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DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

FOR THE COLLECTION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH & ASSESSMENT

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Models of Coordination and Technical Assistance to Achieve Outcomes in Communities

[X] INTERVIEWS

[ ] SMALL DISCUSSION GROUPS

[X] FOCUS GROUPS

[ ] QUESTIONNAIRES

[ ] OTHER

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

1. Intended purpose

The purpose of this exploratory project is to learn more about how the various policy levers available to the federal government (e.g. convening stakeholders, leveraging on-the-ground regional field staff, providing or encouraging funding, conducting or funding research and evaluation, offering technical assistance (TA), etc.) can better enable collaboration among local-level social service providers. It will begin to explore the circumstances under which various policy levers can more easily enable such collaboration, and how one lever in particular – TA – can be more effectively matched with community needs. It will explore these questions through 1) semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in designing, funding, implementing, or participating in initiatives that use multiple, varying policy levers to try to increase local cross-sector collaboration; and 2) focus groups with recipients of one particular type of policy lever, federally-funded TA.

2. Need for the collection

ASPE has previously collected descriptive, secondary information about initiatives, such as Promise Zones or Envision Centers, that used a range of policy levers in order to try to promote local cross-sector collaboration. However, little is known about the relative advantages of different policy levers to achieve such a goal. ASPE has also conducted secondary research on the use of one lever in particular, TA, but little is known about the perspectives of TA recipients about ways to maximize the ability of TA to meet their needs. The purpose of this study is to explore these questions. To do so, the study will use an in-depth qualitative approach to analyze perceptions of those involved in designing, funding, implementing, or participating in initiatives using multiple policy levers and of TA recipients.

3. Planned use of the data

Information gathered through this qualitative data collection will help inform our understanding of how federal agencies and other large institutions (e.g. philanthropies) can utilize available policy levers, including but not limited to TA, to better enable and support collaboration at the local level across social service providers. It may also inform future research on this topic.

4. Date(s) and location(s)

We are seeking approval through this mechanism for data collection by means of semi-structured key informant interviews and focus groups from February through June 2020.

5. Collection procedures

The data collection will be conducted through 1) virtual 60-minute interviews with 17 non-federal key informants involved in initiatives using multiple policy levers, and 2) virtual 90-minute focus groups with a total of up to 30 recipients of federally-funded TA. Semi-structured interviews will also be conducted with about 13 additional respondents in category (1) who are current federal staff – see #14 in Supporting Statement A for more information.

The interviews and focus groups will be conducted by research staff from Mathematica, which has extensive experience conducting both interviews and focus groups with staff from public and nonprofit organizations. Mathematica has a contract with ASPE to conduct and report on this data collection.

6. Number of collections (e.g., focus groups, surveys, sessions)

There will be interviews with 17 individuals involved in initiatives that use policy levers and focus groups with a total of 30 staff members of entities that have received federally funded TA.

7. Description of respondents/participants

Participants will be staff from 1) public and nonprofit organizations that design, fund, implement, or participate in initiatives that use policy levers to facilitate local cross-sector collaboration; and 2) public and nonprofit organizations that have received or tried to use federally-funded TA in the past. We are seeking a purposive sample of participants who can best inform the research aims.

8. Description of how results will be used

Contractor staff will identify the main themes from the interviews and focus groups and provide informal updates to federal project staff on themes as they emerge. The data will help inform ASPE, its federal partners, and its state and philanthropic partners about the relative advantages of various policy levers – including TA – for promoting local cross-sector collaboration. The data may also help identify issues for further study.

9. Description of how results will or will not be disseminated and why or why not

The contractor will update ASPE on the themes that emerge from the interviews and focus groups. Depending on the findings, we may use the data along with other research to help inform briefs that explore the perceived relative advantages of various policy levers and potential strategies for better addressing TA needs. Depending on the themes identified, we expect that this work may inform federal, state, researcher, and philanthropic stakeholders interested in policy levers, including TA, to better enable and promote local cross-sector collaboration.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

We do not plan to provide stipends or incentives to either interview or focus group participants.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Participants in initiatives using policy levers	17	1 hour	17 hours
TA recipients	30	1.5 hours	45 hours
Total*	47		62 hours

* The total of 47 respondents excludes respondents who are current federal employees. Please see supporting statement A for more information on these individuals.

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

The estimate for the average hourly wage of $34.46 is based on the Department of Labor Occupational Employment and Wages (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes119151.htm) estimates for social and community service managers.

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Total
Participants in initiatives using policy levers	17	$34.46	17 hours	$585.82
TA recipients	30	$34.46	45 hours	$1,550.70
Total	47	$34.46	62 hours	$2,136.52

OTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: January 31, 2020

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Amanda Benton, Social Science Analyst

TELEPHONE NUMBER: (202) 690-7290

DEPARTMENT/OFFICE/BUREAU: HHS/ASPE

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