PART B State Coordinators Tx of OUD.v3

Supporting Statement B
For

Survey on Practices and Policies Related to the Treatment of Opioid
Use Disorders
OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY (ONDCP)
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
March 10, 2020

Jayme Delano
Deputy Director, National HIDTA Program Office
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Executive Office of the President
Street address
Washington, DC ZIP
Phone: 202-395-6794
Email:
[email protected]

B.1 RESPONDENT UNIVERSE AND SAMPLING METHODS
The survey instrument, piloting procedures, sampling and analysis plan, and methods to reduce
nonresponse were developed for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) by the
National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) and its partner, Carnevale
Associates, LLC (CALLC). The proposed survey, the Survey on Practices and Policies Related
to the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders (the survey), seeks to determine the current status of
the availability and accessibility of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders
(OUD) among adult drug court participants. The potential respondent universe for the survey is
all 54 state- and territory-level Drug Court Coordinators. A census approach will be used to
select respondents, meaning, all Drug Court Coordinators will be surveyed, as opposed to a
sample. This census approach was used for the Painting the Current Picture (PCP) drug court
survey, which the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) conducted from
2004-2016. The expected response rate for the proposed survey is 98 percent. This was the
average the response rate for the PCP survey. The only non-respondent for the PCP survey was
the U.S. Virgin Islands.
B.2. PROCEDURES FOR THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
For this survey, the 54 respondents will be selected via a census format as opposed to
implementing a sampling methodology. The survey will be administered electronically, where
potential respondents will receive an email inviting them to participate in the survey and a link to
the survey’s web address. Respondents can complete the survey at their convenience. Survey
responses will be stored on the cloud-based server of the survey software company (Cvent) and
downloaded by the NADCP/CALLC team once all data are collected. Once downloaded, data
will be stored in Microsoft Excel on the NADCP/CALLC team network. All analyses will be
conducted in SPSS and Tableau will be used for data visualization. This is a one-time data
collection, so there is no need to modify data collection cycles to reduce burden.
There are no complex analytical techniques that will be used for the survey data analyses.
Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions will be used to answer questions including:
- What percentage of states have drug courts that use MAT?
- To what extent is MAT used in these states?
- What specific medications are available to drug court participants?
- What are the factors that limit MAT use?
- What are the types of policies implemented regarding the use of MAT?
- How many/what percentage of states are considering expanding the use of MAT?
- How many states have received training that improved the delivery of MAT?
- What are state practices regarding naloxone to reverse opioid overdose and mortality?
When applicable, answers to these questions will be compared to previous survey results.
However, due to the comprehensive nature of the proposed survey, many of the questions are
being asked of drug courts for the first time. The survey results will demonstrate if changes in the
following have occurred: accessibility and availability of MAT; factors limiting use;

