Supporting Statement B_STREAMS_Generic Clearance

Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) Study

OMB Information Collection Request

0970-0356

Supporting Statement

Part B

June 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:

Seth Chamberlain

Samantha Illangasekare

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) seeks to gather information from healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs. The universe of programs includes the 60 organizations that currently hold an HMRE 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 STREAMS. 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 HMRE programs and explore the field’s interest in STREAMS. 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 STREAMS. 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 HMRE organizations.

The study team will send up to 30 program directors a request for a one-hour telephone call via email (see Attachment A, STREAMS Phone Meeting Email Template). The email will be addressed to program directors. It will introduce the study, its goals, and the team that is conducting the study on HHS’ behalf, and offer suggested times for a phone meeting. Attached to the email will be the project description (see Attachment B, STREAMS Project Description) and a list of questions we hope to collect during the phone call (see Attachment C, STREAMS Topics for STREAMS Meeting). The phone meeting is voluntary. The study team will lead the telephone meeting using a semi-structured protocol (see Attachment D, STREAMS Semi Structured Protocol for Initial Phone Call). The study team will answer 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 range of programming in the field, the range of perspectives on the STREAMS study, and whether particular study design options will be feasible given the structure of HMRE 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 Appendix E, STREAMS Agenda for Program Staff Meeting). Using a semi-structured protocol (see Appendix F, STREAMS Semi Structured 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.

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 percent 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

• Robert Wood, Mathematica, Co-Project Director

• Diane Paulsell, Mathematica, Co-Project Director

• Seth Chamberlain, OPRE, Federal Project Officer

• Samantha Illangasekare, OPRE, Point of Contact