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: Protection and Advocacy for Individuals With

Mental Illness (PAIMI) Annual Program Performance Report (OMB No.

0930-0169, Revision)

The Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness

(PAIMI) Act, (42 U.S.C. Chapter 1114) authorized funds to support

protection and advocacy services on behalf of individuals with mental

illness and severe emotional disturbance who are at risk for abuse and

neglect and other civil rights violations while under treatment in a

residential facility. Under the PAIMI Act, formula grant awards are

made to protection and advocacy (P&A) systems designated by the

governors of the 50 states and 5 territories, and the District of

Columbia to ensure that the rights of individuals with mental illness

and severe emotional disturbance are not violated. The PAIMI Act

requires P & A systems to file an annual report on their activities and

accomplishments and to provide in the report information on such topics

as, numbers of individuals served, types of complaints addressed, the

number of intervention strategies used to resolve the presenting

issues. The Act also requires that the P&A Advisory Council also submit

an annual report that assesses the effectiveness of the services

provided by P&A systems.

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is revising the PAIMI

Annual Program Performance Report for the following reasons: (1) to

make it consistent with the revised annual program report format used

by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration on

Children and Families; and, (2) to conform to the GPRA requirements

that the reporting burden to the States be reduced. CMHS proposes no

revisions to the PAIMI Annual Advisory Council Report.

Planned revisions to the PAIMI Annual Program Performance Report

include: (1) Deletion of financial expenditure and sub-contractor

information, which P&A systems are required to submit annually to the

SAMHSA Grants Management Office; (2) Deletion of items that are more

appropriate for inclusion in the Guidance for Applicants (GFA), such as

PAIMI program staff positions, by-laws & policies and procedures; (3)

PAIMI staff, advisory council and governing board demographic

information will be reduced to a comprehensive graph format; (4) All

``information not available'' statements will be deleted to ensure that

P&A systems focus on gathering more accurate client data during the

intake and referral process; (5) Sections such as, PAIMI program

mechanisms for public comment, individual PAIMI clients, etc. will be

reduced to a graph format similar to that approved by OMB for use by

the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration on

Children and Families, which administers the Protection and Advocacy to

the

[[Page 31284]]

Developmentally Disabled (PADD) Program; (6) Case complaints and

problems of the individuals served by the P&As will be modified to

capture more accurate information on incidents of abuse, neglect and

civil rights violations, such as the incidents of seclusion and

restraint used in the emergency rooms of general hospitals on

individuals with mental illness, co-occurring disorders and severe

emotional disturbance, during transport to and from a residential

treatment facility, etc.; and, (7) Sections focused on the types of

intervention strategies, public education and awareness/training

activities used by the P&As on behalf of the clients served will be

placed in a chart format. The revised format will be effective for the

report due on January 1, 2001.

The annual burden estimate is as follows:

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Number of

Number. of responses per Hours per Total hour

respondents respondent response burden

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Annual Program Performance Report............... 56 1 26 1,456

Activities & accomplishments................ .............. .............. (20) (1,120)

Performance outcomes........................ .............. .............. (3) (168)

Expenses.................................... .............. .............. (0) (0)

Budget...................................... .............. .............. (2) (112)

Priority statement.......................... .............. .............. (1) (56)

Advisory Council Report......................... 56 1 10 560

Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 2,016

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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: June 14, 1999.

Richard Kopanda,

Executive Officer, SAMHSA.

[FR Doc. 99-14701 Filed 6-9-99; 8:45 am]

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