323]


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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: Practitioner Services Network Initiative--New--
SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), plans to obtain 
information about the providers, care and characteristics of clients 
with substance abuse disorders and related co-morbidities that receive 
treatment from practitioners in private practice and organizational 
settings. This information is needed to complement available 
information about the substance abuse treatment provided in 
institutional and publicly funded settings, in order to more completely 
describe the full range and nature of substance abuse problems 
affecting the nation.
    The CSAT Practitioner Services Network initiative provides support 
to six of the largest behavioral health associations in the nation to 
design and implement surveys using representative samples of their 
members and the clients they serve. The membership of the selected 
Associations collectively represent a significant proportion of the 
behavioral health professionals in the country. Two of these 
associations, the American Psychiatric Association and the American 
Psychological Association, have separately functioning internet-based 
PSN infrastructures; from these two groups CSAT will be able to 
purchase reports based on the data they have already collected.
    For four other associations (i.e., the American Association for 
Marriage and Family Therapy; the American Counseling Association; 
NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals; and the National 
Association of Social Workers), CSAT will sponsor new data collection 
efforts to provide a core set of data elements to be collected in their 
upcoming membership surveys. The four Associations conduct periodic 
sample surveys of their memberships through their individual 
Practitioner Services Network infrastructures and will incorporate a 
common set of specific substance-abuse questions that are of importance 
to CSAT into these studies. CSAT will sponsor data collection and 
purchase, from each Association, a report that addresses the 
characteristics of practitioners who may be expected to encounter 
clients with substance abuse disorders, the characteristics of clients 
with behavioral

[[Page 16807]]

and/or substance abuse disorders, and the nature of services rendered 
to these clients.
    The reports to be purchased by CSAT will be based on the 
Associations' surveys of a representative sample of 400 of their 
members. Practitioners in the sample will abstract demographic and 
encounter-specific data from two of their current patients' records. No 
client identifying information will be collected as part of this study. 
Data collection methods will include mailed surveys with mailed 
reminders and follow-up phone calls in order to achieve a target 
response rate of 80 percent.
    This information will complement CSAT's and SAMHSA's existing data 
collection efforts and provide a more comprehensive view of the 
populations in need of services, the prevalence of substance abuse and 
mental health co-morbidities, and the qualifications and training of 
private practitioners who serve these clients.
    The burden estimates are summarized in the following table.

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                                          Estimated
 Estimated number    Responses per     completion time    Total burden
 of  respondents       respondent          (hours)            hours
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          1,600                  1                .33               532
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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: April 1, 2003.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-8323 Filed 4-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P