Form 1 National Study Web-Based Survey

Attachment 2

OMB Control No.: xxxx-xxxx

Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

TITLE IV-E WAIVER DEMONSTRATIONS NATIONAL STUDY WEB SURVEY

Introduction: Thank you for participating in this survey. As you may know, James Bell Associates has been contracted by the Children’s Bureau to conduct a study of the jurisdictions implementing waiver demonstrations. The purpose of the study is to understand the collective impact on outcomes, practice, system operations, and fiscal actions by synthesizing information across the waiver jurisdictions. The purpose of this survey is to elicit your feedback on practice, system operations, and fiscal actions in your title IV-E waiver jurisdiction. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Please respond to this survey by Friday, February 19, 2016.

THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. 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.

Section A. Respondent’s Characteristics

Section A gathers basic information about you and your area of activities in relation to the waiver demonstration.

A1.  With which title IV-E waiver jurisdiction are you affiliated? Please select all that apply. [LIST ALL 25]

• Arizona

• Illinois-IB3

• Wisconsin

A2. What is your primary organization affiliation?

• Jurisdiction (State, DC, PGST) Child Welfare Agency/Department

• Public County/Regional Child Welfare Agency/Department

• Evaluation Firm

• University

• Non-Public Child Welfare Agency/Department

• Other, please specify ____________________

A3.  Which of the following describes the area of activities for your current position? Please rank order up to three areas of activities.

		Evaluation
		Direct Practice
		Supervising/Overseeing Direct Practice
		Developing and Implementing Programs
		Developing and Implementing Policy
		Fiscal/Accounting
		Organization Oversight and Management
		Other, please specify ____________________

Section B. Fiscal Flexibility and Practice- and Systems-Level Changes

Section B asks about practice- and systems-level change as they relate to the fiscal flexibility provided through the title IV-E waiver demonstration. Practice-level change refers to change at the level of implementation, where case workers and other child welfare staff are interacting with children and families. Systems-level change refers to change that takes place at the organizational level, both internal to the organization and in the organization’s relationship with its external environment.

B1.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The child welfare agency has experienced practice-level changes as a result of fiscal flexibility provided through the title IV-E waiver demonstration.”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

[IF STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE, or DON’T KNOW, skip to B4]

B2.  How much practice-level change do you think the child welfare agency has experienced as a result of fiscal flexibility provided through the title IV-E waiver demonstration?

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

B3.  Please provide up to three brief examples of how case workers and other child welfare staff interact differently with children and families as a result of the fiscal flexibility provided by the waiver:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

B4.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The child welfare agency has experienced systems-level changes as a result of fiscal flexibility provided through the title IV-E waiver demonstration.”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

[IF STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE, or DON’T KNOW, skip to C1.]

B5.  How much systems-level change do you think the child welfare agency has experienced as a result of fiscal flexibility provided through the title IV-E waiver demonstration?

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

B6.  Please provide up to three brief examples of systems-level changes in the child welfare agency that have occurred as a result of fiscal flexibility:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

Section C. Factors Influencing the Jurisdiction’s Ability to Use Title IV-E Funding Flexibly

Section C asks about the factors that have had an influence on the child welfare agency’s ability to use their title IV-E funding in a flexible manner.

C1.  How much do you think that internal organizational factors (e.g., leadership) enhanced the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly?

• Not at all

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

[IF NOT AT ALL, skip to C3]

C2.  Please provide up to three brief examples of internal organizational factors that enhanced the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

C3.  How much do you think that factors external to the organization (e.g., the organization’s relationship with the court system) enhanced the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly?

• Not at all

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

[IF NOT AT ALL, skip to C5]

C4.  Please provide up to three brief examples of factors external to the organization that enhanced the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

C5.  How much do you think that internal organizational factors (e.g., leadership) inhibited the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly?

• Not at all

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

[IF NOT AT ALL, skip to C7]

C6.  Please provide up to three brief examples of internal organizational factors that inhibited the welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

C7.  How much do you think that factors external to the organization (e.g., the organization’s relationship with the court system) inhibited the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly?

