[Federal Register: April 20, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 76)]
[Notices]
[Page 20412-20413]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20ap06-46]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Revision of Final Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 State Allotment of
Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) Block Grant (BG)
AGENCY: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA).
ACTION: Public notice.
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SUMMARY: SAMHSA has revised the final FY 2006 calculations for the CMHS
BG 50 States and Washington, DC after it has been discerned that the
July 1, 2003 population estimates used in the calculation involved
multiple counting of persons who reported more than one race. This
notice describes the background and rationale for revising the
calculations and presents a revised set of State-specific final FY 2006
CMHS BG allotment figures, showing the differences in the two sets of
calculations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Gfroerer, Office of Applied
Studies/SAMHSA, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 7-1015, Rockville, MD 20857,
(240) 276-1262.
Background
Under Public Law 102-321, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS), acting through the Director of
SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services, determines the allotments
for States and territories for the CMHS BG and disburses federal funds
to eligible States and territories. Public Law 102-321 contains the
eligibility criteria for receipt of funds under the CMHS BG, and
provides the formulae and methods for determining State and territory
allotments. The Office of Applied Studies (OAS) at SAMHSA is
responsible for acquisition and compilation of required source data and
the computation of BG allotment amounts for States and territories. The
preliminary and final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment calculations were
performed in accordance with SAMHSA procedures established during 1995
that were documented in the Federal Register notice published on June
26, 1996. The law requires that the CMHS BG calculations use the most
recent State-level data for resident population by age (18-24, 25-44,
45-64, and 65 or over) and for the cost-of-services index and the
fiscal capacity index.
Rationale for Revising Final FY 2006 CMHS BG Calculations
SAMHSA used the July 1, 2003 population estimates file (SC-EST2003-
race5.txt; released by the Census Bureau on September 30, 2004) that
was available on the cut-off date of October 1, 2004 for both
preliminary and final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment calculations. The file
included a 5-category, mutually-nonexclusive race variable that allowed
multiple counting of persons who reported more than one race. Internal
reviews have indicated that though calculations for determining State
allotments were done correctly, the file (SC-EST2003-race6.csv;
released by the Census Bureau on September 30, 2004) containing a 6-
category, race6.csv; released by the Census Bureau on September 30,
2004) containing a 6-category, mutually-exclusive (i.e., no multiple
counting) race variable would have been more appropriate for use in the
calculations. An examination of these two data files has indicated that
multiple counting of persons was particularly higher for Hawaii
(26.3%), Alaska (5.0%), California (2.5%), Colorado (1.9%), Nevada
(2.6%), Oklahoma (4.2%), Oregon (2.5%) and Washington (3.1%), compared
to the national average (1.6%).
Revised Final FY 2006 CMHS Allotments
Taking into consideration both the multiple-counting problem with
the population estimates source data used and the procedural
requirement for using source data for the FY 2006 CMHS BG allotment
determinations that were released on or before October 1, 2004, SAMHSA
has revised the final FY 2006 CMHS BG allotments. Revised final State
allotments for FY 2006 were determined by replacing the 5-category-
race-based population estimates with the 6-category-race-based
population estimates. A comparison of the revised final FY 2006 CMHS BG
State allotments with current allotments is shown in the following
Table. The attachment shows FY 2005 final allotments, current and
revised FY 2006 CMHS BG allotments, and the difference in these
allotments in dollars and percent. The revised allotments are lower for
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New York,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia, while the
revised allotments for all other States increased by small amounts. The
allotments for all territories would remain unchanged with the
revision, as would the
[[Page 20413]]
SAMHSA administrative Set-Aside amount.
Dated: March 31, 2006.
Eric B. Broderick,
Acting Deputy Administrator, SAMHSA.
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