SSB - Fathers and Continuous Learning in CW Generic

Fathers and Continous Learning in Child Welfare Project

OMB Information Collection Request

0970-0356

Supporting Statement

Part B

February 2018

Submitted By:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4^th Floor, Mary E. Switzer Building

330 C Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20201

Project Officers:

Anna Solmeyer, Ph.D.

CONTENTS

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 1

B2. Procedures for Collection of Information 1

B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse 2

Expected Response Rates 2

Dealing with Nonresponse 2

Maximizing Response Rates 2

B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken 2

B5. Individual Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data 2

appendices

Appendix A: FCL Semistructured Protocol for Initial Agency Phone Meeting

Appendix B: FCL Semistructured Protocol for Teleconference or Agency Visit

attachments

Attachment A: FCL Phone Meeting Email Template

Attachment B: FCL Project Description

Attachment C: FCL Topics for Initial Agency Phone Meeting

Attachment D: FCL Agenda for Agency Staff Meeting

B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project seeks to gather information from child welfare agencies. The universe of programs includes local and state child welfare agencies in the United States. To identify the sample of up to 10 candidate agencies for this data collection, the study team will work with the federal partners and members of the project’s experts and stakeholders group already working with the study team familiar with child welfare agencies. Based on this information, the study team will create a list of up to 10 agencies that are of interest to FCL. Selection criteria include agencies’ interest in and capacity to implement father and paternal relative engagement strategies and capacity to implement a continuous learning effort. The study team will contact up to 10 agencies for an initial telephone call, with up to 3 staff per agency participating in the call. With a select group of agencies (up to 7, with up to 5 staff per agency participating), the study team will follow up the initial phone call with a request for further discussion.

The purpose of the current information collection request is to understand the range of approaches used to engage fathers and paternal relatives, and explore the field’s interest in the FCL project. There is minimal burden involved with this collection. For this reason, we expect a high response rate (nearly 100 percent participation) among those agency and partner staff who are contacted for further exploration.

B2. Procedures for Collection of Information

Site liaison teams composed of at least one senior member and one junior member from the study team will make the telephone and in-person meeting contacts. These staff members are experienced in the process of gathering information relevant for designing demonstration projects such as FCL. In addition, all site liaisons will be trained to ensure that agencies are engaged in a consistent manner.

The remainder of this section describes the study team’s procedures for contacting child welfare agencies and partner agencies.

The study team will send up to 10 agency directors a request for a one-hour telephone call via email (see FCL Phone Meeting Email Template; Attachment A). The email will be addressed to agency directors, though they may delegate contact to other staff in their agencies. It will introduce the study and its goals, the team conducting the study on the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation’s (OPRE)’s behalf, and offer suggested times for a phone meeting. An attachment to the email will contain the project description (see FCL Project Description; Attachment B) and a list of topics for discussion during the phone call (see FCL Topics for Initial Phone Meeting; Attachment C). The phone meeting is voluntary. The site liaisons will lead the telephone meeting using a semistructured protocol (see FCL Semistructured Protocol for Initial Agency Phone Meeting; Appendix A). The liaisons will answer any questions about the study and ask for select programmatic information, such as their experience engaging fathers and paternal relatives, availability of supports for fathers, and experience using data for program improvement. The protocol is designed to collect the minimum information necessary to enable the study team to understand the variation of strategies used to engage fathers and paternal relatives in the field, the range of perspectives on the FCL study, and whether particular study design options will be feasible given the varied structure of child welfare agencies.

With a select group of programs (up to 7), the site liaisons will follow up the initial phone call with a request for further discussion. An agenda will guide the discussions (see FCL Agenda for Agency Staff Meeting; Attachment D). Using a semistructured protocol (see FCL Semistructured Protocol for Teleconference or Agency Visit; Appendix B), the study team will seek to gain a better understanding of the agency’s services, its partners if any, its case flow, and feedback about potential study design. In most cases, the follow-up will involve an in-person visit to the site. This mode of data collection was selected to minimize the burden on respondents. Because responses can vary, the study team chose a flexible, semistructured interview so that site liaisons can tailor the conversation to the specific child welfare agency and minimize interview length. In addition, this mode prevents agencies from having to write lengthy responses and the need for follow-up to clarify written responses.

B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

Expected Response Rates

Because there is minimal burden involved with the initial phone call, the study team expects nearly 100 percent participation. The purpose of this study is to learn about child welfare agencies’ services and operations in the field, and we expect that most agency directors will be eager to share this information with the study team. The programs visited will be based, in part, on their willingness to have an additional conversation. For this reason, we expect high response rates for the visits as well.

Dealing with Nonresponse

We expect little to no nonresponse. If we encounter no response to the initial email request for a meeting, we will resend the message up to two times and attempt to call the agency director. If there is no response to these follow-ups, the study team will no longer pursue a response from the agency.

Maximizing Response Rates

The study team will accommodate respondents’ schedules. The study team can be flexible about the meeting dates and times. The agency will be contacted by its assigned site liaisons. The senior site liaisons have significant experience working closely with social service programs and their stakeholders on previous evaluations, such as the Parents and Children Together evaluation (0970-0403), the Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services project (0970-0481), the Personal Responsibility Education Program multi-component evaluation (0970-0398), and Building Capacity to Evaluate Interventions for Youth/Young Adults with Child Welfare Involvement at Risk of Homelessness (0970-0445). They have a high level of success in engaging programs in preliminary discussions such as these.

B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

The study team will not pre-test the data collection instruments. Previous large-scale evaluations have successfully used similar instruments during information gathering processes.

B5. Individual Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

Mathematica Policy Research is conducting this project under contract number HHSP233201500035I/HHSP23337025T. Mathematica developed the plans for this data collection. Leaders of the study team from OPRE and from Mathematica are listed below.

• Anna Solmeyer, Administration for Children and Families, OPRE, Federal Project Office

• Matthew Stagner, Mathematica Policy Research, Project Director

• Cleopatra Y. Jacobs Johnson, Mathematica Policy Research, OMB Task Lead

• Reginald Covington, Mathematica Policy Research, Senior Site Liaison

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