[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55465-55466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19776]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Information Collection
Request Title: Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan
Repayment Program, OMB No. 0906-xxxx--New
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB
will accept further comments from the public during the review and
approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30 day
comment period for this notice has closed.
DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than October 8,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Lisa Wright-Solomon, the
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or
call (301) 443-1984.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Information Collection Request Title:
Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program
OMB No. 0906-xxxx--New
Abstract: The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020
included no less than $12,000,000 for HRSA to establish the Loan
Repayment Program for Substance Use Disorder Treatment Workforce. This
funding will allow HRSA to provide the repayment of education loans for
individuals working in either a full-time substance use disorder
treatment job that involves direct patient care in a Health
Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designated for Mental Health or a
county where the average drug overdose death rate exceeds the national
average.
Eligible disciplines include but are not limited to behavioral
health paraprofessionals, occupational therapists and counselors.
Eligible treatment facilities include but are not limited to inpatient
psychiatric facilities, recovery centers, detox facilities, emergency
department and local community jails and detention centers. The
Department of Health and Human Services agrees to repay the qualifying
educational loans up to $250,000.00 in return for six years of service
obligation. The forms utilized by the Substance Use Disorder Treatment
and Recovery (STAR) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) include the following:
the STAR LRP Application, the Authorization for Disclosure of Loan
Information form, the Privacy Act Release Authorization form, the
Employment Verification form, and the Site Application form, if
applicable. The aforementioned forms collect information that is needed
for selecting participants and repaying qualifying educational loans.
Eligible facilities for the STAR LRP are facilities that provide
in-patient and outpatient, ambulatory, primary and mental/behavioral
health care services to populations residing in a mental health HPSA or
a county where the average drug overdose death rate exceeds the
national average. The facilities that may provide related in-patient
services may include, but are not limited to Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services-approved Critical Access Hospitals, American Indian
Health Facilities (Indian Health Service Facilities, Tribally-Operated
638 Health Programs, and Urban Indian Health Programs), inpatient
rehabilitation centers and psychiatric facilities. HRSA will recruit
facilities for approval. New facilities must submit an application for
review and approval. The application requests will contain supporting
information on the clinical service site, recruitment contact and
services provided. Assistance in completing this application may be
obtained through the appropriate HRSA personnel. HRSA will use the
information collected on the applications to determine eligibility of
the facility for the assignment of health professionals and to verify
the need for clinicians.
Note: Despite the similarity in the titles, the STAR LRP is not
the existing NHSC Substance Use Disorder LRP (OMB #0915-0127), which
is authorized under Title III of the Public Health Service Act. The
STAR LRP is a newly authorized Title VII program that has different
service requirements, loan repayment protocols, and authorized
employment facilities.
A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on June 4, 2020,
vol. 85, No. 108; pp. 34454-34456. There were no public comments.
Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The need and purpose of
this information collection is to obtain information that is used to
assess a STAR LRP applicant's eligibility and qualifications for the
program, and to obtain information for eligible site applicants.
Clinicians interested in participating in the STAR LRP must submit an
application to the program in order to participate, and health care
facilities located in a high overdose rate or Mental Health HPSAs must
submit a Site Application to determine the eligibility of sites to
participate in the STAR LRP. The STAR LRP application asks for
personal, professional and financial information needed to determine
the applicant's eligibility to participate in the STAR LRP. In
addition, applicants must provide information regarding the loans for
which repayment is being requested.
Likely Respondents: Likely respondents include: licensed primary
care medical, mental and behavioral health providers, and other
paraprofessionals who are employed or seeking employment, and are
interested in serving underserved populations; health care facilities
interested in participating in the STAR LRP, and becoming an approved
service site; STAR LRP sites providing behavioral health care services
directly, or through a formal affiliation with a comprehensive
community-based primary behavioral health setting, facility providing
comprehensive behavioral health services, or various substance abuse
treatment facility sub-types.
Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the
information requested. This includes the time needed to review
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying
[[Page 55466]]
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for
this ICR are summarized in the table below.
Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
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Average
Number of Number of Total burden per Total burden
Form name respondents responses per responses response (in hours
respondent hours)
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STAR LRP Application............ 300 1 300 .50 150
Authorization for Disclosure of 300 1 300 .50 150
Loan Information Form..........
Privacy Act Release 300 1 300 .50 150
Authorization Form.............
Employment Verification Form.... 300 1 300 .50 150
Site Application................ 400 1 400 1.00 400
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Total....................... 1,600 .............. 1,600 .............. 1000
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HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and
utility of the proposed information collection for the proper
performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the
estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to
minimize the information collection burden.
Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2020-19776 Filed 9-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P