Evaluation of the ESSA Title I, Part D,Neglected or Delinquent Programs

Evaluation of the ESSA Title I, Part D Neglected or Delinquent Programs
Case Study Interview Protocol

State Child Welfare Program ND Coordinator

State:	Interviewer:
Interviewee(s):	Date/Time:
Interviewee(s’) Role(s): (select all that apply)

Introduction – Key points to convey to the respondent:

• We are conducting case studies of the ESSA Title I, Part D programs. We are also administering a survey to all State Part D coordinators and a sample of local educational agency (school district) and facility staff to collect data from a wider range of respondents.

• The study’s results will be discussed in a final report that will be available publicly. The main purpose of this study is to share your perspectives and experiences with policy-makers as they continue to refine policy and technical assistance on important issues related to Title I, Part D programs. This is not a compliance study; our purpose is solely to provide policymakers and the general public with insight regarding implementation practices of Title I, Part D programs so programs and student outcomes can continue to be improved.

• The purpose of this interview is to obtain information about your ESSA Title I, Part D, N or D program (hereafter “Part D”) regarding the implementation and progress of your State’s Part D program including how the program is implemented and how are the students’ needs met.

• Officials at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) know that your State is participating in this study and your State will be identified in our public reporting. In addition, staff from ED will see transcripts from our interview, but the transcripts we share will be reviewed and edited to ensure that no personally identifying information is included.

• We know that you are very busy, and we appreciate your time. We anticipate that this interview will take approximately 60 minutes.

• Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may discontinue your participation in this interview at any time, and through the course of the interview, if we touch on topics that you believe to be sensitive for any reason, please bring that to our attention so we will not include these comments either in public reporting or in discussions with ED.

• Your privacy is important to us and we will protect the confidentiality of the information you provide, to the extent provided by law. The reports prepared for this study will summarize interviews across respondents and will not associate responses with a specific individual. We will not provide information that identifies you to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

• In order for us to have an accurate account of your responses, we would like to record this interview. The recording will then be transcribed and all personally identifying information will be removed from the transcript. Do we have your permission to record this conversation?

• Do you have any questions before we begin?

First we would like to get some background information.

A. Agency Characteristics

Title I, Part D funds are distributed and programs are supported in different ways across the United States. We would first like to get a sense of how support for these programs is structured in your state.

1. Please describe your role in the agency’s Part D program. What are your responsibilities?

2. How long has your agency operated the Part D program?

Probe 

1. Has your or the agency’s role changed in that time? Please explain.

3. What agencies, departments, and/or facilities within the State are involved in the Part D program?

Probe

1. Which students are served by the Title I, Part D program?

4. How does your agency work with each of each of the facilities/programs receiving Part D funds?

Probe

1. What is the overall structure for supporting these programs in your state?

5. Please briefly describe the services and programs provided by your Part D program?

B. Shared Decision Making and Collaborative Planning

1. Have you been involved in the planning for your State’s Part D program?

If yes  Please describe the planning for your agency’s Part D program, including who else was involved, any challenges, and outcomes.

Probe 

1. Were any new policies or procedures developed during the planning phase?

2. Could you describe any challenges encountered during the planning phase and what strategies were used to try to resolve them?

3. How is it structured?

4. How are decisions made?

5. How often does major planning take place?

2. What were the major program priorities during the past year or during the most recent planning phase?

Probe

1. How were the priorities identified (for example: federal initiatives, state priorities, local challenges, a recent needs assessment)?

2. How were the priorities addressed?

3. Please describe how and with which facilities/programs/agencies your agency collaborates to provide Part D programming to N or D students.

Probe 

1. Have you experienced any barriers to communication, collaboration, or coordination with other systems or agencies working with N or D students?

2. What strategies are used to try to resolve the challenges?

C. Education Assessments, Strategies, and Services

Now we would like to talk about how the state supports assessments, strategies, and services in the Title I, Part D programs.

Screening and Risk Assessment

1. Please describe the process of how the children and youth come to your Part D program.

Probe 

1. How are neglected children and youth identified as needing the Part D program services?

2. What are the most frequent educational issues or problems of children and youth who come to the program?

Probe

1. How have these problems and issues been identified? And by whom?

3. Are any standardized assessments used in identifying educational risks or needs?

General Education Services and Structure

4. Could you describe the educational services and programs provided by your Title I, Part D program?

1. Do your State’s Part D programs support academic instruction?

2. Credit recovery programs?

3. Are any other education-related services funded by Part D in your agency? If so, please describe the services.

5. What kinds of technical assistance and monitoring services does your State agency provide to facilities receiving Title I, Part D funds? Please describe.