• Not at all

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

[IF NOT AT ALL, skip to D1]

C8.  Please provide up to three brief examples of factors external to the organization that inhibited the child welfare agency’s ability to use title IV-E funding flexibly:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _____________________________________________________________________

Section D. Waiver Demonstration and Policies That Promote the Use of Fiscal Flexibility

Section D asks about policies that may have been developed and implemented by the child welfare agency to support their efforts to use title IV-E funds in a flexible manner.

D1.  Have policies been developed and implemented by the child welfare agency through the waiver demonstration that enhances the ability of the agency to use funding flexibly?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

[IF DON’T KNOW or NO skip to E1]

D2. How would you rate the capacity of the policy(ies) to enhance the ability of the child welfare agency to use funding flexibly?

• Very high

• High

• Average

• Low

• Very low

Section E. Practice, Program, and Policy Decision-Making in a Capped Allocation Environment

Section E asks about operating in a capped allocation environment and the impact that has had (or not) on the child welfare agency. A capped allocation environment is one in which a distribution of monies is limited to a predetermined amount. In the case of waiver jurisdictions, the capped allocation is based on the amount that the jurisdiction would have received in absence of the waiver.

E1.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Operating in a capped allocation environment has had an influence on decision-making by child welfare workers when working with children and families involved with the waiver demonstration.”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

[IF STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE, or DON’T KNOW skip to E4]

E2.  How much influence, do you think, has operating in a capped allocation environment had on decision-making by child welfare workers when working with children and families involved with the waiver demonstration?

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

E3. Please provide up to three brief examples of how operating in a capped allocation environment has had an influence on decision-making by child welfare workers when working with children and families involved with the demonstration project:

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

E4.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Operating in a capped allocation environment has had an influence on decision-making at the program-level (e.g., how programmatic resources are distributed).”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

[IF STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE, or DON’T KNOW skip to E7]

E5.  How much influence, do you think, has operating in a capped allocation environment had on decision-making at the program-level (e.g., how programmatic resources programmatic resources are distributed)?

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

E6. Please provide up to three brief examples of how operating in a capped allocation environment has had an influence on decision-making at the program-level (e.g., how programmatic resources are distributed):

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

E7.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Operating in a capped allocation environment had an influence on decision-making at the policy-level (e.g., contracting with service providers, union relations, organization mission and direction).”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

[IF STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE, or DON’T KNOW skip to F1]

E8.  How much influence, do you think, has operating in a capped allocation environment had on decision-making at the policy-level (e.g., contracting with service providers, union relations, organization mission and direction)?

• Very little

• A little

• Some

• A lot

• Quite a bit

E9. Please provide up to three brief examples of how operating in a capped allocation environment has had an influence on decision-making at the policy-level (e.g., contracting with service providers, union relations, organization mission and direction):

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

Section F: Data Systems Awareness, Use, and Improvements

Section F asks about the impact the waiver demonstration has had on the awareness and use of data and the development and improvement of data systems.

F1.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The waiver demonstration has led to an increase in the awareness of data.”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

F2.  Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The waiver demonstration has led to an increase in the use of data.”

• Strongly disagree

• Disagree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Agree

• Strongly agree

• Don’t know

F3. Has the waiver demonstration led to an increase in the use of data for continuous quality improvement (CQI)?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

[IF DON’T KNOW or NO skip to F5]

F4. Please provide up to three brief examples of how data usage has changed since implementation of the waiver demonstration.

Example 1: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _______________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _______________________________________________________________________

F5.  Has the waiver demonstration led to enhancements or improvements in SACWIS or a comparable child welfare information system?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

• F6.  Has the waiver demonstration led to enhancements or improvements in other child welfare information systems (e.g. not SACWIS or a comparable child welfare information system)?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

F7.  Has the waiver demonstration led to the development and use of new data systems?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

Thank you for your time. We appreciate your input!

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