Center for States: Tailored Services Interview

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) STATEMENT OF PUBLIC BURDEN: The purpose of this information collection is to gather feedback on capacity building products and services to better meet the needs of child welfare professionals. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per respondent, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. This is a voluntary collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. If you have any comments on this collection of information, please contact Brian Deakins at the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families by email at Brian.Deakins@acf.hhs.gov.

OMB Control No. 0970-0494

Expiration Date: xx/xx/xx

Tailored Services Interview Question Pool

Overview

Ask permission to tape record the interview: In order to ensure we capture the discussion accurately and completely, I would like to ask for you permission to audio record the session. Only evaluation team members will have access to this recording. If you choose not to have the interview recorded, we will be taking notes but will not include your names in reporting. Will you allow us to record this interview?

The interviewer asks the notetaker to start the recording. Thank you, the recording has started.

Briefly discuss the purpose of the interview: The purpose of our conversation is to gather feedback about your experiences with [INSERT NAME OF PROJECT]. Your contributions to the evaluation effort is extremely valuable and will be used to improve future services. This interview is estimated to last approximately 60 minutes.

OMB Approval Language: This interview has received OMB approval, and requires me to read you the following statement: 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 0970-0494 and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

Convey to each interview participant our privacy policy: (1) the interview is voluntary; (2) you can decline to answer any questions, or you can stop participating in the interview at any time; (3) Data from this interview will be held privately by the evaluation team. The Information from today’s interview will be reported and may be shared with the Children’s Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative’s 3rd party evaluator. When reported this information will be aggregated across all states and your name will not be associated with it. In some instances, however, the information you provide about the success and outcomes of the project might be tied to the project itself in our reporting.

Ask if they have any questions for you before you begin. Ask them to provide their verbal consent to participate in the interview.

Instructions for Interviewer: Choose up to 15 questions to include in up to a 1 hour interview

