Initial Contact and Telephone Interview Guide for Directors of Urban Indian Centers

APPENDIX C

Telephone Interview Guide for Directors of Urban Indian Centers

Interview Guide for Directors of Urban Indian Centers

BACKGROUND and INFORMED CONSENT

Hi. Thanks for joining me today. My name is [NAME], and I work for a research company called Westat that is based in Maryland. At Westat, we do a lot of work for the federal government on a variety of issues, including individuals’ and families’ access to social service and public assistance, opportunities for employment training, and children’s issues, including education and child welfare. The reason I’m calling today is because the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC is sponsoring a study into the social service needs of American Indians and Alaskan Natives who are living in urban areas. Westat is conducting site visits to four different cities and phone interviews with the Directors of the many Urban Indian Centers to learn more about what services are available in those cities that could meet the needs of this population, where American Indians and Alaska Natives typically go to receive these services, and ways in which ACF could improve its outreach and service delivery to this population. What I’d like to do over the next hour is learn more about your organization’s experiences serving the American Indian and Alaska Native population in this city.

Before we get started, there are a few things I’d like to mention:

• First, this is a research project, so you need to know that you do not have to speak with me – this is voluntary on your part. If you decide you don’t want to participate in the interview, that’s fine. Also, you don’t have to answer any questions that you don’t want to answer.

• With your permission, I would like to audio-record our conversation today solely for my use – I want to make sure that I accurately represent your viewpoints and the views of others when I submit my reports to ACF. We have processes in place to protect your identity and keep your responses private. After our interview today, I will securely transmit this audio file to Westat; there, another member of my research team will store the file in a folder on the computer that no one has access to but me and a couple of other researchers.

• Once all of our reports are completed, we will destroy all of the files – at that point, even I won’t have access to them. When we write our reports for ACF, we will not use any names or describe anyone in a way that he or she could be identified. For example, rather than saying, “The Director of the Child Welfare Office in Minneapolis said…” we might write, “One administrator noted…” Also, we typically like to convey viewpoints that were shared with us by several folks (“Several staff who worked in various state agencies said…”).

• Before we start the discussion, I’d like to go over our Informed Consent Form that you received when we mailed the confirmation letter for this call – it should say everything that I just explained (voluntary, audio, no names, that I’ll be writing a report). If you see something in the form that I forgot to talk about, or if you have any questions at all, please ask me before you consent.

If you’re ready, I’m going to turn on the audio recorder now. [INTERVIEWER: ONCE AUDIO RECORDER IS ON, ASK RESPONDENT TO STATE THAT S/HE GIVES YOU PERMISSION TO RECORD THE INTERVIEW.]

1. I’d like to start off by having you tell me a little bit about your organization.

PROBE AS NEEDED: What led to the creation/establishment of your organization?

How long has it been serving residents of the city?

Who are the tribes that you serve?

How do you define American Indian/Alaska Native for purposes of providing services?

In general, what kinds of services does your organization provide?

How is your organization funded?

How stable would you say your funding base is?

How long have you worked here? What is your role within the organization?

2. What are the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native families and individuals here in [city]. What challenges do they face in meeting those needs? What strengths do they bring to the table in meeting those needs?

3. What services or programs are available through your organization and others that aim to address the [needs described in #2]?

4. To which of these organizations, including your own, do American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) families and individuals turn for support or assistance with [NEEDS MENTIONED IN #2]?

• What are some of the barriers AI/AN face in asking for support?

• What efforts are organizations making to overcome these barriers?

• How effective do you believe these strategies have been?

• What else could be done that might be more effective?

5. The Administration for Children and Families (or ACF), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, offers a variety of services to support families in financial distress. For example, ACF provides assistance to pay for home heating or cooling bills. How would AI/AN members of this community go about obtaining this assistance? Do they take advantage of this support? If not, why not?

1. How would they enroll their child in Head Start? How willing are parents to do this? What are the barriers?

2. How would they go about obtaining public assistance, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF? How willing are they to do this? What are the barriers?

INTERVIEWER – ASK ABOUT THE SERVICES BELOW FOLLOWING THE SAME FORMAT USED IN a and b:

Medicaid/Medicare

Behavioral health services (SA treatment, MH services)

Services related to children, such as:

• Child welfare (including foster care)

• Child Care

• Child Support

Family members with disabilities

Domestic violence

Parenting young children or teenagers

6. Thinking about the entire service provider community in this city, how effective do you believe this community as a whole has been in meeting the needs of the American Indian/Alaska Native population? Explain.

PROBE AS NEEDED: In what areas do you believe your organization to be more effective than non-Native service providers? Why?

In what areas do you believe these other organizations might be as effective - or even more effective - than your own? Why?

7. Based on your experience working with this population, what thoughts do you have on ways in which service providers in this city could help fulfill these unmet needs?

8. Is there anything else about the services your organization provides to the American Indian/Alaska Native community in [CITY] that I didn’t ask about, but that you think would be important for me to know? Explain.

Thank you for your time!