[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14825-14826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5493]


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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: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline--Call Log--NEW

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 
(SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services funds a National Suicide 
Prevention Lifeline Network, a system of toll-free telephone numbers 
that routes calls from anywhere in the United States to a network of 
more than 125 certified crisis centers that can link callers to local 
emergency, mental health, and social service resources. The technology 
permits calls to be directed immediately to a suicide prevention worker 
who is geographically closest to the caller.
    Through its grantee which is administering the National Suicide 
Prevention Lifeline Network, SAMHSA developed a Call Log in an effort 
to monitor basic trends in calls received. The completed Call Logs will 
inform the Network's planning around enhancing services provided by 
networked crisis centers and training provided to crisis counselors; 
increasing Lifeline's accessibility to people at risk for suicidal 
behavior; and optimizing public health efforts to prevent suicide and 
suicidal behavior.
    All 125 networked crisis centers will be invited to complete the 
Call Logs. Crisis centers that are already collecting all or most of 
the information on the Call Log will have the option of extracting 
compatible data from their own software systems and reporting on a 
monthly basis.
    All other crisis centers will have the option of completing the 
Call Log in either a Web-based or hardcopy format. Trained crisis 
counselors will be able to complete the majority of Log items during 
the course of the call, without asking the caller specific questions. 
They may also choose to fill out the form at the conclusion of 
individual calls. Completing the form entails asking callers a few 
basic questions (e.g., age; race; ethnicity; whether they ever served 
in the U.S. military; how they heard about the Lifeline service). No 
identifiable information will be collected.
    The estimated annual response burden \1\ to collect this 
information is as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                            Total hour      Total hour
                   Type of respondent                        Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per      burden per      burden, all
                                                            respondents     respondent       responses       response       respondent      respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT Worker (extract, reformat, upload; ACCs).............         \2\ 100              12           1,200             .5             6                600
Caller (question response; NCCs)........................      \3\ 26,640               1          26,640             .05             .05           1,332
Volunteer Crisis Counselor (form completion; NCCs)......         \4\ 375          \5\ 36          13,500             .08            2.9            1,088
Paid Staff Crisis Counselor (form completion; NCCs).....             375              36          13,500             .08            2.9            1,088
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................          27,490  ..............          54,840  ..............  ..............          4,108
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\1\ Estimates based on 444,000 calls annually.
\2\ 100 (80%) of the networked crisis centers currently collect this data electronically (automated crisis centers or ACCs). An IT worker would need to
  extract, reformat, and upload those records monthly.

[[Page 14826]]

 
\3\ 25 (20%) of the networked crisis centers do not currently collect this data (non-automated crisis centers or NCCs) and counselors would therefore
  need to ask Callers questions from the Call Log. A 30% response rate is anticipated. 444,000 total annual calls x (20% of the centers) = 88,800 annual
  calls answered by NCCs x (30% response rate) = 26,640 Call Logs completed by NCCs.
\4\ Estimate based on crisis centers' average staffing level of 30 counselors, 50% (15) of whom are volunteer. 25 non-automated centers x 15 volunteer
  counselors = 375 volunteer counselors.
\5\ Estimate assumes that incoming calls will be equally divided among volunteer and paid counselors. 26,640 calls / 750 total counselors = 36 calls per
  counselor.

    Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 7-1044, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20850. Written comments 
should be received by May 19, 2008.

    Dated: March 12, 2008.
Elaine Parry,
Acting Director, Office of Program Services.
 [FR Doc. E8-5493 Filed 3-18-08; 8:45 am]
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