PAIVED RF Program Staff Interview Protocol - Revised 9.27.18

Responsible Fatherhood Program Facilitator and Program Director

Interview Guide

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. My name is [NAME], and I am part of a team that is helping the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Office of Family Assistance in the Administration for Children and Families understand whether and how fatherhood programs are addressing violence in intimate relationships with the fathers they serve. We are interested in learning how programs work with fathers who have behaved violently as well as fathers who have been survivors of violence in intimate relationships. As part of this study, we are conducting interviews with facilitators, program directors/administrators or other similar staff, and staff at partner organizations.

As we’re talking today, please keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers to the questions we ask. We are only looking for honest answers and consider you as the expert. Also, please remember that if we come to a question you do not want to answer, let me know, and I’ll move on to the next question. Any information obtained from these interviews and reported in publications will be kept private and will not be identifiable to any one specific individual or program. Also, the information obtained will not be used to evaluate, grade, or judge your specific organization or programs and will not affect your funding status in any way.

We will take notes and record the interview so that we can make sure we do not miss important details. Only the study team will have access to the recordings and notes, and they will be deidentified—meaning any personal information will be removed. If you use any names or identifiable information, we will remove that from the transcripts. We will destroy recordings after we transcribe them. Your participation is voluntary – you can choose not to participate at all, or you can choose to answer some questions and not others. Today’s conversation should take about 90 minutes.

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 the described information collection is 0970-XXXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

Background of Interviewee and General Responsible Fatherhood Program Information

1. To begin, I’d like to start by asking you some questions about you and your role at [RF PROGRAM NAME]. We will start off with some background questions. Please tell me about yourself and your experience working with fathers.

2. Can you briefly tell me what brought you to your current position?

3. [If federally funded] I want to make sure I am calling your federally-funded fatherhood program by the right name. Is [RF PROGRAM NAME] your OFA-funded Responsible Fatherhood program?

4. [If federally funded] Are you currently implementing any other Responsible Fatherhood programs using OFA funding?

• [If yes] What are they?

5. Great. Now let’s talk about the [RF program Name(S)]. Can you describe these program(s) and the key activities of the program(s)?

6. [If not addressed] What is your specific position and role in [RF program name(S)]?

7. I’d like to hear more about the population of fathers you work with as part of the [RF program NAME(S)]. What would you say are some defining characteristics about this population?

• [Additional probe if they are stuck] By defining characteristics, we mean things like racial/ethnic distribution, resident status, marital status, employment and income levels, their families and children, etc. Do you have anything to share about any of these characteristics? [Note to interviewer: the respondent does not need to comment on all of these characteristics. They are examples to get them thinking about what we mean by characteristics. The respondent can comment on what they have the most knowledge about, even if that is just 1-2 characteristics.]

• How did you decide to focus on these populations?

Relevance of IPV in Fatherhood Programs

8. What would you say are the biggest issues or needs that you think the fathers you work with have that you haven’t mentioned already? [Note to interviewer: this is in general; if the respondent seems to be focused on IPV probe for additional issues]

9. What kinds of relationships come to mind when you hear the words “intimate relationships?”

10. What language do you use when referring to violence in these kinds of relationships?

• [Use this language throughout the remaining interview]

11. How important or relevant do you think [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] is for the fathers you work with?

• [If important] Describe what you see or hear about when it comes to [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] and the fathers you work with.

• [If not important] Tell me more about your thoughts on that.

• [If not already addressed] How common/prevalent is [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] among the fathers you work with? What experiences or information helped you to answer this question?

• What do you think the connection is, if any, between [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] and the ability of fathers to engage with their children in positive ways?

• When is it appropriate for a father to be involved with their children and when is it not?

12. What other behaviors/experiences/challenges do you think may cause or are related to [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] among the fathers that you serve?
    
    

    • [If list factors] How do you think they relate to reach other?
      
      

    • [If no factors mentioned, provide some examples to generate discussion] For example, mental health issues, violence, unemployment, substance use, and fathers’ histories of trauma and victimization, early exposure to violence, including witnessing IPV as a child.

IPV Prevention in Fatherhood Programs

13. How, if at all, do you raise the topic of [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] in your program(s)? Specifically, in [RF program Name(S)]?

• [Additional probes] Do you talk to your fathers about how [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] could affect their children? How it influences their current or future relationships with partners or the mother(s) of their children? How it relates to the other behaviors/experiences/challenges we just discussed?

• If this topic is not addressed by [RF PROGRAM NAME(S)]

1. Do you address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] through other programs provided by your organization?

   1. Can you tell me more about those programs and activities?

2. [If no] Are there specific reasons why this topic is not raised?

• How do you address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] if/when fathers bring it up?

Now we would like to hear from you about specific activities your program does to address fathers’ initiation or perpetration of [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] and fathers’ that are victims of [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]. Let’s start with discussing activities related to fathers’ perpetration of violence.

