[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 76 (Thursday, April 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20412-20413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3764]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Revision of Final Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 State Allotment of 
Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) Block Grant (BG)

AGENCY: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
(SAMHSA).

ACTION: Public notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: SAMHSA has revised the final FY 2006 calculations for the CMHS 
BG 50 States and Washington, DC after it has been discerned that the 
July 1, 2003 population estimates used in the calculation involved 
multiple counting of persons who reported more than one race. This 
notice describes the background and rationale for revising the 
calculations and presents a revised set of State-specific final FY 2006 
CMHS BG allotment figures, showing the differences in the two sets of 
calculations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Gfroerer, Office of Applied 
Studies/SAMHSA, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 7-1015, Rockville, MD 20857, 
(240) 276-1262.

Background

    Under Public Law 102-321, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services (DHHS), acting through the Director of 
SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services, determines the allotments 
for States and territories for the CMHS BG and disburses federal funds 
to eligible States and territories. Public Law 102-321 contains the 
eligibility criteria for receipt of funds under the CMHS BG, and 
provides the formulae and methods for determining State and territory 
allotments. The Office of Applied Studies (OAS) at SAMHSA is 
responsible for acquisition and compilation of required source data and 
the computation of BG allotment amounts for States and territories. The 
preliminary and final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment calculations were 
performed in accordance with SAMHSA procedures established during 1995 
that were documented in the Federal Register notice published on June 
26, 1996. The law requires that the CMHS BG calculations use the most 
recent State-level data for resident population by age (18-24, 25-44, 
45-64, and 65 or over) and for the cost-of-services index and the 
fiscal capacity index.

Rationale for Revising Final FY 2006 CMHS BG Calculations

    SAMHSA used the July 1, 2003 population estimates file (SC-EST2003-
race5.txt; released by the Census Bureau on September 30, 2004) that 
was available on the cut-off date of October 1, 2004 for both 
preliminary and final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment calculations. The file 
included a 5-category, mutually-nonexclusive race variable that allowed 
multiple counting of persons who reported more than one race. Internal 
reviews have indicated that though calculations for determining State 
allotments were done correctly, the file (SC-EST2003-race6.csv; 
released by the Census Bureau on September 30, 2004) containing a 6-
category, race6.csv; released by the Census Bureau on September 30, 
2004) containing a 6-category, mutually-exclusive (i.e., no multiple 
counting) race variable would have been more appropriate for use in the 
calculations. An examination of these two data files has indicated that 
multiple counting of persons was particularly higher for Hawaii 
(26.3%), Alaska (5.0%), California (2.5%), Colorado (1.9%), Nevada 
(2.6%), Oklahoma (4.2%), Oregon (2.5%) and Washington (3.1%), compared 
to the national average (1.6%).

Revised Final FY 2006 CMHS Allotments

    Taking into consideration both the multiple-counting problem with 
the population estimates source data used and the procedural 
requirement for using source data for the FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment 
determinations that were released on or before October 1, 2004, SAMHSA 
has revised the final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotments. Revised final State 
allotments for FY 2006 were determined by replacing the 5-category-
race-based population estimates with the 6-category-race-based 
population estimates. A comparison of the revised final FY 2006 CMHS BG 
State allotments with current allotments is shown in the following 
Table. The attachment shows FY 2005 final allotments, current and 
revised FY 2006 CMHS BG allotments, and the difference in these 
allotments in dollars and percent. The revised allotments are lower for 
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New York, 
Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia, while the 
revised allotments for all other States increased by small amounts. The 
allotments for all territories would remain unchanged with the 
revision, as would the

[[Page 20413]]

SAMHSA administrative Set-Aside amount.

    Dated: March 31, 2006.
Eric B. Broderick,
Acting Deputy Administrator, SAMHSA.
BILLING CODE 4160-01-M
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN20AP06.002

[FR Doc. 06-3764 Filed 4-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-C