Transition Planning

We would like to ask you some questions about the services and strategies that your N and D programs implement to support youths’ transitions as they enter custodial settings, and as they transition back into educational and community settings.

6. How does the State support transition planning (at the local level) of children and youth who are N or D back into community-based academic settings? (Please describe.)

Probe 

1. Please describe the transition services or practices that your Part D programs implement to support youths’ academic/career/behavioral needs as they move into or out of custodial settings.

2. Are data collected specifically on: high-quality transition planning, youth and family involvement in planning, or identification or use of community-resources in plans? Please describe.

7. How does the State support collaboration and coordination work across agencies (juvenile justice, child welfare, and education systems) on transition planning and services?

Probe

1. Who does your agency collaborate with on transition services?

2. What is the nature and the roles of collaborations and partnerships for transition services?

8. Do you have a formal/structured transition planning model or approach that is expected to be followed by all Part D-funded facilities? Please describe.

Probe 

1. What does your agency expect of facilities in terms of the development and application of transition plans?

2. Are there standard requirements regarding components or timing of transition planning?

9. What supports does your agency provide to help facilities develop high-quality transition plans (e.g., TA, training, funding, resources)?

10. Where do you see gaps in terms of transition services among the facilities?

11. What is your agency’s process for ensuring that the quality and accessibility of community resources to support youth/families in the educational transition?

1. Who monitors the community services/resources?

2. What information sources or data are used in the quality assurance process? How are findings applied?

12. Are there state-level interagency working groups or committees who facilitate or oversee/monitor outcomes associated with transition services? Please describe.

13. How do the transition services provided as part of Part D programs intersect with other Federal, State, and/or local initiatives and programs? [e.g., if the State has other re-entry initiatives or initiatives focused on child welfare involved transition-age youth, etc.]

D. Instructional Staff Qualifications and Professional Development

1. What are the general qualifications for instructional staff in your agency’s Part D programs?

Probe 

1. Do staff need any special qualification or certifications to work with N or D youth? If so, what are they?

2. How does the agency support a qualified pool of instructors available to teach for Part D programs across the agency?

3. How does the agency support the professional development of instructional staff in Part D programs?

4. What efforts are made to ensure that curricula are aligned with required State and school district content standards?

E. Outcome Assessment and Utilization

1. Please describe any State-level guidelines or legislation that guide the agency’s Part D programs’ assessment of educational outcomes.

If no guidelines, Probe 

1. Are facilities able to select their own assessments to track educational outcomes?

2. In your opinion, are there benefits and/or challenges related to the use of different assessments across programs? (e.g., Can data from these assessments be aggregated at the State level to look at trends in educational outcomes across programs?)

1. Does your agency (or facilities) continue to follow students after they leave child welfare facilities in order to track long-term educational outcomes? If yes, please describe the key long-term educational outcomes and the process for tracking them.

Probe 

1. Who is responsible for data collection?

2. How far out after they have left child welfare facilities are you able to follow students to track these outcomes? (e.g., 90 days?)

3. Please describe who you coordinate with and any policies or procedures that facilitate tracking long-term outcomes.

3. Are there educational outcomes (short or longer term) that are not currently tracked, but that you would like to? Why are these outcomes of interest to you?

F. Use of ESSA Title I, Part D Funds

1. How are Part D funds used at the agency and facility levels?

2. How does your agency make decisions about how to spend Part D funds?

3. Who is involved in making resource allocation decisions?

4. How is Title I, Part D funding most useful in supporting state, agency, and facility goals and outcomes for youth?

5. What is challenging about how the funding is structured and used?

Probe 

1. Has the agency been able to work around these challenges? If so, how?

6. Has the role or use of Title I, Part D funding changed over time? Please explain.

G. Overall Facilitators, Challenges, and Perceived Benefits

1. In terms of implementing Part D program activities, what has gone well overall? What has facilitated implementation of program activities?

2. What have been the key challenges in implementing Part D program activities overall (in addition to what we have already covered in this interview)? Please describe.

3. In your opinion, what have been some of the key benefits for children and youth involved in the Part D programming?

Probe 

1. What evidence is available to document these benefits?

4. Is there anything else that you would like to add regarding the topics we have talked about?

THANK YOU!

PPSS Task Order 25—Evaluation of Title I, Part D: State Child Welfare Program ND Coordinator 1