[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16591-16592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6984]


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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

    Protocols for the Cross-Site Evaluation of the State Incentive 
Grant (SIG) Program (OMB No. 0930-0226, Revision)--SAMHSA's Center for 
Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is charged with evaluating the State 
Incentive Cooperative Agreements for Community-Based Action, or State 
Incentive Grant (SIG) Program. States receiving SIG funds are to: (1) 
Coordinate, leverage and/or redirect, as appropriate, all substance 
abuse prevention resources within the State that are directed at 
communities, families, schools, and workplaces, and (2) develop a 
revitalized, comprehensive State-wide prevention strategy aimed at 
reducing drug use by youth. The ultimate aim of the SIG Program is to 
prevent substance abuse among youths, ages 12 to 17, and also young 
adults, age 18-25. To date, the 41 States, along with the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, that have received SIG 
grants are required to implement at the community level a range of 
substance abuse, community-based prevention programs and strategies, at 
least half of which meet the specifications of sound scientific 
research findings, such as the National Registry of Effective Programs. 
CSAP awarded about $3 million per year for three years to each of five 
States in FY 1997 (Cohort I), fourteen States in FY 1998 (Cohort II), 
one State and the District of Columbia in FY 1999 (Cohort III), seven 
states in FY 2000 (Cohort IV), eight states and Puerto Rico in FY 2001 
(Cohort V), four states in FY 2002 (Cohort VI) and two states and the 
Virgin Islands in FY 2003 (Cohort VII).
    CSAP is conducting a national, cross-site evaluation of the SIG 
Program, consisting of a process and an outcome evaluation. The outcome 
evaluation will address two questions: (1) ``Has the SIG Program had an 
impact on youth substance abuse?'' and (2) ``How do SIG States differ 
in their impact on youth substance abuse?'' These questions will be 
addressed primarily using the CSAP core measures, a data collection 
activity already approved by the Office or Management and Budget (OMB) 
under control number 0930-0230. In addition to the core measures, data 
already being collected by SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and 
Health (NSDUH; OMB No. 0930-0110) will be examined.
    The process evaluation will focus on three questions: (1) ``Did 
States attain the SIG Program's two main goals of coordinated funding 
streams and revitalized comprehensive prevention strategies and how 
were these goals attained?'' (2) ``What other substance abuse 
prevention programming has the State implemented?'' and (3) ``Did SIGs 
meet the criterion of supporting science-based programs fifty percent 
of the time, and what array of prevention activities were supported?''

[[Page 16592]]

    Three instruments are needed to collect process information about 
SIG activities at the State, community, and program levels: (1) A Final 
Report Protocol; (2) a SIG Community Site Visit Protocol; and (3) a SIG 
Community Telephone Interview Protocol. The Final Report Protocol will 
be used to collect data across the spectrum of activities associated 
with the SIG effort in the State. The areas captured by the Final 
Report Protocol are outlined in the Conceptual Framework utilized by 
the SIG States and cross-site evaluation team, and include the 
following topics: GOAMS (goals, objectives, accomplishments, and 
milestones), contextual conditions, SIG mobilization, system 
characteristics and dynamics, collaborative strategies or activities, 
immediate outcomes, systems change, sub-recipient characteristics and 
dynamics, sub-recipient planning and science-based prevention 
interventions, sub-recipient immediate local outcomes, long-term 
outcomes, possible rival explanations, and learned lessons.
    The community site visits will be conducted in randomly selected 
sample of sub-recipient communities in Cohorts I-III that have 
submitted pre-post matched outcome data that includes comparison data. 
The SIG Community Site Visit Protocol will collect data at the sub-
recipient and program levels on the following topics: degree of 
monitoring by the State, selection processes of interventions, 
evaluation strategies, technical assistance provided by the State, 
level of guidance by the State in program selection, and evaluation.
    The sampling frame for the telephone interviews will include all 
active sub-recipients in Cohorts I-V that are collecting outcome data 
at the intervention level. Sub-recipient communities selected for site 
visits will be excluded from the sampling frame. The SIG Community 
Telephone Interview Protocol will collect data on the processes for 
selection and implementation of interventions and the approach to 
evaluation of these interventions.
    OMB approval has been received for the process evaluation in the 
first four cohorts (N=28 states) and for states to submit previously 
collected outcome data for secondary analysis. This request will add 
the more recently funded SIG jurisdictions (Cohorts V-VII) to the 
process evaluation (N=16 states) and address the burden on states 
(Cohorts VI-VII) to submit previously collected outcome data (N=23 
states). Included in this request are revised burden estimates based on 
actual experience, and a request for an extension of the period of OMB 
approval for the SIG cross-site evaluation by three years.
    Estimated annual burden is as follows:

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                                                     Number of     Responses per     Hours per     Annual burden
                   Instrument                       respondents     respondent       response          hours
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SIG Final Report Protocol:
    Evaluators..................................              16               1             200           3,200
    Project Directors...........................              16               1              40             640
    Key Informants..............................              32               1               4             128
SIG Community Site Visits in 8 States:
    State contacts..............................               8               1               1               8
    Subrecipient contacts.......................              10               1               1              10
    Site visit interviews (10 per site).........              80               1               1              80
SIG Community Telephone Interviews:
    Telephone Interviews........................              81               1               2             162
Community outcome data (23 States)..............              23               2               8             368
    TOTAL.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           4,596
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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: March 23, 2004.
Anna Marsh,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 04-6984 Filed 3-29-04; 8:45 am]
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