PAIVED Partner Organization Interview Protocol - Revised 9.27.18

Partner Organization 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 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 fatherhood program facilitators, directors/administrators or other similar staff, and staff from organizations like yours, who partner with fatherhood programs.

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 organization.

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 Organization Information

1. To begin, we will start off with some background questions. Please tell me about your experience in [SPECIFIC FIELD/TOPIC AREA BASED ON TYPE OF PARTNER/PARTICIPANT BACKGROUND INFO GATHERED DURING RECRUITMENT].

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

2. Tell me more about your specific position and role in the organization.

3. Great. Now let’s talk about [PARTNER ORGANIZATION NAME]. Can you tell me more about the mission of the organization?

1. Who does your organization primarily serve? [Males or females, IPV survivors or perpetrators, Parents]

4. What kinds of activities does your organization do for this (these) population(s)?

   1. [If mixed sex] What do you do uniquely or differently for men/for women, if anything?

   2. [If working with parents] What do you do uniquely or differently for parents, if anything?

5. What language do you use when referring to violence in intimate relationships?

• [Use this language throughout the remaining interview]

Partnership with RF Program

6. Please describe the partnership you have with [RF PROGRAM NAME].

Additional probes [if not already addressed]:

• How did this partnership begin?

• Please tell me about any formal agreement that is in place, if any, for this partnership.

• How long has the partnership been in place?

• How frequently do you communicate with [RF PROGRAM NAME]? Do you have standing meetings?

• What works well about this partnership? Any success stories you would like to share?

• What are some challenges of this partnership, if any?

• Are you currently partnering with any other fatherhood programs? 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] with fathers due to this/these partnership(s)?

Relevance of Addressing IPV with Fathers

7. Describe what you see when it comes to [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] and fathers. What experiences or information helped you to answer this question?

   • [If not already addressed] 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?

8. What other behaviors/experiences/challenges do you think may cause or be related to [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] among fathers?

   • [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.

9. How important or relevant do you personally think it is to work with men and fathers specifically to address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

10. How important or relevant does [PARTNER ORGANIZATION NAME] think it is to work with men and fathers specifically to address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

• Specifically, what level of support is there at the organizational level for addressing [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] with men and fathers?

  1. [If needed] For example, positive organizational culture, leadership buy-in, funder buy-in.

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

• What level of support is there at the organizational level for working with fathers, in general? Please explain.

• What barriers are there, either externally or at the organizational level, to working with fathers specifically to address [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships]?

11. Now thinking about your partnership with [RF PROGRAM NAME], what kinds of things is your organization doing through this partnership, 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.

    • [If needed] For example:

      1. Review RF program activities, plans, curricula, protocols related to violence prevention?

      2. Development of and training on screenings and assessments?

      3. Conduct screenings and assessments?

         1. [If conducting screenings/assessments] how is the information collected in the screenings and assessments used, if at all?

      4. Train RF staff on how [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] impacts fathers and their families

      5. Train RF staff on what to do if [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships] is disclosed by either the perpetrator or the victim at the beginning of the program or at some point during the program?

         1. Safety practices and procedures to protect potential victims?

      6. Delivery of specific curricula/program activities?

         1. [If yes] What curriculum? What types of activities?

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

      7. Cross-agency referrals?

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

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

• How much time do you spend on these activities?

• [If working directly with fathers] About how many fathers do you work with each year through your partnership with [RF PROGRAM NAME]?

12. What kind of things is your program doing in partnership with [RF PROGRAM NAME], if any, to address fathers’ experiences as a survivor or victim 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].
    
    
    

    • [Use same probes as Q11]

13. How are these activities going? [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. What do you think might help address some of these challenges?
         
         
         

    • [If working directly with fathers] How do fathers respond to these activities?

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

14. Going back to some of the other conditions/challenges you mentioned such as [list out examples provided in Q10]. Is your program doing anything to address any of these things?
    
    
    

• [If yes] what are they?

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

Moving Forward

15. What do you think the role is for fatherhood programs, if any, to address fathers’ experiences with [language used to refer to violence in intimate relationships], either as a perpetrator/initiator of violence or a survivor?
    
    

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

16. What would an ideal partnership between your organization and fatherhood programs look like to you?

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

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