Evaluation of VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program

Telephone Interview Protocol

Dependents

Vocational Rehabilitation &Employment (VR&E) Evaluation Study

NOTES FOR INTERVIEWER (PROCESS)

• Administer this interview by telephone using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) system. Enter responses to interview questions directly into the CATI system for automated capture in the interview database.

• This interview is intended for the spouse or other adult dependents of the veteran’s family who have direct knowledge of the veteran’s participation in the Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment program.

• Minors (under 18 years old) are not to be interviewed.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning/afternoon/evening and thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview. My name is (Interviewer’s Name). I am part of a research team that has been hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a study of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program.

ABOUT THE STUDY

As part of this study, we are sending surveys to veterans to learn about their experiences with the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program. We also are interviewing a small number of family members of veterans to gather opinions, perspectives, and experiences with the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program.

We appreciate your participation in this interview.

WHAT WE WILL DO WITH THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE

The information we receive from these interviews, along with information from the study, will be compiled in a report with recommendations to improve the program. The report will not include specific information about any individual; only group-level findings from interviews will be reported. We will not link your name or specific demographic information with any comments that could identify you in our report.

It is VA’s intention to provide the best possible service to veterans and their families. Your assistance will help VA do that.

With that in mind, I would like to go over some information about the interview process with you:

1. There are no right or wrong answers; please feel free to share your point of view. We are interested in all of your comments, positive and negative.

2. This interview should last ten to fifteen minutes, and I will be taking notes on my computer while we go through questions and answers.

3. Your participation in the session is completely voluntary. You can refuse to answer any question that you do not want to answer, and you can stop the interview at any time. If you participate, we will protect your privacy and the confidentiality of information you share with us.

QUESTIONS

I. Qualifying questions [Subheadings are not read aloud.]

1. Are you willing to continue?

[If the individual does not agree to participate or later expresses an unwillingness to continue the interview, cease the interview and thank the individual for considering or participating in the interview to that point.]

2. Are you 18 years old or older?

[If the individual is a minor, ask if an adult member of the household is available, if so, begin the interview anew with the adult member, if not, cease the interview and thank the individual for participating in the interview to that point.]

3. What is your relationship to the veteran?

[Determine if the individual is a family member or filling a similar role, even if not related by kinship or marriage, and if the individual has regular contact with the veteran. This determination may require follow-up probes to the question above. If role or degree of contact is apparently insufficient to allow informed responses to the remaining interview questions, cease the interview and thank the individual for participating in the interview to that point.]

4. In addition to you, what other members are in the household, and what are their approximate ages?

II. Family member support to the veteran

We would like to gain an understanding of the support that you and other family members provide to the veteran. By support, we mean things like transportation, personal care assistance, financial support, and so on.

5. What do you think are the veteran’s goals for participating in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program? Some examples of goals may be to get training or education for a new job, to get training needed to return to a previous employer, or to gain skills so that they can live more independently.

6. What kinds of support do you and other members of your household provide to the veteran to enable him or her to participate in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program?

- How much and/or how often is this support provided?

7. Has the veteran’s participation in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program changed the roles and responsibilities of his or her family members?

- If so, how have these roles and responsibilities changed?

8. Do relatives who do not live with the veteran provide support to the veteran?

- Or the veteran’s household?

- If so, what support do these relatives provide?

III. Support from other sources

We need to ask you some questions about the support that the veteran receives from other sources. By support, we mean from all agencies and organizations other than the VA. These would include other federal, state and local government agencies, veterans’ organizations, and religious and community organizations. This does not include family sources. Examples of support include transportation, personal care, financial, or other type of assistance.

9. What kinds of support does the veteran receive from other sources?

- How much of each kind of support does the veteran receive from these other sources?

- Does any of this support enable the veteran to participate in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program? If so, what specific support is important for this purpose?

IV. Adequacy of support

We would like to ask you some questions about the needs you and your household members experience as a result of the veteran’s disability.

10. What are the most important services the veteran has received from the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program?

11. Are there any services that the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program has not provided that need to be added?

WRAP UP

12. Do you have any additional comments, observations, or experiences that you wish to share with us today on the issues that we talked about during the interview?

Thank you very much for participating today.

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