B3 Supporting Statement B

Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) Study

OMB Information Collection Request

0970-0356

Supporting Statement

Part B

March 2015

Submitted By:

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

7^th Floor, West Aerospace Building

370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW

Washington, D.C. 20447

Project Officers:

Aleta Meyer

Anna Solmeyer

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) seeks to gather information from fatherhood programs. The universe of programs includes the 63 organizations that currently hold a Responsible Fatherhood grant administered by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), as well as other community-based organizations that offer similar services but are not funded by OFA. In order to identify the sample of up to 30 programs for this information collection, the study team is conducting internet searches and having individualized conversations with experts in the field. Based on this information, the study team will create a list of up to 30 programs that are potentially of interest to B3. Selection criteria include program capacity, services offered, program innovation, and demographics of the target populations served by the program.

The purpose of this collection is to collect information to understand the range of services offered by fatherhood programs and explore the field’s interest in B3. There is minimal burden involved with this collection. For this reason, we expect a high response rate (nearly 100% participation) among those program directors who are contacted.

B2. Procedures for Collection of Information

Study teams composed of at least one senior member and one junior member will make the telephone and in-person meeting contacts. These staff members are experienced in the process of gathering information for purposes of designing demonstration and evaluation projects, such as B3. In addition, all team members will receive a training to ensure that programs are engaged in a consistent manner.

The remainder of this section describes the study team’s procedures for contacting fatherhood organizations.

The study team will send up to 30 program directors a request for a one-hour telephone call via email (see B3_Phone Meeting Email Template). The email will be addressed to program directors. It will introduce the study and its goals, the team that is doing the study on HHS’ behalf, and offer suggested times for a phone meeting. Attached to the email will be the project description (see B3_Project Description) and a list of questions we hope to collect during the phone call (see B3_Topics for B3 Meeting). The phone meeting is voluntary. The study team will lead the telephone meeting using a semi-structured protocol (see B3_Semi Structured Protocol for Initial Phone Call). The study team will answer any questions about the study and ask for select programmatic information, such as their administrative structure, experience, target population, and their program size. The protocol is designed to collect the minimum information necessary to allow us to understand the variation of programming in the field, the range of perspectives on the B3 study, and whether particular study design options will be feasible given the structure of a range of fatherhood programs.

With a select group of programs (up to 15), the study team will follow-up the initial phone call with a request for further discussion. An agenda will be used to guide the discussions (see B3_Agenda for Program Staff Meeting). The study team will use a PowerPoint presentation to describe the study goals and provide examples of draft research questions and intervention designs (see B3_Presentation). Using a semi-structured protocol (see B3_Semi Structures Protocol for Teleconference or Program Visit), the study team will seek to gain a better understanding of the program’s flow and solicit feedback about the potential study designs. In most cases, the follow-up will involve an in-person visit to the site; visits will be replaced with teleconferences whenever possible. Subsequent visits and teleconferences will be scheduled, as needed and with a narrower pool of programs, if the study team needs additional time to gather the information.

This mode of data collection was selected to minimize the burden on respondents. Because responses can vary, the study team chose a flexible, semi-structured interview so that they can tailor the conversation to the specific program and minimize length of the interviews. In addition, this mode prevents programs from having to write lengthy responses and the need for follow-up to clarify the written responses.

B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

Expected Response Rates

Because there is minimal burden involved with the initial phone call, we expect nearly 100% participation. The purpose of this study is to learn about program services and operations in the field, and we expect that most program directors will be eager to share this information with the study team. The programs that will be visited will be based in part on their willingness to have an additional conversation. For this reason, we expect high response rates for the visits as well.

Dealing with Nonresponse

We expect little to no nonresponse. If we encounter no response to the initial email request for a meeting, we will not pursue a response from the program.

Maximizing Response Rates

The study team will be accommodating of respondents’ schedules. We can be flexible about the meeting dates and times. The program will be contacted by their assigned study team liaisons, which will include at a minimum one senior and one junior staff member from the study team. The senior member has had significant experience in working closely with programs and their stakeholders on previous evaluations and has had a high level of success in engaging programs in preliminary discussions such as these.

B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

The data collection instruments will not be pre-tested. Previous large-scale evaluations have successfully used similar instruments during information gathering processes.

B5. Individual Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

• Virginia Knox, MDRC, Project Director

• Aleta Meyer, OPRE, Federal Project Office

• Anna Solmeyer, OPRE, Point of Contact