[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39586-39587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16662]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information 
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.
    Evaluation of Program Rehabilitation and Restitution--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

[[Page 39587]]

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 in Cuyahoga County consists of two groups of 
randomly assigned 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. In Clermont County there will be 
only an experimental group. The evaluation procedures in both locations 
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 900 projected participants over a five-
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 of 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
           Data collection               respondents         respondent          response      Total hr.  burden
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Baseline Interview..................                900                  1               1.33              1,197
Follow-up Battery: 6-, 12-, & 42-                   900                  3               1.50              4,050
 month..............................
Client Focus Groups: 3-, 6-,12-,18-,                 50                  1               1.50                 75
 24-months (Cuyahoga)...............
Client Focus Groups: 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-                 80                  1               1.50                120
 , 18-, 24-, 36-& 42-months
 (Clermont).........................
File Data Collection (Staff Time)                     3                  7               2.00                 42
 MCSIS, Ohio DRC, TASC..............
Multimodality Quality Assurance                      84                  1                .75                 63
 (MQA)--(Treatment Program Staff)...
Stakeholders: Attitudes Towards                      12                  3               .167                  6
 Sealing Records....................
Stakeholder Focus Groups: 6-,12-, 24-                36                  1               1.50                 54
 months.............................
Key Officials Attitudinal Survey....                 12                  3               .167                  6
      Total Burden..................              1,047  .................  .................              5,613
5-Year Annual Average...............              1,047  .................  .................              1,123
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    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to: 
Allison Herron Eydt, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503; due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and 
processing of mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, respondents 
are encouraged to submit comments by fax to: 202-395-6974.

    Dated: June 24, 2003.
Anna Marsh,
Acting Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-16662 Filed 7-1-03; 8:45 am]
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