Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration: Planning for Program Changes and Future Workforce Needs Is Incomplete

On February 2, 2005, SAMHSA noted that to further refine the future needs of the organization, that it had (1)analyzed its workforce data to more accurately predict anticipated retirements and future staffing needs, (2)reviewed its strategic direction and its revised management objectives to clarify the future needs of the organization; and (3) conducted focus groups to address specific competencies needed to ensure continuity for all key positions in the organization. SAMHSA also indicated that it had launched a leadership development program in the summer 2004, which it described as the cornerstone of its succession planning and human capital strategy.

On February 2, 2005, SAMHSA reported undertaking a series of actions to ensure state project officers possessed the skills necessary to implement increased accountability based on performance in the block grant programs, including in-service staff training sessions and a project officer competency checklist. Subsequently, in August 2006, SAMHSA indicated that (1) from January 2005 through September 2005, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) had completed all core training, and by March 2006 it had conducted training in statistical methods and performance management for all staff; and (2) the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention had developed a comprehensive training strategy for its project officers. Regarding hiring strategies, in October 2006, SAMHSA indicated that CSAT had revised its position descriptions, but it could not provide an overall final asessment of the results, but indicated that almost all staff had received mid-year evaluations that showed satisfactory results.

In June 2005, SAMHSA issued "A REPORT REQUIRED BY CONGRESS ON PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIPS: A Discussion of SAMHSA's Efforts to Increase Accountability Based on Performance in Its Block Grant Program by Instituting National Outcome Measures."