AREAS OF FOCUS	Question Pool
Quality, Format/Usability, Accessibility	How would you describe the quality of the Center services? Did the service fully meet your agency needs? Did the service seem like a good use of agency resources? (probes: Why or why not?) Were there aspects of the Center processes that made it easier or more difficult to use Center services?
Usefulness, Relevance, Intent to Use, Endorsement/ Secondary Dissemination	How useful (helpful, purposeful) was the service? What about the service made it useful? How relevant (pertinent, focused on area of need) was the service? Why or why not? How could the Center have improved <insert their services; their processes>? What would you change about your State’s participation to make it better or more useful? What would you do again to ensure that the service was helpful? Would you recommend Center for States service delivery to other States? Why or why not? Have you shared information you received or learned through Center services? If so, can you describe how you shared it?
Facilitation Skills, Content Expertise, Connection with State	Were the Center staff involved in the service the “right” people for the work? (probes: Why or why not?; their people skills, content knowledge/expertise, fit with your jurisdiction, other probes as needed) What did they do very well? What could they have done differently to be more effective?
Collaborative Nature of Process, Assessment Summary, Work Plan, Service Planning/Provision	What has been your experience with the following aspects of the Center’s services related to this project? (startup, timing/involvement, collaboration, reflection, direction, communication, working as a team) When you were working with the Center for States for <insert title of service or assessment, planning, etc.>, did you feel the Center valued your participation and perceptions? Did you feel that it was collaborative? (probes: <If yes, what about it felt collaborative? What about it made you feel as if you input was valued?>; <If not, what aspects of it felt as if it wasn’t collaborative or your input wasn’t' valued If no, please provide examples of a lack of collaboration.>) What do you think impacted the effectiveness of the service? Probe for the following as needed: collaboration, partnership, quality of service providers, known State barriers/facilitators, length of service, virtual or in-person aspects, burden/commitment, time spent, etc)
Respect for/understanding of state, development of milestones/ measurable outcomes, facilitating/ impeding factors affecting work plan; Quality/ thoroughness of a/wp process	How did the project team use data to track project progress and make adjustments when necessary? How helpful was the work plan in providing a clear path for undertaking the service? How helpful was Center support in thinking about what you wanted to achieve and how you would know if you did achieve your goals? What about it was helpful or not? What could have been improved?
Understanding/knowledge of Change Management process, use of process in other areas of work	How did the Center help you in thinking about organization change? Have you applied anything you learned about organizational change to other aspects of your work? Did the Center help your state in planning and implementing other organizational change efforts? If so, how? What about the service do you feel helped you the most? If not, what do you think should have been done differently? How did the Center help your jurisdiction prepare for sustaining progress? How is your jurisdiction sustaining earlier progress/capacity? Do you feel that the Center helped you to think about how to do this type of work again in another effort? If so, how? If not, what would have helped you in considering how to do this work again?
Strategies associated with work plan goals	What types of activities/strategies did the Center staff use in working with your jurisdiction on this project? Which of those seemed most or least helpful?
Facilitative factors; impeding factors	Was there anything happening in your State that you think had an impact on the success of Center support? What was it? Do you think it was unique to this project/group or do you think it will impact other efforts your State wants to pursue? What facilitated the success of the Center support for this project, and what impeded progress?
Knowledge/skills/attitudes; understanding of capacity dimensions and sub-dimensions; understanding of change management process; data collection and usage; evaluation; changes in policies, practices, programs, processes	Please describe what impact, if any, the Center services had. In other words, did the Center lead to any changes in practice, policy and/or outcomes? Probe as needed for: changes in each of the targeted capacity dimensions or sub-dimensions (or related dimensions), types of changes such as knowledge increases, changes in staff skills, practice improvements, new policies, new trainings, implementation efforts, ability to generate support for initiatives, any other related issues) Do you think the service increased your agency’s capacity in some way? (probes: If yes, What can you do now that you couldn’t before? If not, what did you expect to see a change in that you didn’t? Why do you think the service was successful? What additional support do you think your State may need to keep this initiative moving forward? What additional support do you think your state may need to sustain the improvements made? Why do you think your agency didn’t increase capacity? What additional support do you think your State may need to achieve your goals? What could the Center have done differently?
Constituency Group Questions	What is the purpose/objectives of this constituency group? Is the Center helping to define/achieve the objectives? How? What types of Center support would help your group be successful? What formats of support have been most helpful for you in facilitating your involvement in the group? (probe for options based upon support provided) What types of technology are most useful? (probe for options) What kinds of technological support do you think would be helpful in the future? What is a level of interaction that you feel is useful and allows you to share/learn with eachother without being overly burdensome? What are the biggest challenges facing you and your colleagues? What kinds of products and services related to <insert topic> do you think folks in States would find most useful? What has been the benefit to you of your participation? What has been the benefit to your agency and colleagues? Have you met new people that you can share with in the group? Do you interact with them outside the group? How often? What facilitated that connection?
Miscellaneous	Were the right stakeholders included in the team working on the [insert the name of the service]? If not, who else should have been part of the team? What kind of innovative supports would you be most interested in? (insert probes for potential options)What has your experience been like with the Center for States, as a whole? Did your State participate in any other Center for States service to help achieve your goals for this project, including the use of products, participating in learning experiences, being part of constituency groups? (for TS projects) If so, what services did you participate in? Did you find them helpful or useful? Did your states access any services – like tools or products, website materials or shared resources on the website or CapSHARE – or download or participate in any online learning experiences, webinars, or peer networking opportunities? Have you used [insert product name]? If so, please describe which ones and how you used them [e.g., share with others, impact policy/practice, training]. Tell us about which of the following Center services you have previously used/participated in? For each one mentioned, ask about usefulness, application, and perceived impact. What has been your most valuable service or product from the Center for States? What makes it so valuable? If this service was not available through the Center, where would you get this service? How would you get support to accomplish your agency’s goals? What are the key needs in the field as a whole that you see coming over the next five years? What are some potential topics of information or areas of support that you would find helpful for inclusion in products or learning experiences that everyone could access? What additional needs do you have? What future directions for this service do you think would be helpful for continuing to move the work forward? What lessons or recommendations do you have for another state beginning to work with the Center? Are there other comments you would like to provide about your experiences with the Center for States?
Background	What is your role at the agency? What was your involvement with Center support? (e.g., participation levels, role on the project, etc)

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