[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 42 (Friday, March 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10659-10660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4242]


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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 (240) 276-1243.
    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: Cross-Site Process Evaluation of the Collaborative 
Initiative To Help End Chronic Homelessness--New

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 
(SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and Center for 
Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) will fund an evaluation of the 
Collaborative Initiative to End Chronic Homelessness (CHI). The CHI is 
assisting unaccompanied homeless individuals with a disabling condition 
who have been continuously homeless for one year or had at least four 
episodes of homelessness in the past three years to achieve permanent 
housing and make use of supportive services. Within SAMHSA, CMHS will 
be the lead Center.
    This evaluation will monitor and describe the implementation and 
progress of the 11 local projects of the Initiative. A cross-site 
process evaluation is needed to assure a high level of accountability 
and to describe and analyze the critical elements of the projects that 
influence the clients, the services, and the system outcomes, using the 
same research methods for all sites. SAMHSA will conduct an evaluation 
by including a site-by-site description of critical project elements 
including qualitative descriptive information on the: project context, 
target population, engagement activities, housing, service delivery 
model, staffing, service integration, systems integration, and 
community planning.
    Data collection will be conducted over a 36-month period. At each 
project site a series of measures will be used to assess: (1) How 
chronically homeless clients are assisted in obtaining permanent 
housing and supportive services, (2) how clients are maintained in 
permanent housing and supportive services, (3) how the project affects 
client quality of life, (4) how the project expands or enhances the 
existing service system in the short-term and long-term, (5) how the 
project extends its reach to beyond the original number of clients and 
project funding, (6) how the project develops structures to sustain 
itself after grant funding ends, and (7) how the project influences 
local policy related to homelessness.
    Data collection instruments are semi-structured and will be 
administered by trained evaluation staff. Annual interviews will be 
conducted with key informants associated with the projects through 
annual visits to project sites and telephone interviews. Focus groups 
with project consumers will be conducted during annual visits. One-page 
activity checklists will be required every other month from a random 
sample of project staff (staff may be randomly selected more than once 
each year). Project documentation from project advisory and managerial 
groups (e.g., meeting minutes) will be reviewed for evidence of service 
system and policy change.
    The estimated annual response burden to collect this information is 
as follows:

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                                               Number of        Responses/          Burden/       Annual burden
                Instrument                    respondents       respondent      response (hrs)        (hrs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Coordinator Interview............                11                 1               1.5               17
Team Lead Interview......................                11                 1                 2               22
Clinician Interview......................                11                 1                 1               11
Case Manager Interview...................                33                 1                 2               66
Property Manager Interview...............                11                 1                .5                6
Advisory Board Member Interview..........                11                 1               1.2               13
Partner Agency/subcontractor Interview...                33                 1               1.2               40
Outside Stakeholder Interview............                11                 1               .75                8
Consumer Focus Group.....................                66                 1               1.5               99
Activity Checklist **....................                66                 3                .5               99
                                          -------------------
    Total Annual*........................               264  ................  ................             380
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* Sums and averages are rounded up to nearest integer.
** These respondents are selected from the same staff as the interviews above (project coordinator, team lead,
  clinician, case manager).


[[Page 10660]]

    Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 71-1045, One Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857. Written 
comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

    Dated: February 28, 2005.
Anna Marsh,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 05-4242 Filed 3-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-U