[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 66 (Monday, April 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16807-16808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8324]


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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

    National Outcomes Performance Assessment of the Collaborative 
Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness--New--This Initiative is 
coordinated by the U.S. Interagency Council on the Homeless and 
involves the participation of three Council members: the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Within 
HHS, SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services is the lead agency.
    This project will monitor the implementation and effectiveness of 
the Initiative. A national assessment of client outcomes is needed to 
assure a high level of accountability and to identify which models work 
best for which people, using the same methods for all sites. To this 
end, this project will provide a site-by-site description of program 
implementation, as well as descriptive information on clients served; 
services received; housing quality, stability, and satisfaction; and, 
client outcomes in health and functional domains. The VA Northeast 
Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC), based at the VA Connecticut 
Healthcare System in West Haven, Connecticut, will be responsible for 
conducting this project.
    Data collection will be conducted over a 36-month period. At each 
site, a series of measures will be used to assess (1) program 
implementation (e.g., number and types of housing units produced and 
intensity and types of treatment and supportive services provided), (2) 
client descriptive information (e.g., demographic and clinical 
characteristics, and housing and treatment services received) and, (3) 
client outcomes.
    Client outcomes will be measured using a series of structured 
instruments administered by evaluation personnel employed and funded by 
the local VA medical center or outpatient clinic involved at each 
Initiative site who will work closely with central NEPEC staff. 
Assessments will be conducted through face-to-face interviews and, when 
needed, telephone interviews. Interviews (approximately one hour in 
length) will be conducted at baseline, defined as the date of entry 
into the clinical treatment program leading to placement into permanent 
housing, and quarterly (every 3 months) thereafter for up to three 
years. Discharge data will be collected from program staff at the time 
of official discharge from the program, or when the client has not had 
any clinical contact from members of the program staff for at least 6 
months. In addition to client interviews, key informant interviews with 
up to 15 program managers at each site will be conducted annually.
    At most Initiative sites, it is expected that more people will be 
screened and/or evaluated for participation in the program than receive 
the full range of core housing and treatment services. We have 
conceptualized entry into the Initiative as a two-phase process 
involving an Outreach/Screening/Assessment Phase (Phase I), and an 
Active Housing Placement/Treatment Phase (Phase II) that is expected to 
lead to exit from homelessness. In some programs these two phases may 
be described as the Outreach and Case Management Phases. It will be 
important to have at least some minimal information on all clients so 
as to be able to compare those who enter Housing/Treatment with those 
who do not.
    Client-level data at the time of first contact with the program 
(i.e., before the client receives more intensive treatment or housing 
services) will be collected using a screener form. The screener form 
will be completed by the Evaluation assistant or member of the clinical 
staff when prospective clients are first told about the program, and 
express interest in participating in the program (i.e., when they enter 
Phase I). The purpose of this form is to identify the sampling frame of 
the evaluation at

[[Page 16808]]

each site, or the pool of potential clients from which clients are then 
selected. Program implementation will be measured using a series of 
progress summaries.
    Initiative sites will be responsible for screening potential 
participants, assessing homeless and disabling condition eligibility 
criteria for the program, and documenting eligibility as part of the 
national performance assessment. Each site will identify a limited 
number of portals of entry into the program in a relatively small 
geographic area, so that the evaluator can practically and 
systematically contact clients about participating in the evaluation. 
VA evaluation staff, clinical program staff, and NEPEC will work 
together to establish systematic procedures for assessing eligibility, 
enrolling clients into the Housing/Treatment Activity of the 
Initiative, obtaining written informed consent to participate in the 
national performance assessment, and other evaluation activities.
    The estimated response burden to collect this information is as 
follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Burden/
                   Instrument                         No. of        Responses/       response      Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent         (hrs)           (hrs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Client screener (completed by program staff)....              10             300           0.083             249
Client baseline interview.......................           1,200               1            1.00           1,200
Client followup interviews......................           1,200              11            0.67           8,844
Client discharge form (completed by program                   10             120           0.083             100
 staff).........................................
Key informant interviews with site program                   108               3            1.00             324
 managers.......................................
                                                 -----------------
    Total.......................................           1,318  ..............  ..............          10,717
                                                 -----------------
    3-Year annual average.......................           1,318  ..............  ..............           3,572
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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. 03-8324 Filed 4-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P