[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51609-51610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21137]


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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 (SAMHSA) 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) 276-1112.
    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 Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS) (OMB 
No. 0930-0119)--Revision

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
(SAMHSA), Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) 
is requesting a revision to the National Mental Health Services Survey 
(N-MHSS) (OMB No. 0930-0119), which expires on January 31, 2020. The N-
MHSS provides annual national and state-level data on the number and 
characteristics of mental health treatment facilities in the United 
States and biennial national and state-level data on the number and 
characteristics of persons treated in these facilities. The information 
in the N-MHSS is needed to assess the nature and extent of these 
resources, to identify gaps in services, and to provide a database for 
treatment referrals.
    The request for OMB approval will include a request to conduct the 
N-MHSS and the between-survey updates in 2020, 2021, and 2022. This 
update is a procedure for collecting services data from newly 
identified facilities between main cycles of the survey and will be 
used to improve the listing of treatment facilities in the online 
Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator.
    The N-MHSS will provide updated information about facilities for 
SAMHSA's online Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator (see: 
https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov), which was last updated with 
information from the N-MHSS in 2018. A full-scale N-MHSS will be 
conducted in 2020 and 2022 to collect (1) information about facilities 
needed for updating the online Locator, such as the facility name and 
address, specific services offered, and special client groups served 
and (2) additional information about client counts and the demographics 
of persons treated in these facilities. An abbreviated N-MHSS (N-MHSS-
Locator Survey) will be conducted in 2021 only to update the 
information about facilities in the online Locator. Three small surveys 
are proposed for adding new facilities to the online Locator as they 
become known to SAMHSA. Both the 2021 N-MHSS-Locator Survey and the 
addition of new facilities to the online Locator will use the same N-
MHSS-Locator Survey instrument.
    This request for a revision seeks to change the content of the 
currently approved abbreviated N-MHSS (i.e., N-MHSS-Locator) survey 
instrument, and the previously approved 2018 full-scale N-MHSS (OMB No. 
0930-0119) to accommodate two related N-MHSS activities:
    (1) Collection of information from the total N-MHSS universe of 
mental health treatment facilities during 2020, 2021, and 2022; and
    (2) collection of information on newly identified facilities 
throughout the year as they are identified so that new facilities can 
quickly be added to the online Locator.
    The survey mode for both data collection activities will be web 
with telephone follow-up. A paper questionnaire will also be available 
to facilities who request one.
    The database resulting from the N-MHSS will be used to update 
SAMHSA's online Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator and to 
produce an electronic version of a national directory of mental health 
facilities, for use by the general public, behavioral health 
professionals, and treatment service providers. In addition, a data 
file derived from the survey will be used to produce a summary report 
providing national and state-level outcomes. The summary report and a 
public-use data file will be used by researchers, mental health 
professionals, State governments, the U.S. Congress, and the general 
public.
    The request for OMB approval will include a request to conduct a 
full-scale N-MHSS in 2020 and 2022, and an abbreviated N-MHSS-Locator 
survey in 2021.
    The following table summarizes the estimated annual response burden 
for the I-BHS and the N-MHSS:

[[Page 51610]]



                                Summary of Estimated Annual Burden for the N-MHSS
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                                                     Number of     Responses per   Average hours   Total burden
               Facility respondent                  respondents     respondent     per response        hours
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Facilities in full-survey N-MHSS universe in              17,000               1            0.75          12,750
 2020 and 2022..................................
Newly identified facilities in Between-Survey              1,700               1            0.42             714
 Update in 2017, 2018, and 2019 1 2.............
Facilities in N-MHSS-Locator Survey universe in           17,000               1            0.42           7,140
 2021...........................................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Average Annual Total........................          18,700               1            0.59          11,118
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\1\ Throughout the year, approximately ten percent of facilities close or merge and a similar number of new
  facilities are identified.
\2\ Collection of information on newly identified facilities throughout the year, as they are identified, so
  that new facilities can quickly be added to the Locator.

    To stay current with the field and to collect policy relevant 
information, SAMHSA will add a series of questions about facilities 
offering pharmacotherapy for the treatment of serious mental illness 
(SMI), in particular information on the first- and second-generation 
antipsychotics used by these facilities. Also, a series of questions on 
crisis services were added to the survey. The N-MHSS will also be 
collecting information on facilities providing services to persons 
experiencing first episode psychosis (FEP), which was not asked in 
previous versions of the survey. In consultation with experts in the 
field, some categories and wording were updated to reflect current 
terminology in the field.
    Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15E21-B, Rockville, MD 20857 OR email a copy at 
[email protected]. Written comments should be received by 
November 29, 2019.

Summer King,
Statistician.
[FR Doc. 2019-21137 Filed 9-27-19; 8:45 am]
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