circumstances where MAT is permitted; and, practitioner attitudes toward MAT. Survey results
will also be used to determine if ONDCP-funded trainings and knowledge dissemination efforts
have been effective in promoting MAT as the evidence-based standard of care for OUD. Finally,
the survey will uncover where there are gaps in knowledge and practice so future training efforts
can be modified and resources appropriately allocated.
B.3. METHODS TO MAXIMIZE RESPONSE RATES AND DEAL WITH NON-RESPONSE
The survey project will employ different procedures to maximize response rates and to address
cases of nonresponse. The deployment plan for the survey will include methods and procedures
to make it easy and appealing to comply with the request for information. Survey participants
will receive prenotification of survey disbursal, an explanation of the different survey elements,
instructions for completion, and requests to offer any related questions. The NADCP/CALLC
team will be responsive to the queries of survey participants.
To further aid completion, the NADCP/CALLC team made brevity and ease-of-completion a
priority in survey development. Questions are as simple and brief as possible. The survey
instrument is designed to minimize burden on respondents. For example, there are binary skip
patterns throughout the survey and at the beginning of each section to determine relevance. If a
section is not relevant to the respondent, they are able to skip each particular section. This would
especially ease any burden for respondents from states who do not permit the use of MAT.
Where respondents do answer, questions are primarily structured so respondents are not required
to enter exact numbers or percentages. In addition, open-ended questions do not feature
prominently in the survey. Beyond the construction of survey question types and logic, survey
language minimizes the use of technical language and inaccessible jargon. The survey
disbursement platform is easy to use across mobile, tablet, and conventional settings.
Although no personally identifiable information (PII) will be collected from respondents, the
NADCP/CALLC team will know what state/territory the respondent represents. This will permit
the team to engage in standard follow-up techniques to reduce nonresponse. Upon disbursement,
the NADCP/CALLC team will employ several types of follow-up with those who did not
respond during the first response period. The communication preferences of each survey
respondent will be collected and will help guide targeted follow-up efforts. The NADCP/CALLC
team will dedicate staff to review responses once a week and send reminder emails out to nonresponders. The NADCP/CALLC team will conduct direct email and phone communication with
survey non-respondents to offer reminders, answer questions, resend the survey, and assist in
completion over the telephone. Within the two-month survey response period, there will be no
limit on the number of follow-up attempts.
NADCP has a strong relationship with State and Territory Drug Court Coordinators across the
country and has extensive experience working alongside and partnering with drug courts in
multifarious settings. NADCP knows who to contact and how to communicate with coordinators
to achieve results. NADCP benefits from a sterling reputation as the national convening body for
drug court training, technical assistance, and collaboration. These relationships and reputational
strengths will assist in bolstering the interest, uptake, and completion of the survey.

B.4. TESTS OF PROCEDURE OR METHODS TO BE UNDERTAKEN
The survey instrument was piloted with eight individuals in July and August of 2019. These
individuals were a combination of ONDCP staff, former state and local drug court coordinators,
and consultants to NADCP. Pilot respondents were sent the link to the survey and asked to
record the length of time to take the survey. The average length of time to complete the survey
was calculated and used to determine time burden estimates in the Federal Register notices and
Supporting Statement A. The pilot test also confirmed that the skip patterns work for different
answer combinations. Feedback from the pilot respondents was incorporated into subsequent
versions of the survey instrument and confirmed that the survey is clear, user friendly, and easy
to understand.
B.5. INDIVIDUALS TO BE CONSULTED ON STATISTICAL ASPECTS AND
INDIVIDUALS COLLECTING AND/OR ANALAYZING DATA
NADCP has three individuals who will be consulted on statistical aspects of data analysis. In
addition, Carnevale Associates will also have four staff members reviewing the data analysis
process. Those staff are listed below:
NAME/TITLE
Doug Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Consultant

Jacqueline VanWomer, Ph.D.
Senior Subject Matter Expert

Carolyn Hardin, M.A.
Project Director

John Carnevale, Ph.D.
Senior Subject Matter Expert

Erika Ostlie, M.A.
Research Director
David Theiss, M.S.
Senior Data Analyst
Lauren Pappacena, M.A.
Research Associate

ADDRESS
National Association of Drug Court
Professionals
625 N. Washington Street, # 212
Alexandria, VA 22314
National Association of Drug Court
Professionals
625 N. Washington Street, # 212
Alexandria, VA 22314
National Association of Drug Court
Professionals
625 N. Washington Street, # 212
Alexandria, VA 22314
Carnevale Associates, LLC
P.O. Box 84085
Gaithersburg, MD 20883

CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone: 610-388-8606
[email protected]

Carnevale Associates, LLC
P.O. Box 84085
Gaithersburg, MD 20883
Carnevale Associates, LLC
P.O. Box 84085
Gaithersburg, MD 20883
Carnevale Associates, LLC
P.O. Box 84085
Gaithersburg, MD 20883

Phone: 301.977.3600
[email protected]

Phone: 703.575.9400
[email protected]

Phone: 703.575.9400
[email protected]

Phone: 301.977.3600
[email protected]

Phone: 301.977.3600
[email protected]
Phone: 301.977.3600
[email protected]