R3-Impact Mentors Topic Guide
Introduction. We are from the research firm [Abt Associates/Child Trends] and we are conducting the [STUDY NAME] evaluation. The study is overseen by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau, in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the evaluation, we are conducting an implementation study to learn how counties implementing [PMP or START] are approaching their work.
As part of this study, we are talking with mentors to learn more about how [PMP/START] is being delivered in your community. During our conversation, we will ask questions to understand more about your community, your agency / organization, and how [PMP/START] is being implemented in your community, including partners involved in implementing the program, factors influencing implementation of [PMP/START], and your thoughts about how well the program is working.
Before beginning our discussion, we want to thank you for agreeing to talk with us today. We know you are busy and we appreciate the valuable time you are spending with us today. The interview will take about 90 minutes. Your participation is voluntary, and there are no penalties for choosing not to take part in the interview. You can refuse to answer any questions or stop the interview at any time. Our aim is to learn from your insights and experience. There are no right or wrong answers. Your answers will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. The information you provide will not be shared with other staff at your agency or organization. Your name will not be listed in any published reports, and comments will not be attributed to you. Instead, your answers will be combined with answers provided by other people in your same role that we interview across the country for this study. However, because of the relatively small number of agencies/organizations participating in the study, there is a possibility that a response could be correctly attributed to you. Your data will only be used for research purposes. The legal authority for this project is 42 U.S.C. § 1310a and Public Law 115-271. For System of Records Notice (SORN) information, please see the SORN number 09-80-0361, “OPRE Research and Evaluation Project Records.
We would like to record this discussion with a digital recorder so we can listen to it later when we write up our notes to make sure we captured everything accurately. No one besides our research team and the transcription vendor will listen to the recording. If you want to say anything that you don’t want recorded, please let us know and we will be glad to pause the recorder. Do you have any objections to being part of this interview or to us recording our discussion?
This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to understand programs that provide peer mentoring for parents involved in the child welfare system. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 90 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 #: XXXX, Exp: XXXX. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Kimberly Francis (Abt Associates); kimberly_francis@abtassoc.com.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
Respondent Information
Name, title, organization/affiliation, length of involvement with the organization and with the program
Overall role/job responsibilities
Description of role
Understanding of responsibilities
Program Structure (CFIR Domain: Individuals)
Mentor motivation and experience
Reasons for becoming a mentor
Lived experience that qualifies them for mentor role
When child welfare case closed
Length of time in recovery
How mentor learned of position
Process for applying for mentor position
Barriers experienced
Support and guidance received
Mentor support and supervision
Supervision schedule (group and one-on-one meetings)
Perceptions of process, timing and content of mentor onboarding
Training on intervention
Training on organizational policies and culture
Training on strengths-based, parent centered approach
Training/support around retraumatization, boundaries and maintaining recovery first;
Extent to which mentor feels prepared and supported in working with parents with different experiences than their own (e.g., severe mental health, incarceration history, language/cultural background, drug of choice, sexual abuse maltreatment charges);
Training on disproportionality in the child welfare system and the root causes
Knowledge of culturally specific services in the community
Barriers to process/improvements needed
Satisfaction with supervision received
Additional needs or goals not addressed by supervision
Caseload size, including challenges associated with maintaining appropriate caseload sizes / numbers of “active” parents
Access to opportunities for advocacy, additional training, and credentialing (e.g., Peer Support Specialists, Certified Recovery Mentor, Peer Wellness Specialist)
Satisfaction with pay and supervision
Program Services (CFIR Domain: Innovation, Process of Implementation)
Parent outreach
Process and timeline for first successful outreach to parent
Frequency and format of ongoing parent outreach
Approaches for engaging unresponsive parents
Perspective on benefits and challenges of different communication formats (in person/Zoom/phone/text)
First meeting between parent and mentor
Typical process, timeline, and format
Communication with caseworker prior to first meeting
Perspective on ideal timing of first meeting
Facilitators of timely first meeting
Barriers to timely first meeting
Development of individualized plan for parents (including use of Motivational Interviewing)
Role of parent in developing the plan
Incorporation / consideration of the family’s in-home safety plan
Process for documentation
Connection to treatment and recovery services
Coordination with treatment team
Parent role in choosing treatment option or recovery path
Connection to recovery supports (group and individual supports such as such as developing recovery rituals, ensuring access to any relevant medications and continuing care for SUD and physical and mental health needs).
Challenges in connecting parents to appropriate treatment and recovery services
Availability of culturally specific treatment and recovery services
Availability of treatment and recovery services appropriate for CW-involved parents
Connection to other social services
Most common service needs
Challenges meeting most common service needs
Coordination with service providers, including concrete supports, workshops or courses (e.g., budgeting / grocery shopping, parenting classes), transportation, etc.
Connection to child welfare system
Coordination with caseworker
Attending family planning meetings with child welfare or other service system meetings
Opportunities to educate and share personal experience within the child welfare system
Direct support to parents (e.g. accompaniment to family decision making meetings/ appointments/court appearances, assistance filling out applications)
Application of lived experience to mentoring interactions
Examples of applying lived experience in child welfare to mentoring, including system navigation and case engagement
Examples of modeling healthy recovery lifestyle and parenting
Retention and completion
Parent strengths and facilitators of success in the program
Engagement and reengagement strategies
Barriers to parents’ completion of program milestones
Strategies to mitigate barriers
Performance and evaluation
Use of data for service planning
Successes and challenges tracking data
Operational Challenges and Successes
Ways the program has met/exceeded or fallen short of its goals
Challenges the program has encountered and how they were overcome
Areas for improvement
Advice for people with lived experience about working in peer recovery mentoring roles in child welfare
Advice for organizations implementing similar interventions
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Hannah Betesh |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-09-25 |