low impactWorkforceviolence epidemiology and mental health monitoringFederal

Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

May 27, 2026Source: Federal RegisterStatus: proposed_rule
28
Relevance score
Tangential

Impact on your practice

This CDC public health surveillance program is tangentially related to mental health but focuses on epidemiology and violence prevention at the population level. It does not directly affect therapist licensing, reimbursement, or clinical practice.

Key facts

1

CDC AVERT program provides funding to jurisdictions for emergency department violence-injury surveillance

2

Monitors ED visits related to violence-related injuries and mental health conditions

3

Funds real-time data collection and analysis

4

Part of public health epidemiology effort, not direct mental health treatment or practice regulation

Therapy Companion analysis

This CDC data collection notice has minimal direct impact on your clinical practice, reimbursement, or licensing. The AVERT (Actionable Violence Elimination Response Toolkit) program funds emergency department surveillance systems to track violence-related injuries and mental health encounters at the population epidemiology level—it does not create new billing codes, prior authorization requirements, documentation mandates, or scope-of-practice restrictions for therapists. You will not be required to submit patient data directly to CDC or alter how you code sessions. However, the secondary effect warrants attention: if your practice or employer participates in hospital-integrated mental health services, emergency departments you support may implement new violence screening and data collection workflows. This could mean coordinating referral protocols, accepting patients flagged through ED violence screening systems, or participating in real-time data sharing agreements between your agency and hospital partners. The surveillance data itself (de-identified, aggregate) will influence public health funding priorities and violence prevention programming in your jurisdiction, potentially creating downstream referral volume from community violence intervention programs. For practices in high-violence jurisdictions receiving AVERT funding, expect conversations with hospital administrators and EDs about integrating your services into their violence surveillance feedback loops—but this is organizational coordination, not a compliance or billing burden on your license.

Background

The CDC has operated violence-injury surveillance through emergency departments for two decades as part of public health epidemiology. This 2026 notice is a routine Federal Register announcement requesting 60 days of public comment on the data collection methodology and burden estimates before continuing the program. Violence-related emergency department visits are consistently linked to mental health needs—depression, PTSD, substance use—and the CDC uses ED data to identify communities with elevated injury rates and to evaluate whether violence prevention interventions reduce harm. This is part of a broader federal shift toward real-time public health surveillance (accelerated during COVID-19) and toward treating violence as a public health epidemic requiring data infrastructure. For mental health providers, this reflects CDC's recognition that therapists and emergency departments must coordinate around violence-exposed populations, but the notice itself is administrative—it does not propose new regulations affecting your practice.

What you should do

1

No immediate action required for most solo practitioners and private practice therapists. If your practice is employed by a hospital, community health center, or ED-affiliated mental health program, ask your compliance or operations director whether your facility participates in AVERT data collection and whether new patient-flow workflows or data-sharing agreements are expected.

2

Review your current referral relationships with local emergency departments and violence prevention programs. The surveillance data from AVERT will likely identify clusters of violence-exposed patients who need mental health follow-up—ensure your intake process can accept ED referrals and document violence exposure using a consistent screening tool (e.g., ACE, HITS, or similar).

3

If you treat clients with violence exposure or perpetration history, audit your clinical documentation for consistency in how you record violence-related stressors, injury history, and safety planning. The CDC's emphasis on real-time data collection indirectly signals that payers and hospitals increasingly expect standardized violence screening and documentation.

4

No license, billing code, or reimbursement changes are expected from this notice. Do not allocate staff time to compliance unless your organization is a direct CDC AVERT grantee or hospital partner.

Notable excerpts

"CDC must receive written comments on or before July 27, 2026" (Federal Register Notice 2026-10513, 91 FR 31458). This is the deadline for public feedback on the data collection proposal; it does not impose obligations on therapists.

The program funds "real-time data collection and analysis" of "ED visits related to violence-related injuries and mental health conditions" at the population level, not individual patient reporting requirements for therapists (CDC AVERT program summary, as described in source).

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Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: - the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document - the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to - the agency docket number / agency internal file number - the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. ## Department of Health and Human Services ## Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - [60Day-26-1414; Docket No. CDC-2026-0827] ## AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ## ACTION: Notice with comment period. ## SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled Advancing Violence Epidemiology in Real-Time (AVERT). The AVERT program provides funding to jurisdictions to conduct routine monitoring of Emergency Department visits related to violence-related injuries and mental health conditions, and to analyze these data in a timely manner. ## DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before July 27, 2026. ## ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2026-0827 by either of the following methods: - Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. - Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329. Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments to www.regulations.gov. Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking portal ( www.regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above. ## FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: 404-639-7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov. ## SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each [Truncated]
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