Discussion Guide for Executive Directors

Discussion Guide for Executive Directors

Tell me about yourself.

• Your role in the organization

• Educational background, career path

• Interest in social services/government work

• Interest in healthy marriage, family strengthening

• Tell me about your community.

• Characteristics of the town/city - history, demographics (including age, race, migration status, SES, ancestry, family formation patterns), industry, economy, assets and challenges

• Hispanics and their relationship to the community

• The political environment in relation to marriage education and to Hispanics

• The presence of other organizations serving your target population, and/or providing marriage/relationship education

• Tell me about your organization.

• Type of agency (social service, government, religious organization), part of a larger organization

• Overall mission and goals

  • Role of healthy marriage - How the organization and its leadership see healthy marriage promotion aligning with their overall mission and goals

  • How these ideas are communicated to staff

• Kinds of services

• Population served, restrictions/eligibility requirements

  • If Hispanic, country of origin/ancestry, time in country (e.g., first generation, second generation)

• Physical information – location in community, type of building, level or access/visibility

• Community reputation – well known, new, steeped in Hispanic community

• Staff

  • How selected (e.g., qualifications required); experience in healthy marriage promotion/strengthening families

  • Staff training provided

  • Any professional development offered

• Tell me about the healthy marriage program.

• Impetus for starting healthy marriage program

• Why target population selected (e.g., Hispanics, married couples, youth)

• Assumptions behind why healthy marriage program is needed/welcomed—generally for community and for Hispanic population in particular

• Healthy marriage program design (curricula, service delivery structure, partner organizations)

• Program development (involvement of key stakeholders, community, hiring of staff, financial and in-kind supports)

• Development of the evaluation (coming up with evaluation questions, hiring/finding an evaluator, goals, feedback loops)

• Goals for the healthy marriage program (for participants, staff and organization)

• Healthy marriage target population (age, marital status, ethnicity, country of ancestry, family structure)

• Tell me what you think a “successful” healthy marriage program looks like.

• Success for your organization, the program and the program staff

• Success for various service delivery aspects (grant writing, program creation, recruitment, retention, classroom, other services, evaluation, program refinement, sustainability)

• Anything else you’d like to tell me or think I should know

Wave 2 Questions

• Tell me what’s changed since our last conversation.

• Community changes, agency/organization changes, program changes, staffing changes, grant/federal rule changes, changes that specifically affect Hispanics

• Interim evaluation findings, anecdotal information

• Successes and challenges of the program thus far

  • How the agency built on successes and addressed/overcame challenges

• Extent to which program implemented and operating as planned; if different, changes/adaptations made

• Program Implications

• Influence of program on how the agency approaches other aspects of its work

• Preliminary thoughts on how the program is affecting the community

• Plans you have for the program after federal funding ends.

• Ending the program completely, subsuming it into current services, continuing only certain parts

• Funding and structure

• Target population and goals

• Suggestions for a healthy marriage program that is just starting out, particularly one focusing on serving Hispanics.

• Vision for the evolution of their program, as well as other marriage programs serving Hispanic populations

• Development or maturation of program curricula over time

• How programs can serve Hispanic populations most effectively

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