80 FR 28282 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 95 (May 18, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 95 (Monday, May 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28282-28283]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11894]



[[Page 28282]]

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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 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 at (240) 276-1243.
    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: Projects for Assistance in Transition From 
Homelessness (PATH) Program Annual Report (OMB No. 0930-0205)--Revision

    The Center for Mental Health Services awards grants each fiscal 
year to each of the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from allotments authorized 
under the PATH program established by Public Law 101-645, 42 U.S.C. 
290cc-21 et seq., the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance 
Amendments Act of 1990 (section 521 et seq. of the Public Health 
Service (PHS) Act). Section 522 of the PHS Act requires that the 
grantee states and territories must expend their payments under the Act 
solely for making grants to political subdivisions of the state, and to 
nonprofit private entities (including community-based veterans' 
organizations and other community organizations) for the purpose of 
providing services specified in the Act. Available funding is allotted 
in accordance with the formula provision of section 524 of the PHS Act.
    This submission is for a revision of the current approval of the 
annual grantee reporting requirements. Section 528 of the PHS Act 
specifies that not later than January 31 of each fiscal year, a funded 
entity will prepare and submit a report in such form and containing 
such information as is determined necessary for securing a record and 
description of the purposes for which amounts received under section 
521 were expended during the preceding fiscal year and of the 
recipients of such amounts and determining whether such amounts were 
expended in accordance with statutory provisions.
    The proposed changes to the PATH Annual Report are as follows:

1. Format

    To create a PATH report that is easier to read and questions that 
are easier to understand, language has been made more concise and 
questions have been renumbered.

2. Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) Data Integration

    All data elements align with the 2014 HMIS Data Standards and can 
be extracted from HMIS.

3. Staff Training

    An element has been added to the Budget section to collect 
information about the number of trainings provided by PATH-funded 
staff.

4. Number of Persons Served This Reporting Period

    To decrease reporting burden and improve data quality, several 
revisions were made to the collection of information about persons 
outreached and persons enrolled. Data elements were updated to more 
clearly describe the data to be reported and reduce confusion and 
potential for misinterpretation. Information about persons outreached 
has been divided into two elements to collect specific information 
about the location of the outreach contact (street outreach or service 
setting).

5. Services Provided

    To improve data quality, several service category labels have been 
updated to more accurately reflect the type of service to be reported. 
The ``Screening and Assessment'' category has also been divided into 
two separate categories to capture specific information about 
screenings and clinical assessments provided by PATH staff. The ``Total 
number of times this service was provided'' column has been removed to 
reduce reporting burden.

6. Referrals Provided

    To improve data quality, several referral category labels have been 
updated to more accurately reflect the type of referral to be reported. 
The ``Total number of times this type of referral was provided'' column 
has been removed to reduce reporting burden.

7. Outcomes

    Elements collecting information regarding PATH program outcomes 
have been added. The PATH program's transition to using local HMIS to 
collect PATH client data allows data on client outcomes related to the 
PATH program to be more easily collected and reported.

8. Demographics

    Response categories for demographic data elements have been updated 
to fully align with the 2014 HMIS Data Standards. An element to gather 
information about PATH clients' connection to the SSI/SSDI Outreach, 
Access, and Recovery program (SOAR) has also been added.
    To decrease reporting burden and improve the outreach and 
engagement process, demographic information for ``Persons contacted'' 
is no longer required. Providers are encouraged to gather information 
and build client records as early in the engagement process as 
possible. All demographic information should be collected by the point 
of PATH enrollment.

9. Definitions

    Definitions for PATH terms have been updated to streamline 
definitions and increase reliability of data reporting.
    The estimated annual burden for these reporting requirements is 
summarized in the table below.

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                                                                                    Burden per
                   Respondents                       Number of     Responses per     response      Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
States..........................................              56               1              20           1,120
Local provider agencies.........................             492               1              20           9,840
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    Total.......................................             548  ..............  ..............          10,960
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    Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 2-1057, One Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857 OR email her a 
copy at [email protected]. Written comments should be received 
by July 17, 2015.

Summer King,
Statistician.
[FR Doc. 2015-11894 Filed 5-15-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4162-20-P