Projects
SAMHSA Performance Accountability and Reporting System
2021-2026
Project Overview
Objective
To improve the usability of the SAMHSA Performance Accountability and Reporting System (SPARS) for grantees working to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities; foster the use of data from SPARS for program improvement and monitoring via online reports, data visualizations, and ad hoc data analysis and reporting; and provide help desk, technical assistance, and training support to SPARS users.
Project Motivation
SAMHSA and its grantees use SPARS to collect, analyze, and report on data and trends in mental health and substance use services. SPARS data are key factors used in the formulation of SAMHSA policy and future program direction. For this project, Mathematica brings a combination of subject matter expertise on substance use and mental health policy and technical expertise on technology and user-centered design to improve on existing grant performance management and monitoring systems.
Partners in Progress
- Advocates for Human Potential, Inc.
- W2 Consulting Corporation
Prepared For
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Mathematica supports SAMHSA’s work in leading public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. We enable the agency to pursue continuous quality improvement through tracking and reporting on the outcomes of its discretionary grant programs.
Through SPARS, Mathematica helps SAMHSA’s government project officers conduct performance management and monitoring of more than 2,000 grants. SPARS is a consolidated system that supports discretionary grants for SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse Treatment, and Mental Health Service centers.
Mathematica and our partners provide technology operations and help desk support, as well as programmatic technical assistance and training. We apply user-centric design approaches to improve the ease of data collection and reporting for grantees; of integration with other systems; and of creating dashboards and data visualizations.
Related Staff
Kate Miller
Vice President; Chief Technology Officer Human Services, Director of Systems and Technology
View Bio Page
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