Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 concerning the opportunity for public comment on proposed collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 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) 276-0361.

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: Minority AIDS Initiative: Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Pilot Program (MAI PT Pilot) Data Collection Instruments.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) are requesting approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to monitor the Minority AIDS Initiative: Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Pilot Program (MAI PT Pilot) through administration of a suite of data collection instruments for grant compliance and programmatic performance monitoring. This package describes the data collection activities and proposed instruments. Two instruments will facilitate grant compliance monitoring, and the third instrument is designed for program performance monitoring.

• TheMAI PT Pilot—Organizational Readiness Assessment (MAI-ORA) is a one-time self-assessment tool intended to guide MAI PT Pilot grant recipients to objectively assess their capacity to provide substance use prevention, substance use disorder or co-occurring mental health disorder treatment, and HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infection prevention, screening, testing, and referral services for racial and ethnic individuals vulnerable to these conditions. Results from the MAI-ORA will allow SAMHSA to determine grantee readiness and capacity to implement their grant program, so that SAMHSA can provide additional support, as needed, to ensure grant compliance.
• TheMAI PT Pilot—Programmatic Progress Report (MAI-PPR) is a template that grantees will use to report annual progress and will be used to monitor grant compliance.
• TheMAI PT Pilot—Online Reporting Tool (MAI-PORT) will be used to conduct programmatic performance monitoring. The MAI-PORT is comprised of two main sections: (1) Annual Targets Report section for MAI PT Pilot grant recipients to report annual federal fiscal year programmatic goals, and (2) Quarterly Performance Report for grantees to report grant activities implemented during each federal fiscal quarter. In developing the MAI-PORT Annual Targets Report and the Quarterly Performance Report, CSAP/CSAT sought the ability to elicit programmatic information that demonstrates impact at the program aggregate level.

Data collected through the MAI-PORT are necessary to ensure SAMHSA and grantees comply with requirements under the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRA) that requires regular reporting of performance measures. Additionally, data collected through these tools will provide critical information to SAMHSA's Government Project Officers (GPOs) related to grant oversight, including barriers and facilitators that the grantees have experienced, and an understanding of the technical assistance needed to help grantees implement their programs. The information also provides a mechanism to ensure grantees are meeting the requirements of the grant funding announcement as outlined in their notice of grant award. In addition, the tools reflect CSAP's and CSAT's desire to elicit pertinent program level data that can be used not only to guide future programs and practices, but also to respond to stakeholder, congressional and agency inquiries.

Background and Purpose

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the spread of HIV in the United States is mainly through anal or vaginal sex or by sharing drug-use equipment. Although these risk factors are the same for everyone, due to a range of social, economic, and demographic factors, such as stigma, discrimination, income, education, and geographic region, some racial and ethnic groups are more affected than others. In 2021, CDC reported that although Black/African Americans represented 13 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 42 percent (15,305) of the 36,801 new HIV diagnoses; Latino/Hispanic people represent 18.7 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 29 percent (10,494) of HIV diagnoses (CDC, 2024; United States Census Bureau, 2024). Between 2017 and 2021, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations were the only demographic groups identified by the CDC with an increase in HIV diagnoses in the United States (CDC, 2024).

Viral hepatitis also impacts some racial and ethnic groups disproportionally. In 2020, non-Hispanic blacks were 1.4 times as likely to die from viral hepatitis, as compared to non-Hispanic whites (Office of Minority Health, 2022). Non-Hispanic blacks were almost twice as likely to die from hepatitis C as compared to the white population, and while having comparable case rates for hepatitis B in 2020, non-Hispanic blacks were 2.5 times more likely to die from hepatitis B than non-Hispanic whites (Office of Minority Health, 2022). Additionally, the percentage of people aged 12 or older with past year substance use disorder (SUD) differed by race and ethnicity with the highest rates among American Indian/Alaska Native populations (24.0 percent), followed by Black, non-Hispanic populations (18.4 percent) (SAMHSA, 2023).

The data clearly show the disproportionate burden faced by minority racial and ethnic groups and that these three issues should not be regarded as separate diseases acting independently, rather as a syndemic. To address this, SAMHSA is taking a syndemic approach to HIV, viral hepatitis, and substance use disorder through the MAI PT Pilot program. The purpose of this program is to provide substance use prevention, SUD treatment, HIV, and viral hepatitis prevention and treatment services for racial and ethnic medically underserved individuals vulnerable to a SUD and/or mental health condition, HIV, viral hepatitis, and other infectious disease ( e.g., sexually transmitted infection (STI)). The populations of focus for this program are individuals who are particularly vulnerable to or living with HIV/AIDS, including an emphasis on gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, men who have sex with men and women (MSMW), Black, Latino, and AI/AN men who have sex with men (MSM), Asian and Pacific Islander, Black women, transgender men and women, youth aged 13-24 years, and People who Inject Drugs (PWID).

SAMHSA's MAI PT Pilot is informed by the key strategies and priority jurisdictions outlined in the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan and STI National Strategic Plan. The program also supports the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and 2023-2026 SAMHSA Strategic Plan. Recipients will be expected to take a syndemic approach to SUD, HIV, viral hepatitis, and STI by providing SUD prevention and treatment to racial and ethnic individuals at risk for or living with HIV. MAI PT Pilot is authorized under Sections 509 and 516 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

Annualized Data Collection Burden

Table 1 and Table 2 provides an overview of the data collection method, frequency of data collection, and number of data collections for each data collection instruments.

The estimated time to complete each instrument by year is shown in Tables 3 through 8.

Send comments to SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 5600 Fisher Lane, Room 15E45, Rockville, MD 20852 OR email him a copy at samhsapra@samhsa.hhs.gov. Written comments should be received by September 3, 2024.