[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41595-41596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17698]


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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.
    The Family Treatment Drug Court Evaluation--New--The Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance 
Abuse Treatment (CSAT) will conduct an evaluation of Family Treatment 
Drug Courts. The Family Treatment Drug Court Evaluation will examine 
the effectiveness of family treatment drug courts in four settings: 
Suffolk County, New York; Washoe County, Nevada; San Diego County, 
California; and Santa Clara County, California. The study will employ a 
multi-method, quasi-experimental research design to investigate several 
key child welfare outcomes for family treatment drug courts as compared 
to traditional case processing, including whether the time to 
permanency for children is different in a family treatment drug court 
program than in traditional case processing.
    In addition, the study will investigate rates of reunification and 
termination of parental rights; types, frequency, and length of out-of-
home placements; and child welfare recidivism. The study will 
investigate the key mediators of program success, including the effect 
of family treatment drug courts on treatment access, treatment 
completion, parent motivation, and family well-being, among other key 
mediators.
    The project consists of an outcome evaluation that includes 
administrative data collection and client interviews with a sample of 
treatment and comparison participants. The target population for the 
family treatment drug court consists of substance abusing parents who 
have a current child abuse or neglect case. The outcome evaluation will 
document whether family treatment drug courts are more effective than 
traditional court settings in decreasing the time needed to reach 
permanent placements for children; increasing the frequency of 
successful parent-child reunifications and decreasing the frequency of 
terminations of parental rights; decreasing the time children spend in 
foster care; and reducing child welfare recidivism. An intent-to-treat 
sampling model will be used for the treatment groups at each site 
during a 2-year recruitment window. Comparison groups will be recruited 
in two of the four sites; no comparison group will be used in San Diego 
and Santa Clara because the counties have implemented a system-wide 
reform. Interview data will be sought from all persons included in the 
administrative datasets in Suffolk and Washoe Counties, and from a 
sample of individuals included in the San Diego and Santa Clara County 
administrative datasets.
    Interview participants will take part in a baseline interview 
within one month of their dispositional hearing and three follow-up 
interviews. Follow-up One will take place six months later, Follow-Up 
Two will take place 12 months after baseline, and Follow-Up Three will 
take place 18 months after baseline. The interview tool will assess 
participants' perceptions of the services they are receiving and their 
interactions with the court, treatment, and child welfare systems; 
their understanding of what they need to do in order to be reunified 
with their children; and their feelings of empowerment and control over 
the process. Each interview will last approximately one hour. 
Administrative data, including child welfare and treatment data, will 
be collected up to 24 months after baseline to ascertain the type, 
frequency, and timeliness of services received and to capture the 
crucial child welfare outcomes of interest, including the timing and 
type of permanency plans for children, the length of time children

[[Page 41596]]

spend in foster care, and subsequent involvement in the child welfare 
system.
    The following table summarizes response burden for this project. 
There will be fewer 18-month interviews due to the length of the study 
recruitment window; only those individuals who enter the study in the 
first half of the recruitment window will have the full 18-month 
follow-up.

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                                                     Number of     Responses per    Burden per     Total burden
                   Instrument                       respondents     respondent    response (hrs)       hours
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Initial telephone contact.......................             596               1            0.17             101
Baseline........................................             596               1             1.5             894
6-month follow-up...............................             596               1               1             596
12-month follow-up..............................             596               1               1             596
18-month follow-up..............................             447               1               1             447
3-month tracking call...........................             596               1            0.08              48
9-month tracking call...........................             596               1            0.08              48
15-month tracking call..........................             447               1            0.08              36
Quality assurance calls.........................             110               1            0.17              19
                                                 -----------------
    Total.......................................             596  ..............  ..............           2,785
                                                 =================
    3 Year annual average.......................             596  ..............  ..............             928
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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: July 7, 2003.
Anna Marsh,
Acting Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 03-17698 Filed 7-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P