APPENDIX B
SITE SELECTION PROTOCOL
How long has the program been in operation? How long have key staff been in their positions (director, recruiter, and so forth)? What is the organizational structure? [As appropriate, request an organizational chart and a staff list.]
What are the specific services you provide to participants?
What is the service model (i.e., do you emphasize certain services over others? in what sequence? are your services based on an existing model of offender or re-entry programs?)?
What is the organizational capacity for serving offenders? How many offenders can be served given your remaining available budget? How many have you served in the most recent year?
How easy is it to recruit participants to your program? Can you please describe how your program typically recruits participants and detail the resources needed to do so? (Do you spend a lot of time/money recruiting participants?)
Are there other organizations in your area that provide similar services? What makes your organization different?
Have you participated in research studies before? Please describe the types of research studies you participated in. Have you ever participated in an impact study that assessed the impact of your program?
Have you ever participated in a study that included random assignment? If so, please tell me more about that. If not, what is your impression of random assignment studies?
What concerns do you have about participating in a random assignment study? What challenges would you anticipate in implementing random assignment procedures?
What concerns do you anticipate your staff having about participating in such a study?
How are offenders referred to the program?
What methods, if any, do you use to recruit applicants to your program (e.g., word-of-mouth, advertisements, relationships with referral sources, direct outreach to homes or streets in neighborhood)? Where do you get most of your referrals? [Collect samples of recruitment material.]
Are any of the youth you serve mandated to participate (e.g., mandated by a judge, alternative sentencing, and so forth)? How many mandated participants do you receive per year? Are they guaranteed a spot in your program?
What methods do you use to screen applicants and determine their eligibility?
What is the typical sequence of activities between an individual being referred/showing up and getting enrolled? [Collect flowchart or other material that describes the process, if any. Also, collect samples of application and screening/eligibility material.]
Of those referred/showing up, what percentage completes intake? Begin receiving services of any type? Enroll?
When and how do applicants complete the application? How many applications do you typically receive each month?
What are the eligibility requirements?
Do you ever have to turn away eligible applicants? If yes, about how many? For what reasons are they denied access to the program?
Do you put applicants on a waiting list or ask them to come back at the next enrollment period?
How long do applicants remain on the wait list, or how long must they wait between enrollment periods?
When participants are turned away, do you refer them to another program? Is it typical that they receive other services in the community? What are the most likely programs they would go to if not your program?
If you had to increase recruitment, what might you need to do (e.g., begin earlier? recruit from more sources? increase staff time? spend more money on recruitment materials?)?
How feasible do you think it would be to recruit more participants? What is your sense of the available pool of participants (i.e., many more potential participants than you currently enroll? only somewhat more? no excess participants?)? What assessments are required before an individual is enrolled?
What is the typical duration of services?
What client information is collected (e.g., participant characteristics and so forth), and at what point is it collected?
How do you record or maintain this information?
Do you track services received? If so, how?
Do you track outcomes? If so, how?
Who are alternative service providers in the area? How similar are their services to your program’s services?
Have you taken part in research studies in the past?
Have you ever participated in or heard about a study that includes random assignment? If so, please tell me more about that and about your perceptions about random assignment studies.
What concerns would you have about participating in a random assignment evaluation?
What services do you provide for this program?
To all participants or to only certain participants?
At what points do you provide these services? Before intake/enrollment? After enrollment? Following exit from the program?
What is your organizational capacity to serve offenders?
How many in a given year?
In what flow?
How many offenders have you served in the past year?
What is the typical duration of participation in your services?
Do you collect and maintain data on participants (demographics, services, outcomes)? Do you share the data with the program? How are they collected/recorded?
Are there any challenges in partnering/coordinating with the program to serve participants? How have you tried to resolve or address those challenges?
What other providers of services to offenders are there in the area? How similar are their services?
Have you participated in research studies in the past? In studies examining the impact of a program on participants’ outcomes?
Have you heard of random assignment studies? What concerns would you have about participating in a random assignment evaluation?
(Possibly at this initial meeting, we can provide a more formal presentation, including an overview of the issues for a potential study and a general description of random assignment, specifically identifying random assignment, how it might work, and why we are using it. The presentation would be followed by discussions, including):
Flow (including volume) of offenders through the justice system
Types of incarceration/probation
How offenders are referred to program
Data systems and what is currently collected/available to us
What other service providers are in the community? How similar are their services to those offered through this program?
Concerns about a potential random assignment study
Challenges of random assignment (procedural, ethical, legal)
Sharing results from the study
Next steps (e.g., set up subsequent meeting or meetings with other court actors)
Discuss key findings concerning recruitment and intake
Brainstorm possible ways in which random assignment could be implemented at the site
Discuss challenges to participating and possible means for overcoming those challenges
Next steps (including possible subsequent visit[s] and timeline
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| Author | Windows User |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-28 |