Child Care Interstate Background Check (CC-IBaCs) Environmental Scan

Appendix G: Interview Guide Other State Agencies with Interest in CAN Registry Searches

U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE)

Child Care Interstate Background Checks (CC-IBaCs) Environmental Scan

Interview Guide for Other State Agencies with Interest in CAN Registry Searches

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview today. My name is __________. I work for CNA, a research organization based in Arlington, VA. We are working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care and Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation to find ways to improve the implementation of the interstate background checks on child care workers that are required under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014. For this study, we are interviewing a wide range of key people involved in the background check process. ACF will use the data collected through the interviews to support the development of promising solutions to strengthen nationwide implementation of child care background checks as mandated by the CCDBG Act and provide states and territories with additional technical assistance to facilitate implementation. Please note that the sole purpose of this study is to gather data to inform how ACF can better support state and territory agencies.

Before we get started, there are a few things I should mention. This is a research project, and your participation is voluntary. We expect that the interview will take about 30 minutes to complete. We will summarize your information and use it to produce a final report that will be used for internal planning at the Office of Child Care, but we will not identify or quote any of the specific people interviewed for the report. We aim to summarize findings so that comments cannot be attributed to any specific person.

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 06/30/2021.

Do you have any questions before we start?

1. Our understanding is that you use child abuse and neglect registry data as part of a background check process conducted by your agency. Is that correct? Do you search both in-state and out-of-state CAN registries when needed?

2. What is your role in the background checks conducted for your agency?

3. In requesting out-of-state CAN registry checks, have you experienced challenges related to… [Interviewer: For each challenge identified, ask the respondent to describe the issue and how it affects their ability to conduct out-of-state checks.]

PROBES: Are there challenges related to …

• Identifying the out-of-state agencies that own the data?

• Communicating with the out-of-state agencies that own the data?

• Lack of automation?

• Difficulty with linking automated systems?

• Restrictions on the release of information?

• Payment of fees?

• Verifying the identity of the individual who needs a background check?

• Legislative authority to make out-of-state requests?

• Definitional or reporting differences between states?

• How long it takes to receive responses?

4. Are there other challenges to conducting out-of-state CAN registry checks that we have not yet discussed?

5. Which of the barriers that you’ve identified do you see as the barrier most in need of an immediate solution?

6. Have you considered or undertaken any solutions to address the challenges you’ve experienced when conducting out-of-state CAN registry checks? [Interviewer: Follow up on each challenge mentioned]?

7) What support from the federal government would assist your state in overcoming the challenges you’ve experienced in conducting out-of-state CAN registry checks?

8) Do you use the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE)?

[If no] Skip to question 9.

[If yes] How does the NEICE system work for sharing data across states? Do you obtain CAN registry data from other states through the NEICE system?

9) Do you think NEICE is potentially an avenue for sharing CAN registry data across states? Why or why not?

10) Do you have any lessons-learned that you can share with other agencies that conduct out-of-state child abuse and neglect registry checks?

11) Is there anything else that we haven’t addressed that you would like to mention?

12) Are there any other people in your state from other programs or interested agencies that you think we should interview for this study?

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