Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies Project - MOMS Partnership

Focus Group of Intake Specialists OMB Control Number: 0970-0531

Expiration Date: 07/31/2022

Focus Group of Intake Specialists

Instructions for moderators

Before you begin, read the verbal consent script. Ask each respondent to respond to two requests for consent: (1) consent for participating in the focus group and (2) consent to record the focus group. Do not record the focus group if you do not have all the respondents’ consent to do so. Do not start recording until after all the respondents have agreed.

CONSENT SCRIPT

First round: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. My name is [NAME 1], and I work for a research organization called Mathematica. [NAME 2] is also from Mathematica and will be taking notes during today’s focus group. Our discussion today will help us understand what is working well and what is not working well in the MOMS Partnership outreach, recruitment, and enrollment. Based on this discussion, we will work with you and other Viability staff to improve the outreach, recruitment, and enrollment process. This is the first of up to four meetings like this.

Later rounds: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. As a reminder, my name is [NAME 1], and I work for a research organization called Mathematica. [NAME 2] is also from Mathematica and will be taking notes during today’s focus group. As a result of our last discussion, some changes were made to the outreach, recruitment, and enrollment process. Our discussion today will help you and other Viability staff further improve the orientation.

Participation in this focus group is voluntary. There are no penalties or consequences for deciding not to participate in the focus group. We would like to hear from each of you, but you do not need to answer any question that is asked during the focus group.

We would also like your permission to record the conversation, so we can accurately capture what you have to say. If you do not agree to the recording, you can still participate, and we will not record it and [NAME 2] will take notes. Only Mathematica and Viability staff will have access to the recording and notes.

Do you have any questions about the study?

Before we can begin, I need to confirm your participation by asking you two questions:

• Do you agree to participate in the study? Yes/No

• If yes: Do you agree to the audio recording? Yes/No

1. Ground Rules

Now I just need to go over a few ground rules.

• A focus group is just a guided discussion. As the facilitator, I have a set of questions that I’d like to cover today, but we encourage open conversation.

• This discussion will last up to 60 minutes.

• Please speak one at a time, in a voice as loud as mine and mute your phone if you’re not speaking so we don’t get background noise. We also hope you will use the video feature so we can see you. This will help me follow the discussion and it will also help us with the recording and notes.

• We really want to hear from everyone today, but you don’t have to answer every question.

• There may be times in the discussion where you feel differently from others and we want to hear about that. Even though you may feel differently than others in this [virtual] room, you represent others who aren’t participating today who may have similar feelings.

• We want to hear the good and the bad – there are no right or wrong answers here, and we respect differences of opinion.

• This session is private. We ask that you respect each other’s privacy once we end the focus group– in other words, what happens in the focus group stays in the focus group!

Does anyone/Do you have any questions about the ground rules or about this discussion? (Facilitator addresses any final questions and turns on recorder if all consented.)

2. Introductions

For focus groups only: To start, we would love to have everyone share:

1. Your first name

2. Your role at your agency or with MOMS Partnership

3. Outreach and Recruitment

1. What excites you most about talking to people about the opportunity to sign up for MOMS Partnership?

2. How do you engage DTA and community partners staff? How often? When? What do you tell them about MOMS Partnership?

3. Do you have the chance to talk with women directly about MOMS Partnership? At what places?

4. When you are talking with people about MOMS Partnership, what messages seem to resonate most with DTA and community partners? What messages seem to resonate most with potential participants?

5. What questions do DTA staff and community partners ask most often? What do they appear to be curious about? What questions do participants ask most often? What concerns do people have about the program or the study?

6. Where have you had the greatest success with generating referrals to the program? What sources have been least helpful?

7. To what extent are referral partners sending you people who are a good fit for MOMS Partnership and who are eligible? If not a good fit, what eligibility criteria are the referred people commonly not meeting?

4. Enrollment

1. What typically happens once someone is recruited to the program? Do they show up to their enrollment interview? For those who start the enrollment interview, how likely are they to enroll?

2. What are the characteristics and circumstances of people who are most likely to complete the process? At what points do they tend to drop off?

3. What reasons are people sharing for why they want to enroll? What about the reasons for not wanting to enroll? Can you think of a time when a mom didn’t complete the enrollment process once she started? What happened?

4. What challenges are those interested in enrolling in MOMS Partnership facing to attending the enrollment appointment?

5. What is working well with how you communicate with DTA and referral partners about MOMS Partnership outreach and recruitment? What could be improved?

Thank you for sharing your opinions and experiences with me today. This has been very helpful. Please contact me directly if there is anything you would like to discuss or if you have any concerns.

The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to gather information for the purpose of rapid-cycle learning activities to strengthen programs. 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 #: 0970-0531, Exp: 07/31/2022. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Sheena McConnell; smcconnell@Mathematica-mpr.com

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