SAMHSA logo  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
 

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ANNUAL REPORT: 1999

I. AGENCY 

 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
REPORT PREPARED BY

TITLE  

ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER 

Patricia El-Hinnawy

Freedom of Information Officer, SAMHSA

5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857

301-443-3814

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:
Pel@samsha.gov
ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF REPORT:
Room 8-1042 , 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857

II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST 

(Describe or provide electronic address for instructions in FOIA reference guide):
A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that process FOIA requests (do not include coordinating offices; do not use persons' name - only titles):
Freedom of Information Officer, SAMHSA

Room 8-1042    5600 Fishers Lane   Rockville, MD  20857
B. Brief description of agency's response time range(s):

20 days to several months.  Long delays generally due to requests for materials gathered and processed on an annual basis.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted (e g. Documents requested were protected by an exemption and release would have caused harm to the interest protected by the exemption.)

No relevant documents

III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN REPORT
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms:

CSAT - Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

CSAP - Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

CMHS - Center for Mental Health Services 


B. Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE, Summer 1997)

 

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES
A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year:  

0 "mechanical error"  "software fatigue"

  1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute: 
  2. Has a court upheld the use of each statute? If so, cite example: None

V. INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS 

(Include all requests, 3rd or 1st party):

A. Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):

  1. Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 32
  2. Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 101
  3. Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 69
  4. Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: 64

(Enter this number also as Line VII.B.1.)

B. Disposition of Initial Requests:

1.  Number granted in full: 54

2.  Number granted in part: --

3.  Number of full and partial denials: 28

Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:

  • Exemption 1: 0

  • Exemption 2: 0

  • Exemption 3: 0

  • Exemption 4: 15

  • Exemption 5: 2

  • Exemption 6: 11

  • Exemption 7: 0

  • Exemption 8: 0

  • Exemption 9: 0
4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 5

a. no records: 2

b. referrals: 2

c. request withdrawn: 1

d. fee-related reason: 0

e. records not reasonably described: 0

f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0

g. not an agency record: 0

h. duplicate request: 0

i. other (specify): --

VI. APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA REQUESTS (include all access requests whether first or third party):

 

A. Numbers of Appeals:

  1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year: 1
  2. Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year: 1 

B.  Disposition of Appeals:

  1. Number completely upheld:  0
  2. Number partially reversed: 1
  3. Number completely reversed:  0
  4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total):

VII. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS

 

A. Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year.


1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used):

a. number of requests processed: 68

b. median number of days to process: 30

2. Complex Requests (specify for any and all tracks used):

a. number of requests processed: 0

b. median number of days to process: 

3. Requests Accorded Expedited Processing:

a. number of requests processed: 0

b. median number of days to process:

B. Status of Pending Requests (if multiple tracks are being used, report for each track as well as totals).


1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year covered in this report (from Line V.A.4): 64

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date

VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEARS(S) (Optional):

IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING:

 

A. Staffing levels:

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 1

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): 2 work-years

3. Total number of personnel (in work years): 3

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources):

1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $7,935.10

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): 0

3. Total costs: $7,935.10

4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional) $6,042.06

X. FEES:

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $3,389.60

B. Percentage of total costs:

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS (including fee schedule):
foia

You may visit SAMHSA in person to review FOIA documents at the following address: 

Room 8-1042 
1 Choke Cherry Road
Rockville, MD 20857

Phone (301) 443-8956

Hours of Operation are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday-Friday

Main Page
foia