0930-0387 Nonsubstantive Change Justification

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

2021 Behavioral Health Workforce Surveys

No Material or Nonsubstantive Change Justification

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is requesting a no material or nonsubstantive change approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for (OMB No. 0930-0387) 2021 Behavioral Health Workforce Surveys, Part of the Mental and Substance Use Disorder Practitioner Data Grant Funded by SAMHSA, Grant Number H79FG000028. This data collection expires on July 31, 2024. There are currently two surveys approved under OMB No. 0930-0387: (1) Clinical Behavioral Health Provider Survey; and (2) Behavioral Health Workforce Employer Survey.

SAMHSA is requesting to make a change to one of the two surveys. It is requesting to increase the survey incentive for the Provider Survey from $20 to $50. The Provider Survey response rate is much lower than expected as we approach the close of the survey (13% versus 30%). This rate is consistent with incentives for the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and is associated with high response rates for web surveys (Coopersmith et al. 2014^a). For equity, this increase would also be retroactively provided to respondents who have already completed the survey. Because the survey is currently in the field, the need for a quick turnaround prevented SAMHSA from pursuing the normal Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) process. This data collection is important because it provides new insights into the clinical behavioral health workforce (a portion of the overall behavioral health workforce that is not well documented in other national data sources) that can inform SAMHSA’s development of strategies to strengthen and support it.

SAMHSA is requesting approval to increase the survey incentive from $20 to $50 for the Provider Survey:

• The email invitation will state that the incentive has increased in recognition of the value of the information they will be providing to SAMHSA as well as the respondents’ time.

• We will also send a notice to those who have already completed the survey with instructions on how to claim the additional $30 incentive from Rybbon.

We have updated our Rybbon incentive protocol to reflect these changes and also submitted a modification to the GW Institutional Review Board to approve this change.

a Coopersmith, J., L. Klein Vogel, T. Bruursema, and K. Feeney. 2014. Effects of incentive amount and type on web survey response rates. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Anaheim, CA.

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