Telephone Interview Guide for Local State Agency Directors

APPENDIX F

Interview Guide for Non-American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Service Providers

Interview Guide for Non-American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Service Providers

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 here 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 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 be here – 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 you to read this Informed Consent Form – 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 sign. Once you’ve signed, please hand me one copy, and then you can keep one for yourself.

If you’re ready, I’m going to turn on the audio recorder now. [INTERVIEWER: ONCE AUDIO RECORDER IS ON, ASK RESPONDENTS TO STATE THAT THEY GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO RECORD THE DISCUSSION; IF ONE PARTICIPANT IS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE RECORDING, DO NOT USE AND SIMPLY TAKE WRITTEN NOTES.]

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

PROBE AS NEEDED: What kinds of services does your organization provide?

How long has it been serving residents of the city?

What is its mission?

2. How did you get involved in the organization?

PROBE AS NEEDED: How long have you worked here?

What kind of work do you do with the organization?

How long have you lived in this city?

3. What percentage of your service recipients would you say are American Indian/Alaska Native? [If not “0%”] And what would you say are the services mostly commonly used by these individuals?

PROBE AS NEEDED: What data do you have that might compare numbers of AI/AN clients and their service uses to your non-AI/AN clients?

4. Does your organization provide any services or programs specifically to American Indian/Alaska Native families or individuals? IF YES:

PROBE AS NEEDED: Please describe those services/programs.

What was the impetus for offering these services/programs?

5. What strategies has your organization used to let American Indians/Alaska Natives in this city know about your services generally? [AS APPROPRIATE: Specific targeted services?] Which strategies do you believe to be most effective in conducting outreach? To what do you attribute that effectiveness?

6. How effective have your services/programs been in meeting the [specific] needs of American Indian/Alaska Native families? What assessment tools do you use to determine service outcomes?

PROBE AS NEEDED: What barriers do these families face to using your services?

What are the most critical barriers/challenges you face in providing services to AI/AN families?

What steps has your organization taken to try to address either the service recipients’ barriers or your own challenges with service delivery? What steps have been most effective? Explain.

7. When you think about the difficulties American Indian/Alaska Native families face here in [city], what would you say are the greatest challenges they have and for which there is little or no assistance in this community? Explain.

8. 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?

Thank you for your time!