Appendices J-L: Implementation Study - In-person

Appendix J. Outreach Email Staff Interviews and Focus Groups – Staff Connected to via Program/Agency

OUTREACH EMAIL

For staff connected to via program/agency

Dear [NAME],

My name is [insert name] and I am a [insert position] at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that conducts research on social policy and practice with the goal of expanding opportunities for all people. Along with the University of Chicago, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and Child Trends, we are part of a research team working with the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to conduct an evaluation of the LifeSet Program. The study will provide rich information about how the LifeSet program operates and helps young adults involved in the child welfare system as they transition out of foster care into adulthood. As part of this study, we are aiming to talk with [LifeSet service providers to understand how the program operates]/[DCF staff to understand transition aged youth services – other staff as applicable – fill in based on role of person we are contacting]. We were connected to you via [insert name and agency] as someone we might be able to interview for our study due to your role as [insert role].

We would like to set up a time to talk with you in the next couple of weeks either by Zoom, over the phone, or in person. We expect the interview to last no longer than an hour. Participation is voluntary, and responses will be kept private (in that we will not attribute responses to a specific name). If it is okay with you, we would also like to record the interview; otherwise, we will just take notes. Please participate in the discussion from a private location to maintain your privacy and the privacy of your answers. If there is another person who you think we should speak with instead, we would appreciate it if you would give us their name and contact information.

Please let me know if you are interested or if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

[Researcher Name and contact info]

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for the described information collection is XXXX-XXXX (Exp Date: XX/XX/XXXX). 

Appendix K. Outreach Email Staff Interviews and Focus Groups – Staff Not Connected to via Program/Agency

OUTREACH EMAIL

For staff not connected to via program/agency

Dear [NAME],

My name is [insert name] and I am a [insert position] at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that conducts research on social policy and practice with the goal of expanding opportunities for all people. Along with the University of Chicago, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and Child Trends, we are part of a research team working with the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to conduct an evaluation of the LifeSet Program. The study will provide rich information about how the LifeSet program operates and helps young adults involved in the child welfare system as they transition out of foster care into adulthood. As part of this study, we are aiming to talk with [LifeSet service providers to understand how the program operates]/[DCF staff to understand transition aged youth services – other staff as applicable – fill in based on role of person we are contacting].

We would like to set up a time to talk with you in the next couple of weeks either by Zoom, over the phone, or in person. We expect the interview to last no longer than an hour. Participation is voluntary, and responses will be kept private (in that we will not attribute responses to a specific name). If it is okay with you, we would also like to record the interview; otherwise, we will just take notes. Please participate in the discussion from a private location to maintain your privacy and the privacy of your answers. If there is another person who you think we should speak with instead, we would appreciate it if you would give us their name and contact information.

Please let me know if you are interested or if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

[Researcher Name and contact info]

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for the described information collection is XXXX-XXXX (Exp Date: XX/XX/XXXX). 

Appendix L. Implementation Study Informed Consent for Staff

LIFESET, DCF, AND OTHER AGENCY STAFF ORAL INFORMED CONSENT FORM

Before we begin, I want to tell you a few things about this study and your participation in it. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. We will also email you a copy of this information.

A team of researchers from the Urban Institute, a non-profit research organization in Washington, DC, and the University of Chicago is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to evaluate the LifeSet program in New Jersey. This research project is funded by ACF.

Thank you for agreeing to meet today. We would like to invite you to participate in a/an [focus group/interview] that will last about 60/90 minutes. I’m going to start the [interview/focus group] by providing an overview of the study. I will then review our informed consent procedures:

• The study focuses on how the LifeSet works for young adults as they leave foster care. We have questions about the program, the referral process, challenges in serving young people transitioning out of foster care, the community context, and young adult outcomes.

• Your participation in this [focus group/interview] is voluntary. You can choose not to answer any question or not participate in the [focus group/ interview] at all. There will be no consequences to you if you choose not to participate.

• We will use what we learn today and from interviews and discussion groups to contribute to public reports describing the outcomes of our evaluation and people’s experiences receiving services. Our reports will describe people’s experiences in general and will not identify you personally. In addition to public reports, findings may also be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at webinars and conferences. We will not quote you by name in project case studies or reports. If for any reason we wanted to quote you in a publication, we would do so in a way that hides or conceals your identity. The information we learn from the interviews will be combined and quantified based on patterns across sites and will be made available for other researchers to use; these files will not include any names or quote anyone personally and will only be available under password protected secure access.

• We will keep the information you provide private and will not share it with anyone except for research staff working on the study. This includes anything that can identify you such as your full name, address, or telephone number. When we write our report and discuss our findings, information from all the people we speak with is combined and presented so that no one person can be identified. Everyone who works on this study has signed a document stating we will not reveal any of your personal information and can be severely penalized if we do. The only exception is if you tell us about your intention to harm yourself or someone else. We may be required by law to report this kind of information.

• We do not intend to identify you with any particular statement, but there is the potential due to your role that your comments could be associated with you or your organization.

• We also have a Certificate of Confidentiality from the government to protect your privacy. This strictly limits when we can share identifiable information collected through our research. For example, we will not give a court information about you. However, you should know that the Certificate does not stop reporting that federal, state, or local laws require, for example reporting of child abuse and threats to harm yourself or others.

• [FOR FOCUS GROUPS ONLY] We ask that you do not repeat anything heard in this discussion outside the group. While the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago promise to respect your privacy, we must note that your fellow participants may not. We advise you to be moderate in your responses due to the fact that not all participants might follow these guidelines.

• While you will not receive any direct benefits for participating in the study, you will be contributing to the growing evidence base for child welfare interventions. There is a potential for a reputational risk as the study has the potential to cast their agency or organization in an unflattering light depending on what is learned during data collection.

• The risks associated with participating in this study are minimal. Although any reports or other publications will not identify you by name, they may include the name of your [program/agency]. Because of your position, we cannot promise that your participation in this research will be kept private.

• If you agree, we will also record this [interview/focus group] today so that we make sure that we accurately capture the details of everything you tell us. The recording will be used only by the research team and kept secure on a secure computer drive. Once the project is complete, all recordings will be destroyed. During the discussion, we can also stop the recording if you want to make a particular off-the-record comment. It is okay if you do not wish to be recorded, we will just take notes.

• Everyone working on the research team has signed a confidentiality pledge agreeing to these terms.

DO YOU AGREE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY?

DO WE HAVE YOUR PERMISSION TO USE THE RECORDER?

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

This information is being collected to inform the evaluation of LifeSet conducted by a research team at the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago. This information will be used to inform the US Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (HHS ACF) to improve the evidence base for programs relevant to the child welfare population.

If you have questions or concerns about the study, please contact:

Michael Pergamit Mark Courtney

Urban Institute Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

202-261-5276 773.702.1219

mpergamit@urban.org markc@uchicago.edu

If you agree to participate in this study and feel that your rights have been violated or that you have

not been treated fairly, contact:

The Institutional Review Board Administrator

Everett Madden

Urban Institute

500 L’Enfant Plaza SW

Washington, DC 20004

202-261-5632

emadden@urban.org

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for the described information collection is XXXX-XXXX (Exp Date: XX/XX/XXXX).