Instrument 3- Site Visit 1 Interview Guide for Administrators

Instrument 3C: Site Visit 1 Interview Guide for Administrators: LifeSet Developer Administrators

Instructions

Thank you for joining us today. We would like to invite you to participate in an interview that will last about 60 minutes. We are conducting an evaluation of LifeSet, and today we’d like to learn more about how LifeSet was implemented in New Jersey and your role in the process. Specifically, we will talk about your role and responsibilities, the selection and start up of LifeSet, the program’s staffing requirements, among other topics. We will use this information to better understand how the LifeSet program is implemented in New Jersey and the context in which it operates.

Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You can choose not to answer any question or not participate in the interview at all. There will be no consequences to you if you choose not to participate. We will keep the information you provide private and will not share it with anyone except for research staff working on the study. Additionally, federal law states that 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 data collection is 0970-0XXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

Background and Role

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I’d like to start by learning a little bit about you.

Current position and professional experience & Main responsibilities and role within LifeSet program

1. What is your current position and how long have you been in it?

2. What are your main responsibilities?

3. [If held current position since before March 2020] Are these the same responsibilities you had pre-COVID? If not how did your responsibilities change?

4. How long have you worked at Youth Villages?

5. What other positions have you held at Youth Villages?

6. What role do you play as part of the LifeSet program?

7. Have you worked with former foster youth or other vulnerable youth populations before working for Youth Villages? If so, in what capacity?

8. Have you held other positions – client facing or management – in social services before? If so, what were they?

9. Is there a degree/credential or experience requirement for your position? What is it?

Program Selection and Start Up

Now, I’d like to learn a bit about how New Jersey was selected to implement LifeSet and what the selection and start up process was like.

Description of the state selection process

10. Please describe how New Jersey was selected to implement LifeSet?

    1. Probe on: if selection was determined by needs of the population, structure of the CW agency, policy context around youth aging out of care

    2. Is this the same process you usually use to select new LifeSet sites? If not, how did it differ?

11. We know that in New Jersey LifeSet is being implemented by local provider agencies rather than by Youth Villages. Can you describe why and how that decision was made?

    1. How common is this in other LifeSet sites?

    2. Did New Jersey DCF play a role in making this decision? If so, can you describe how they were involved?

Description of the providing agency selection process

12. Our understanding is that each providing agency serves a specific geographic area. In deciding where to implement LifeSet in New Jersey which was chosen first, the geographic locations or the providers? [Note: interviewer may switch the order in which the next two items are asked based on the response.]

    1. Can you describe how the providing agencies were selected?

       1. Who was involved in selecting the providing agencies?

       2. Did you have a specific set of criteria?

       3. Did the providing agencies have to formally apply in order to provide LifeSet (i.e. response to a request for proposal, letter of interest, or apply in some other way)?

       4. Who made the final decision about which providing agencies would be selected: Youth Villages or NJDCF?

       5. In what way are the selected providing agencies suited to serve the specific needs and populations in New Jersey?

    2. Can you describe the process of picking locations for the program?

       1. Were there specific aspects of the population that you were looking to serve? Did you take into account the other available services in the area? The demand in the area? The needs of the youth in the area?

Description of how LifeSet was rolled out to providers

13. Who is part of the team in charge of implementing LifeSet in New Jersey?

    1. Probe on team members from DCF, other agencies, YV, LifeSet providing agencies

    2. Are team members mostly located at the central office, or are they from around the state?

14. Was a formal plan created for the implementation? If so, can you please describe the plan?

15. Did the implementation happen as planned? If not, what changes were made or what was done differently than planned?

16. Can you describe how Youth Villages coordinated with DCF to implement LifeSet?

    1. Was this process any different than other states? If so, how?

    2. What made coordination easier?

    3. What made coordination more difficult?

17. How, if at all, are you continuing to check in on the rollout of LifeSet?

    1. How will that change as the program continues?

18. Thinking about the implementation overall, what went well? What could have been better?

Staff Requirements and Responsibilities

Next, I’d like to learn a little bit about any required trainings and professional development provided to staff of the providing agencies.

Required training and professional development

19. Can you describe your training process for agencies implementing LifeSet?

    1. How long does it take?

    2. What costs do the providing agencies incur for training?

    3. What does it entail?

    4. Does YV provide a specific set of materials?

    5. Does YV train both frontline staff and administrative staff of providing agencies?

    6. If so, how do these trainings differ?

    7. Is there a certification one needs to achieve?

    8. Can an agency or an individual be deemed not ready to provide LifeSet services? Please explain.

20. After the initial training, does YV continue to provide training to or maintain contact with provider agencies?

    1. Probe on how often, what it consists of

    2. Is this uniform across all agencies? Or does it vary based on the specific agency?

21. Has COVID changed any of the training or ongoing support processes? If so, please describe.

Closing Questions

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I have a couple closing questions.

22. Is there anything that I did not ask about that you think I should know about LifeSet or your experience?

23. Do you have any final questions for me about the study, or about the research team?

The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to evaluate the programs and services provided to young adults who are currently or were previously in foster care. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. 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 and expiration date for this collection are OMB #: 0970-XXXX, Exp: XX/XX/XXXX. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Michael Pergamit at mpergamit@urban.org.