14. What kind of specific activities are you doing as part of [RF program Name(S)], if any, to address fathers’ initiation or perpetration of [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]? [Interviewer note: Allow them to answer before you go on; list what they don’t say] I’m going list a few things that organizations might do and I’m interested to know which, if any, you do. It’s okay if you don’t do any of these things, but for the ones that you do, I’ll ask some follow-up questions.
    
    
    

    • Any specific protocols in place?

      1. [If yes] How were these developed?

      2. [If yes] Can you tell me more about the procedures you have in place to respond to disclosures of IPV?
         
         
         

    • Screenings and assessments?

      1. [If yes] What types of screenings and assessments

      2. [If yes] How is the information collected in the screenings and assessments used, if at all?

         1. [If needed] For example, are fathers not eligible for services depending on their responses to an assessment? Are fathers screened as part of a research study? Are there protocols in place for responding to reports of violence in the screenings/assessments?
            
            
            

    • Staff trainings?
      
      
      

• Specific curricula/program activities?

  • [If yes] What curriculum? What types of activities?

  • [If yes] Where are services provided – at partner organization or onsite at RF program location?

• Cross-agency referrals?

  1. [If yes] What types of organizations? For example, domestic violence programs? Battering intervention programs?

  2. Do you participate in any cross-trainings with these organizations?

  3. Are these cross-trainings or other cross-agency collaborations ongoing?

• Safety practices to protect potential victims?

[For each of the program activities mentioned in the bullets above, please probe for the following details]

• When the activity occurs, how often, and how much time is devoted to specific activities?

• Can you provide any other background on how these activities evolved (for example, were they recommended by a Domestic Violence partner, by the grantee’s Family Program Specialist at OFA [if federally funded], by another partner, etc.)?

• Can you share any written materials and resources used by the program to address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

15. What kind of things are you doing as part of the [RF program Name(S)], if any, to address fathers’ experiences as a survivor or victim of [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?
    
    
    

    • [Use same probes as Q14]

16. [If doing activities] How are these activities going? How do fathers respond to these activities? [Probe for each activity listed]
    
    
    

    • Tell me about any successes in doing these activities.
      
      
      

    • Tell me about some challenges or difficulties in doing these activities, if any.

      1. [If needed] For example, lack of interest/engagement from fathers, sensitive nature of topic/discussions, more training needed, scheduling conflicts, limited curriculum content

      2. What do you think might help address some of these challenges?
         
         
         

    • [If not already addressed] What strategies, if any, have worked to engage fathers in these activities?

17. Going back to some of the other conditions/challenges you mentioned such as [list them out]. Is your organization doing anything to address any of these things?
    
    
    

• [If yes] What are you doing? Are these activities part of [RF program Name(S)]?
  
  
  

• [If no] Any plans or interest to address those things?

18. Are there any partnerships in place between your organization and other agencies addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]? (formal or informal)
    
    
    

    • [If yes] Please describe each partnership.

      1. What type of organizations or agencies do you partner with?

      2. How did this/these partnership(s) begin?

      3. How long has each partnership been in place?

      4. On average, how much time do you spend working with each partner? How frequently do you communicate with the partner(s)?

      5. On average, about how many fathers who participate in your program are served each year by this/these partner organization(s)?

      6. How do you help fathers navigate these organizations/agencies when there is violence?

    • [If yes] What works well about this/these partnership(s)? Any success stories you would like to share?

    • [If yes] How if at all has your program changed in terms of how you think about addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] due to this/these partnership(s)?

    • [If yes] What are some challenges of this/these partnership(s), if any? What are some lessons learned?

    • [If federally funded] [If yes] Are these partnerships formally supported with funding from your OFA Responsible Fatherhood grant? Are these partnerships [also] supported by non-OFA funds?

• [If no] Any plans to create partnerships?

Organizational Support and Culture for Addressing and Preventing IPV

19. To what degree do you see assessing for and addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] as part of the job or priorities of an organization that works with fathers?

[If don’t feel like they should be doing anything] Please tell me more about that.

20. What level of support has your organization received for services related to addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

[If more guidance is needed] For example, from leadership, facilitators, partners, funders.

[If strong leadership is discussed relative to supporting IPV work]: If leadership changed, would this support go away or be harder to maintain?

Moving Forward

21. [Summarize barriers brought up so far]. Are there other barriers you’d like to discuss that your organization faces around addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

22. In an ideal world, what other kinds of support/services/activities do you think programs like yours should be doing to address fathers’ experiences with [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships], either as an initiator of violence or a survivor?
    
    
    

    • [If don’t feel like they should be doing anything] Please tell me more about that.

    • [If there are things they should be doing] Tell me about any barriers you might foresee in providing [OTHER SERVICES MENTIONED]?

Thank you for your time and attention during this interview. You have provided valuable information.

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