Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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 (301) 443-7978.

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: Evaluation of the National Leadership Institute

Program and Services--New--The Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)

intends to conduct an evaluation of its National Leadership Institute

(NLI). The goal underlying the technical assistance and training

opportunities provided through the NLI is to strengthen the competitive

position and power of nonprofit ``community-based organizations''

(CBOs) which are essential components of local services for the

uninsured and under-insured.

The NLI gathers, adapts, and disseminates the best available

knowledge about business management for nonprofit agencies, including

competitive bidding, strategic development and business planning,

cultural competency, team building and change management, and

Management Information Systems. Participants in the NLI technical

assistance programs are self-identified and participate in either

short- or long-term technical assistance (TA). Short-term TA includes 2

on-site TA visits, 1 training event, 1 group

[[Page 2908]]

technical assistance activity, and up to 5 resource packages. Long-term

TA includes up to 4 on-site TA visits, up to 3 training events, 2 group

TA activities, and up to 10 resource packages. Training efforts are

also conducted by the NLI, using curricula developed by and

administered by the NLI.

Both a process and an impact evaluation will be conducted. The

process evaluation will describe the needs faced by CBOs, the types of

training and technical assistance that CBOs receive through the NLI,

and CBO satisfaction with services. The impact evaluation will focus on

specific changes made by CBOs in response to NLI recommendations, and

improvements in self-rated organizational performance and several

organization status measures.

Analysis of this information will assist CSAT in documenting the

numbers and types of participants accessing these services, and

describing the extent to which participants improve in their knowledge,

skill, and ability to manage their organizations in this changing

business environment. This type of information is crucial to support

CSAT in complying with GPRA reporting requirements and will inform

future development of technical assistance activities.

The evaluation design for technical assistance participants will be

a pre-post design that collects identical information at initiation of

NLI contact and again after 12 months. This time frame is necessary to

allow CBOs the opportunity to address NLI technical assistance

recommendations and to plan and implement their changes. In addition,

the evaluation will collect satisfaction measures after each technical

assistance event, and both a comprehensive satisfaction summary and an

activity summary at 6 and 12 months after initial NLI contact. A formal

comparison group is not available, but comparisons of changes in key

organization status measures can be made with similar data on changes

collected from other CSAT KDA-funded grantees. These key status

indicators include organization revenues, revenue per client, revenue

sources, client flow, staff level, staff turnover, services provided,

and major growth/expansion or contraction. In addition, these same

indicators will be collected, in one interview, for several prior years

to establish a pattern of change within specific CBOs.

A feature of the data collected in this evaluation is the inclusion

of pre- and post-service perceptions of organizational functioning

across 14 business and financial management domains. This information

constitutes a self-assessment that is used in planning NLI services,

and comprises the baseline against which follow-up measures of

functioning will be assessed.

NLI anticipates receiving requests for assistance from 79 CBOs per

year over the next 3 years, for a total of 237 programs. This includes

up to 54 CBOs requiring long-term TA, and up to 25 CBOs requiring

short-term TA. Data collection burden will be borne primarily by

directors of the CBOs who will provide initial contact information (30

minutes), pre- and post-test versions of organizational self

assessments (60 minutes), satisfaction forms (5 minutes each for 2

types of questionnaire), and activity summaries (10 minutes). Moreover,

up to 10 focus groups will be held with staff representatives from 3 to

6 CBOs per focus group.

Discussions will be held with staff representatives from CBOs

receiving NLI services. An estimated 54 staff representatives will be

contacted each year. Each focus group will have approximately 18

attendees. Finally, an estimated 475 attendees at training events per

year will also receive a brief satisfaction questionnaire. The chart

below summarizes the total three-year and annualized burden for this

project.

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Average Average time/

Respondent type Number responses/ response Total time Annual time

respondent (hours) (hours) (hours)

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CBO Directors................... 237 2 1.5 711 237

CBO Staff....................... 180 1 1.5 270 90

Training participants........... 1,425 1 .133 190 63

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Totals...................... 1,842 .............. .............. 1,171 390

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Send comments to Nancy Pearce, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer,

Room 16-105, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Dated: January 12, 1999.

Richard Kopanda,

Executive Officer, SAMHSA.

[FR Doc. 99-1066 Filed 1-15-99; 8:45 am]

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