The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is requesting approval for data collection activities associated with the State Opioid Response (SOR) and Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) discretionary grant programs.
Approval of this information collection will allow SAMHSA to continue to meet the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRMA) reporting requirements that quantify the effects and accomplishments of its discretionary grant programs which are consistent with OMB guidance. Information collected through this request will be used to monitor performance throughout the grant period.
There will be up to 359 award recipients (states, territories, and tribal entities) in these grant programs. Grantee-level data will include information related to naloxone purchases and distribution. This grantee-level information will be collected quarterly.
All funded states/territories and tribal entities will also be required to collect and report client-level data on individuals who are receiving opioid treatment services to ensure program goals and objectives are being met. Client-level data will include information such as: Demographic information, services planned/received, mental health/substance use disorder diagnoses, medical status, employment status , substance use, legal status, and psychiatric status/symptoms.
Client-level data will be collected at intake/baseline, three months post intake, six months post intake, and at discharge.
Comments are due by December 3.
October 4 Federal Register notice: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-10-04/pdf/2018-21576.pdf
OSHA Awards Workplace Safety and Health Training Grants to Assist in Educating Workers, Job Creators; Supports Organizations Engaged in Training and Protecting Workers Involved in Hurricane Recovery Activities
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded $9.3 million in Susan Harwood federal safety and health training grants to 74 nonprofit organizations nationwide. The grants will provide educational and training programs to help employees and employers recognize serious workplace hazards, implement injury prevention measures, and understand their rights and responsibilities.
OSHA also awarded $1million in direct grants to five organizations to train and protect workers involved in hurricane recovery activities.
The Susan Harwood Training Grants Program funds grants to nonprofit organizations, including community and faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor-management associations, colleges, and universities. Target trainees include small-business employers and underserved vulnerable workers in high-hazard industries.
The Fiscal Year 2018 award categories are as follows: Targeted Topic Training; Training and Educational Materials Development; and Capacity-Building Developmental/Capacity-Building Pilot. Targeted Topics included training materials and courses to educate workers to identify hazards and work safely.
For a complete list of the 2018 Susan Harwood Training Grant Program recipients, visit the Award Announcements page.
Department of Education Awards $4.9 Million Grant to University of California, Davis to Develop Free, Open Textbooks Program
To help stem the rising cost of college textbooks, the U.S. Department of Education today announced a $4.9 million grant to the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) to lead a pilot program to develop free, open textbooks in targeted subjects.
Under the Open Textbooks Pilot Program , funded by Congress in the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill, UC Davis will head a consortium of 12 campuses that will begin by creating open textbooks focused on high-enrollment courses like chemistry, as well as career-technical education (CTE) fields. Technical textbooks are among the more expensive books that students must purchase, as they often must be updated frequently to keep pace with changing technologies.
"The cost of college textbooks has almost doubled in the past 10 years," said U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. "This program is an important step toward reducing barriers, expanding access and increasing choice for students who want to attend college or learn a trade. I commend Senators Durbin, King, and Smith, as well as Representatives Polis and Sinema for theircommitment to getting this pilot program passed through Congress, and I look forward to working together to make textbooks more easily accessible for students, professors and the public."
According to the program's July 30 Federal Register notice , the cost of college textbooks jumped 88 percent between 2006 and 2016. In the 2016-17 academic year, the average college student budget for books and supplies had risen to $1,263 for students at four-year institutions and $1,458 at two-year schools.
Open textbooks are defined as textbooks that reside in the public domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others.
UC Davis plans to launch its efforts by expanding the existing LibreTexts open textbook service. LibreTexts is a multi-institution venture aimed at developing the next generation of open-access texts to improve postsecondary education at all levels of higher learning.
"Our effort will build on the best practices that we established over the past decade in the development of the LibreTexts," UC Davis said in its application. "These are the same efforts that make LibreTexts the largest, highest-ranked and most-visited open educational resource (OER). To this end, we propose to expand the LibreTexts into an expansive living library of content that can be customized to faculty needs."
The high-enrollment field of chemistry will be a priority in the expansion of the LibreText library where open textbooks will be developed "to enable a zero textbook cost (ZTC) option for an American Chemical Society, ACS-certified curriculum for a bachelor's degree," according to the grant application.
In addition, a new "trade" library will be dedicated to career and technical education fields.
Besides UC Davis, the consortium with access to the pilot program text will include: the University of Arkansas, Little Rock (AR), Saint Mary's College (IN), Prince George Community College (MD), Hope College (MI), American River College (CA), Contra Costa College (CA), Cosumnes River College (CA), Diablo Valley College (CA), Folsom Lake College (CA), Los Medanos College (CA) and Sacramento City College (CA). The California State University system is also a partner.