Telephone Interview Guide for Local State Agency Directors

APPENDIX F

Telephone Interview Guide for Local State Agency Directors

Interview Guide for Local State Agencies

BACKGROUND and INFORMED CONSENT

Hi. Thanks for joining me today. My name is [NAME], and I work for a large social science research company called Westat, based in Maryland. Westat has a contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC, to conduct a study into the social service needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives who are living in urban areas. As part of this study, we are conducting telephone interviews with both Native and non-Native service providers to learn where American Indians and Alaska Natives typically receive various social 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 [CITY].

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

• First, this is a research project – your participation in the interview is voluntary. If there are questions you don’t want to answer, or if you decide you no longer want to participate in the interview, that’s fine. Your decision will have no negative effects on any funding your agency is currently receiving from HHS or any funding it might receive in the future.

• 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 store the audio file on a password protected network drive that only project staff have access to; none of these files will be shared with ACF. Once the project is completed, all audio files will be destroyed.

• 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…”). I cannot guarantee that someone reading a report won’t be able to identify your organization, but we will do everything possible to keep your organization’s identity anonymous as well.

• An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 0970-XXXX and it expires XX/XX/XXXX.

• Do you have any questions before we begin?

If you’re ready, I’m going to turn on the audio recorder now. [ONCE AUDIO RECORDER IS ON, ASK RESPONDENT AGAIN FOR 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 services or programs does your organization provide?

• How long has it been serving residents of the city?

• What is your role within the organization?

• How long have you worked here?

2. What percentage of your client population is American Indian or Alaska Native?

PROBE AS NEEDED

• [If not evident from response] Is this an estimate or does your organization collect these data?

• [If collect data]

  • How do you determine that a client is American Indian or Alaska Native? [Self-report? Enrollment? Clinician observation?]

  • [If not obvious] Do you have data on individuals’ tribal affiliation?

  • Do you have outcome data by AI/AN status or tribal affiliation?

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

4. How do American Indian/Alaska Native individuals and families find out about the services that your agency offers?

PROBE AS NEEDED

• How often do you get referrals from American Indian/Alaska Native service providers or agencies?

• Do you conduct targeted outreach? If so, which outreach strategies are most successful?

5. What are some of the barriers American Indians/Alaska Natives face in coming to your organization for assistance?

PROBE AS NEEDED

• Lack of knowledge about services being offered?

• Concerns about being discriminated against by agency staff?

  • Potential investigation of family and loss of children?

• Concerns about stigma from within American Indian/Alaska Native community?

6. To what extent has your organization or agency made efforts to overcome these barriers?

PROBE AS NEEDED

• How effective do you believe these strategies have been?

• What else could your agency/organization do that might be more effective?

7. Thinking about the entire service provider community in your city, where has it been most effective in meeting the needs of the American Indian/Alaska Native population? Which services or strategies do you think could be used effectively by other communities to meet the needs of this population? Explain.

8. What would you say are the greatest needs within the American Indian/Alaska Native community for which there is little or no assistance in [CITY]? What do you believe are some ways in which service providers in [CITY] could help fulfill these unmet needs?

9. Is there anything else about serving the American Indian/Alaska Native population in [CITY] that I haven’t asked you about, but that you think is important for me to know?

Thank you for your time!