The Adulthood Preparation Subjects (APSs) Study of Dosage and Cultural Relevance

Instrument 1. Telephone Interview Topic Guide for PREP Grantees and Providers

Note to reviewers: This instrument provides the broad range of topics to cover in telephone interviews for the Adulthood Preparation Subjects (APS) Study of Dosage and Cultural Relevance (APS Study). The instrument will be tailored for each organization, depending on the APS topics they cover.

NOTE TO INTERVIEWER: Based on your current understanding of the grantee or provider from performance measures data, use this topic guide to identify the relevant topics to ask each respondent. Then, use the identified topics to develop grantee- or provider-specific questions.

Introduction and consent

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. We are from Mathematica, an independent research firm, and we are here to learn about your experiences implementing adulthood preparation subjects (APSs). My name is [Name] and my colleague is [Name].

We are speaking today on behalf of the PREP Studies of Performance Measures and Adulthood Preparation Subjects (PMAPS) project. This project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As part of this project, we are hoping to learn more about the APSs. We also hope to learn more about ways to adapt and improve APS topics and content to meet the needs of youth and be culturally relevant for them.

We will ask you some questions about the APSs your program delivers according to your performance measures data, namely [name the relevant subjects from the list: adolescent development, educational and career success, financial literacy, healthy life skills, healthy relationships, and parent-child communication]. Your participation in the conversation is voluntary. We can skip any questions you don’t wish to answer, or you may stop at any time. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions; we just want to hear your perspectives based on your experience. We will use the information you share with us to write a summary of what we learned, but we will not attribute any of your comments to you by name in our reports. Do you consent to participate in this interview?

We expect this discussion to take about 60 minutes. We value the information you will share with us and want to make sure we capture it all by recording it. If you do not agree to the recording, you can still participate, we will not record the call, and someone will take notes. Only the team working on the study will have access to the recording and the notes. We will destroy the recording and the notes at the end of the study.

Do we have your permission to record the discussion?

Now, I am going to read a 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 and expiration date for this collection are OMB #: 0970-0531, Expiration: 09/30/2025. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Alicia Meckstroth at ameckstroth@mathematica-mpr.com.

Do you have any questions before we get started?

NOTE: The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to gather information for the purpose of understanding the dosage and relevance of APS programming in order to help strengthen the programming that youth receive. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 75 minutes per response, including the time for scheduling, 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 #: 0970-0531, Exp: 09/30/2025. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Alicia Meckstroth at ameckstroth@mathematica-mpr.com.

Table 1. Topics to cover in telephone interviews

Background and content

Context of program and needs of youth served

Topics and content delivered, for each APS

Curricula, stand-alone lessons, or activities used to cover APS topics

Delivery of content—for example, through program facilitators, outside speakers, or others

Alignment of APS topics and content with the needs of the youth being served

General reflections on APS topics and content and considerations for other programs

Successes and challenges with APS topics and content and its delivery

Dosage

The amount of content on each APS and associated topics that the grantee/provider delivers

The frequency of delivery for content on each APS and associated topics that the grantee/provider delivers

The amount of time the grantee/provider spends delivering content and topics for each APS

Program completion requirements

Alignment of the APS’s dosage with the needs of the population being served

General reflections on dosage of each APS and associated topics and content

Tips or strategies for other programs on dosage of each APS and associated topics and content

Successes and challenges with dosage for each APS and associated topics and content

Cultural relevance

How well existing APS topics are meeting the cultural or lived experience needs of youth being served

Ways existing APS content has been adapted or modified to enhance cultural relevance of APS topics

Successes and challenges with adapting content

Suggested changes and/or improvements to APSs and associated topics to address cultural relevance or lived experience

General reflections on the cultural relevance of existing APSs and associated topics