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

[[Page 54346]]

proposed collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Service 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

State Incentive Grant (SIG) Cross-Site Evaluation--SAMHSA's Center

for Substance Abuse prevention (CSAP) is charged with evaluating the

State Incentive Cooperative Agreements for Community-Based Action, or

State Incentive Grant (SIG) Program. States receiving SIG funds are:

(1) To coordinate, leverage and/or redirect, as appropriate, all

substance abuse prevention resources within the State that are directed

at communities, families, schools, and workplaces, and (2) to develop a

revitalized, comprehensive State-wide prevention strategy aimed at

reducing drug use by youth. The ultimate aim of the SIG Program is to

prevent substance abuse among youths ages 12 to 17. The District of

Columbia and the 20 States that have received SIG grants thus far are

required to implement at the community level a range of substance

abuse, community-based prevention efforts, at least half of which are

derived from sound scientific research findings. CSAP awarded about $3

million per year for three years to each of five States in FY 1997, to

each of fourteen States in FY 1998, and to one State and the District

of Columbia in FY 1999.

CSAP is planning a national, cross-site evaluation of the SIG

Program, consisting of a process and an outcome evaluation. The outcome

evaluation will address two questions: (1) ``Has the SIG Program had an

impact on youth substance abuse?,'' and (2) ``How do SIG States differ

in their impact on youth substance abuse?'' These questions will be

addressed by using data already being collected by SAMHSA's National

Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The process evaluation will

focus on three questions: (1) ``Did States attain the SIG Program's two

main goals of coordinated funding streams and revitalized comprehensive

prevention strategies and how were these goals attained?,'' (2) ``What

other substance abuse prevention programming has the State

implemented?,'' and (3) ``Did SIGs meet the criterion of supporting

science-based programs fifty percent of the time, and what array of

prevention activities were supported?''

In addition to the NHSDA data, three instruments are needed to

collect process information about SIG activities at the State,

community, and program levels: (1) A State Case Study Protocol; (2) a

Comparison State Protocol and (3) a Program Intervention Protocol. The

State Case Study Protocol will collect data on the following topics at

the State level: contextual conditions, SIG mobilization, system

characteristics and dynamics, collaborative strategies or activities,

immediate outcomes, systems change, sub-recipient characteristics and

dynamics, sub-recipient planning and science-based prevention

interventions, sub-recipient immediate local outcomes, long-term

outcomes, possible rival explanations, and learned lessons. The State

Case Study Protocol also will provide data for one of the two

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measures for the SIG

program. The Comparison State Protocol will collect data from non-SIG

States to identify any SIG-like interventions and to record State-level

contextual conditions and the characteristics of prevention systems.

The Program Intervention Protocol will collect data at the subrecipient

and program levels on the following topics: contextual conditions,

program or action definition, and immediate and intermediate outcomes.

The State Case Study Protocol will be used once for every State-

level SIG award. The Comparison State Protocol will be administered

once to all States and U.S. territories not participating in the SIG

Program. The Program Intervention Protocol will be used for a sample of

sub-recipient communities and programs in the SIG States.

Estimated annual burden is as follows:

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Responses

Instrument Number of per Hours per Annual

respondents respondent response burden

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State Case Study Protocol...................................... 56 1 2 112

Comparison State Protocol...................................... 25 1 2 50

Program Intervention Protocol.................................. 240 1 1 240

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Total.................................................... 321 .......... .......... 402

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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: September 29, 1999.

Richard Kopanda,

Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-25962 Filed 10-5-99; 8:45 am]

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