[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 145 (Monday, August 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41495-41496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16407]



[[Page 41495]]

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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 project 
or to obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the 
SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer at (240) 276-0361.
    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.

Project: State Opioid Response (SOR)/Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) 
Program Instrument (OMB No. 0930-0384)--Revision

    SAMHSA is requesting approval to modify its existing CSAT SOR/TOR 
Program Instrument by (1) collapsing the original three questions into 
two questions for clarity and (2) adding ten questions, in order to 
collect information on Congressionally mandated and programmatic 
activities and comply with reporting requirements. The program-level 
information is collected quarterly and entered and stored in SAMHSA's 
Performance Accountability and Reporting System, which is a real-time, 
performance management system that captures information on the 
substance abuse prevention and treatment and mental health services 
delivered in the United States. Continued approval of this information 
collection will allow SAMHSA to continue to meet Government Performance 
and Results Modernization Act (GPRA) of 2010 reporting requirements 
that quantify the effects and accomplishments of its discretionary 
grant programs.
    The SOR/TOR programs were first authorized under Title II Division 
H of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Public Law 115-141. 
SOR/TOR programs aim to address the opioid crisis by increasing access 
to medication-assisted treatment using the three FDA-approved 
medications for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), reducing 
unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose-related deaths 
through the provision of prevention, treatment and recovery activities 
for OUD (including illicit use of prescription opioids, heroin, and 
fentanyl and fentanyl analogs).
    SAMHSA is proposing to revise the SOR/TOR Program Instrument data 
collection instrument (OMB No. 0930-0384), in order to collect 
information on Congressionally mandated and programmatic activities and 
comply with reporting requirements.
    SAMHSA developed the SOR/TOR Program Instrument to collect minimum 
data on naloxone purchase and distribution, but the SOR/TOR programs 
are unique in that they have prevention requirements. SOR/TOR grantees 
are required to engage in the following prevention activities: (1) 
Implement prevention and education services, including training of 
peers and first responders on recognition of opioid overdose and 
appropriate use of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, (2) develop 
evidence-based community prevention efforts, including strategic 
messaging on the consequences of opioid misuse, and (3) purchase and 
distribute naloxone and train on its use. The revised tool will allow 
SAMHSA to collect data on the required education and prevention 
activities, and better assess grantee performance on these activities.
    Based on a recent United States Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) Report to Congress GAO 21-96, ``Drug Misuse: Agencies Have Not 
Fully Identified How Grants That Can Support Drug Prevention Education 
Programs Contribute to National Goals,'' \1\ GAO found that SAMHSA's 
performance measures for the SOR program partially reflect its core 
program activities, and that although SAMHSA reported three performance 
measures for the SOR program, all three measures focused on treatment 
or recovery services only. GAO recommended, and SAMHSA committed to, 
implementing the following: ``The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services should determine how the State Opioid Response program 
contributes to the prevention goals of the National Drug Control 
Strategy and develop performance measures that relate to achieving 
those goals including the prevention education goal.'' Collection of 
the data in the revised tool will enable SAMHSA to implement the 
recommendations of GAO.
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    \1\ United States Government Accountability Office. (2020, 
November). Drug Misuse: Agencies Have Not Fully Identified How 
Grants That Can Support Drug Prevention Education Programs 
Contribute to National Goals. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-96.pdf.
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    Finally, the revisions will assist SAMHSA in providing 
comprehensive data on the full range of required activities to inform 
Congressionally mandated reports for the SOR program.
    In order to address these issues, SAMHSA is proposing to (1) 
collapse the three questions into two questions for clarity and (2) add 
ten questions, in order to collect information on Congressionally 
mandated and programmatic activities and comply with reporting 
requirements. A summary of the proposed changes includes:
     The revised question will provide CSAT with clarification 
on the purchase and distribution of naloxone kits.
     The ten additional questions will provide data on the 
following:
    [cir] Reported overdose reversals;
    [cir] Purchase and distribution of fentanyl test strips;
    [cir] Training of first responders and key community sectors on 
recognizing an opioid overdose and the appropriate use of naloxone 
overdose reversal kits;
    [cir] Educating individuals, including school-aged children, on the 
consequences of opioid and/or stimulant misuse using strategic 
messaging and prevention activities;
    [cir] Training individuals to provide school-based prevention and 
education activities to school-aged children; and
    [cir] Providing targeted prevention outreach activities to 
underserved and/or diverse populations.

[[Page 41496]]



                                            Table 1--Estimate of Annualized Hour Burden for SOR/TOR Grantees
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                                            Number of     Responses per    Total number    Burden hours    Total burden     Hourly wage     Total wage
         SAMHSA data collection            respondents      respondent     of responses    per response        hours            \2\            cost
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Grantee-Level Instrument...............             159                4             636             .30          190.80          $24.78       $4,728.02
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    CSAT Total.........................             159                4             636             .30          190.80           24.78        4,728.02
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    Send comments to Carlos Graham, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15E57-A, Rockville, Maryland 20857, OR email a 
copy to [email protected]. Written comments should be 
received by October 1, 2021.
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    \2\ The hourly wage estimate is $24.78 based on the Occupational 
Employment and Wages, Mean Hourly Wage Rate for 21-1018 Substance 
Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors = $24.78/
hr. as of May 2020 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211018.htm 
Accessed on May 4, 2021.)

Carlos Graham,
Social Science Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2021-16407 Filed 7-30-21; 8:45 am]
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