Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a list of information collection

requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these documents, call

the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.

Assessment 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

assessment 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 substance abuse 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

two on-site TA visits, one training event, one group technical

assistance activity, and up to five resource packages. Long-term TA

includes up to four on-site TA visits, up to three training events, two

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 assessment will be conducted. The

process assessment 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 assessment will focus on

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

[[Page 25898]]

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 assessment 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 assessment 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimated

Form number of Responses per Hours per Total hours

respondents respondent response

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Technical Assistance Recipients

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Initial Contact Form............................ 237 1 .25 59

Organization Self-Assessment.................... 237 2 .75 356

Technical Assistance Event Satisfaction......... 237 1 .08 19

Activity Summary................................ 237 2 .33 156

Comprehensive NLI Satisfaction.................. 237 1 .16 40

Focus Groups.................................... 180 1 180 180

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Training Participants

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Training Participant Information Form........... 1,425 2 .08 228

Training Participant 30 day follow-up........... 1,425 1 .08 114

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Total....................................... 1,842 .............. .............. 1152

---------------------------------------------------------------

Annual average.............................. 614 .............. .............. 384

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Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed

information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to:

Daniel Chenok, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management

and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC

20503.

Dated: May 7, 1999.

Richard Kopanda,

Executive Officer, SAMHSA.

[FR Doc. 99-12093 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4162-20-P