Submitted by Celeste.Beaulieu on

TTA Tool (Revised) - Now Available on SPARS

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DATE:            September 29, 2023

TO:                SAMHSA TTC, TA, and COE Grantees

FROM:           SAMHSA

SUBJECT:       Notification of Revisions to the Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program Monitoring Tool (OMB: 0930-0389)

 

Thank you for your continued dedication to meeting your grant program’s purpose, goals, and objectives to address the behavioral health needs of your community and the nation. In response to feedback from several SAMHSA-funded Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) grantees and participants regarding participant protections, SAMHSA has modified and received approval for a revised TTA Program Monitoring Tool (OMB: 0930-0389).

Beginning January 1, 2024, you must use the revised GPRA-PEF and GPRA-FU tools for data collection and reporting.

The TTA Program Monitoring Tool was initially implemented in July 2022 and consists of three separate forms. The revisions only impact the TTA GPRA Post-Event Form (GPRA-PEF) and TTA GPRA Follow-Up Form (GPRA-FU) completed by participants; no revisions were made to the TTA Event Description Form completed by the grantee. The revised version of the TTA Program Monitoring Tool OMB-0930-0389 is posted on the SPARS website (English Post Event Form, English Follow-up Form Spanish Post Event Form, Spanish Follow-up Form).

The revisions to the Post-Event and Follow-Up forms include the following:

  • NEW System Generated ID number. The participant ID, used on the GPRA-PEF and GPRA-FU forms of the Tool, has been removed from the forms. Instead, as each form is submitted in SPARS, a new system generated ID number will be created. This requires a change to the participant ID field coding, data entry screens, and batch upload for both forms. Additionally, participants will no longer be matched from post-event to follow-up.
  • The demographic questions on the GPRA-PEF have been moved to the end of the survey. This requires a change to data entry screens in SPARS and grantee systems.
  • Question 13 in the prior GPRA-PEF has been revised to Question 3 and is now applicable to all program participants in the new GPRA-PEF.
  • All participant questions on the GPRA-PEF and GPRA-FU are optional, missing data is a valid entry for any question.
  • Text has been added to the GPRA-PEF providing information on why SAMHSA collects the information and emphasizing that all responses are voluntary and can be skipped. This requires a change to data entry screens in grantee systems.
  • Updates to the TTA codebook, batch upload, and data downloads are expected to support the changes to the GPRA-PEF and GPRA-FU forms.

With the exception of the removal of the participant ID field and the revision to Question #3, there are no revisions to the data fields, previous response options, and previous data field coding of the SPARS data entry screens and batch uploads. Therefore, you will be able to continue to enter or upload data collected on the July 2022 version of the tool prior to January 1, 2024, using the revised Tool by removing the participant-provided participant ID.

To ensure that you are prepared for the implementation of the new Tool, SAMHSA will host and record a webinar in October 2023 to orient you to the revisions on the GPRA-PEF and GPRA-FU and corresponding updates to the SPARS. You will receive subsequent notifications of the webinar, system updates, and revised resources via SPARS. TTA Tool resources posted on the SPARS website will be updated to reflect the revisions and reposted to SPARS, including data entry guides, Frequently Asked Questions, the Question-by-Question guide, codebook, and batch upload templates.

If you have questions, please contact the SPARS Help Desk:

 

Sincerely,

SAMHSA

 

Announcement Posted on 9/29/2023