State and Local Human Services Customer Feedback

Appendix D

Draft State and Local Human Services Commissioner Listening Session

Listening Session Protocol

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). We promote the economic and social well-being of children, families, individuals and communities with leadership and resources for the compassionate, effective delivery of human services. ACF administers more than 60 programs with a budget of more than $53 billion, making it the second-largest agency in HHS. ACF is comprised of 19 offices including the Office of Regional Operations, which represents 10 regional offices around the country. ACF is very interested in using feedback from state human services agency leadership to help inform and improve the provision of services for children and families served by our programs.

This Listening Session is intended for state and local human services commissioners (a.k.a. Secretary, Chief Executive Officer, or Director). Your participation in this Listening Session is completely voluntary and all answers will be used for internal planning purposes and to further the proper performance of the functions of the agency. Your responses will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. This Listening Session should take approximately 120 minutes to complete.

During this Listening session, we will ask you questions about your priorities and challenges, and recommendations for ACF.

NOTE: 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. The OMB number for this information collection is 0970-0356 and the expiration date is 03/31/2018.

1. We want to learn more about what are you are prioritizing for the coming year. Please share your top 3 priorities and why you have decided to focus on them.

2. What are the top 3 challenges that get in your way of effectively delivering services for children and families?

3. What are some of the federal regulations and policy guidance that present the greatest challenge for you as you try to improve outcomes for children and families? Please provide specific examples of the challenges.

4. Which other federal agencies should ACF prioritize for interagency partnerships in the next twelve months? RECOM

5. What potential role(s) for ACF would most help you achieve your agency priorities in the coming year?

6. What topics would you like to receive more technical assistance from ACF?

7. What tools or resources would you find helpful from ACF?

8. Do you have other suggestions for how ACF can foster more efficient and effective services and reduce barriers for state and local human services agencies?

9. Did you seek assistance from the ACF Central or Regional Office in the last year? How was that experience?

10. Do you have other recommendations to help ACF better respond to the needs of state and local human services agencies?

Respondent Background

In order to target our follow-up activities, please share some background about you and your agency.

What is your title?

• State or County CEO (Commissioner, Secretary, Executive Director, Director)

• State or County Deputy Director, Chief of Staff or direct report to state CEO

• State or County Senior Director or Program Administrator

• Other (specify______)

(16) My agency’s total annual budget is:

• Less than $500 million

• $500 million to $1 billion

• $1 billion to $5 billion

• $5 billion to $10 billion

• $10 billion or over

(17) Please estimate how much of your program budget is allocated to contracts with private non-governmental providers or community agencies:

• 0-25%

• 26-50%

• 51-75%

• 75% or more

(18) How many FTEs does your agency employ?

• 1-100

• 101-500

• 501-1000

• 1001-5000

• 5001+

(19) What state do you currently work in? __________

(20) What programs does your agency oversee? (select all that apply)

• Public assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP)

• Workforce development and employment training

• Child welfare, foster care, child protective services, child abuse prevention

• Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Subsidy and child care

• Head Start, Early Head Start or other early childhood programs

• Home visiting

• Public health, maternal, and child health

• Mental health

• Substance abuse

• Child support

• Domestic violence

• Refugee assistance

• Housing and homelessness

• Developmental disabilities

• Aging

• Adult and Juvenile justice

• Community Services Block Grant programming

• Homeless services

• Other (specify)