10-RESEA Cost Study - Caseworkers interview protocol

OMB No.: 1290-0NEW 
Expiration: TBD 

RESEA Cost Study: AJC Staff Interview Guide (RESEA Staff)

AIR Team: Facilitator: Note taker:	Participant Name:
Location:	Date and Time:

Note to Interviewer:

• Approach the interview with empathy and understanding

• Keep the tone conversational and comfortable

• For each question, be sure to note the time frame that you’re discussing (e.g., during an appointment, in an average week, in the past year).

Introductions

Introductory statement to respondents: We work for the research firm, [Insert Name]. The U.S. Department of Labor has hired us to help them understand the state, local, and participant costs associated with administering the RESEA program. We invited you to speak with us because of your work in the RESEA program as a/an [job title] for [state name].

Today, we will be asking you about the job duties related to the RESEA program performed by you and people you work with as they relate to the RESEA program to better understand the types of state and local resources that are used to run the RESEA program. For example, we would like to learn about your role in supporting RESEA program activities, such as orientation and initial meetings, as well as RESEA staff at this AJC.

Study Background

We will use this information to understand the costs of running the RESEA program and its components. We will also use this information to understand how the costs of running the program compare to any changes in unemployment insurance benefits paid because of claimants’ participation in the RESEA program.

[Interviewer note: Customize this paragraph to focus on the components of interest for the interview.]There are 5 program components that we are interested in learning more about today. The first is RESEA Program Administration, the second is selecting and scheduling RESEA participants, the third is AJC Orientation, the fourth is the Initial RESEA meeting, and the fifth and final component is subsequent RESEA meetings (if applicable).

If the interviewees ask about the study, feel free to share any of the following information:

• The study aims to use the information gathered from interviews, questionnaires, and other sources to understand the RESEA program’s impact on UI benefits as well as the average per-participant costs, component costs, and claimant costs of the RESEA program.

• We are conducting up to 30 interviews with State Unemployment Insurance (UI) and American Jobs Center (AJC) staff who administer, evaluate, or otherwise work on aspects of the RESEA program in your state.

Interview Logistics

Today we’d like to ask about your activities, experiences, and perspectives as staff who work on the RESEA program. The interview will take about 90 minutes to complete.

Before we begin, I want to assure you that all your responses will be used only for this research study. Your name will not appear in any written reports we produce. We will try to describe any responses you give in a way that will make it impossible to identify you. The interview itself is voluntary and you may choose not to answer any specific question.

We may also send you a brief follow-up survey to collect additional information or to clarify the information that you provide today.

would like to record our conversation so we can have a back up to our notes. the recording will remain private we will de-identify your information if we cite quotes from this discussion in our reports by removing references to any personal identifying information. We will erase the recording before the end of the project. Is it okay for us to record?

[If YES, thank the respondent and wait to record until you have confirmed everyone’s name, department and job title.]

Introduction to Role at AJC

We’d like to begin by learning more about you, your role at [AJC name] and the nature of your work with RESEA participants.

1. To start, we would like to learn a little bit more about you. Please tell us your name, title,

[Interviewer note: Start recording after this information has been collected. Consider adding an introduction to the recording like: “This is an interview recorded on [date] by interviewer [name].]

1. Could you tell us your role at the [AJC name] and about your responsibilities here at [AJC name?]

1. Could you tell us about your experience before working in this role?

   1. Probe: Please tell us about your education and employment history.

2. Do you work directly with RESEA claimants?

   1. [If yes] Please tell us more about your work with them. (Probe: Do you schedule or reschedule selected claimants for RESEA meetings? Do you conduct any follow-up or outreach prior to their meetings? Do you plan or lead AJC Orientations? Do you meet with claimants one-on-one to provide RESEA-related services?)

   2. [If yes] We know that many staff work across multiple programs. About what percent of your full-time equivalent time do you spend working on RESEA?

      1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, approximately how many hours do you spend working on RESEA?

RESEA Program Components

One of our goals is to learn more about how much time AJC staff spend on different components of the RESEA program, including RESEA program administration, selecting and scheduling RESEA participants, AJC Orientation, and initial and subsequent (if applicable) RESEA meetings. Next, we’d like to ask you some questions about how much time you spend on these activities, as well as which other AJC staff are involved in them.

Component 1: RESEA Program Administration

Note to interviewer & note-taker: It is very important to take careful note of the time unit (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) used to assess role responsibilities in each question.

4. Administrative Tasks

1. Tell us what the process of entering case note/meeting notes is like.

   1. About what percent of your time each week do you spent entering case notes?

      1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, approximately how many hours do you spend entering case notes on UI claimants who have been scheduled for RESEA meetings?

      2. [If staff are unable to give a percentage or hours estimate] Approximately how many minutes does it take you to enter case notes related to one UI claimant who has been selected for RESEA? In a typical week, for how many claimants do you enter cases notes?

2. Do you complete other administrative tasks when working on RESEA, such as data entry or writing success stories for reporting?

   1. [If yes] Please describe these tasks.

      1. About what percent of your time each week do you spend completing other administrative tasks for RESEA?

      2. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, approximately how many hours do you spend completing other administrative tasks for RESEA?

3. Do you use any resources when entering case notes? This could include things like software subscriptions or other technology needs.

   1. [If yes] What is the dollar value of each resource?

5. Trainings and Professional Development

1. Did you participate in any training or professional development related to RESEA in the past year? If so...

1. About how many RESEA-specific trainings did you participate in?

2. About how long did each training last?

2. Do you meet with state RESEA staff (such as staff that sit at the [central office name/building name] as a part of your regular job duties? For example, do you meet with state RESEA staff for check-in calls, provision of technical assistance, or other purposes?

1. [If yes] What percent of your time each month do you spend in these meetings?

   1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate]: How frequently do you meet with state RESEA staff in a given month? How much time, on average, does each meeting take?

3. Do you use any resources to participate in training and professional development? This could include things like Zoom licenses or travel to off-site trainings.

5. If so, how much does [each item they list] cost?

Component 2: Selecting and Scheduling UI Claimants for RESEA Meetings

Note to interviewer & note-taker: It is very important to take careful note of the time unit (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) used to assess role responsibilities in each question.

6. It is our understanding that claimants are scheduled for RESEA meetings by [insert description of scheduling practice]. Can you confirm that this is how claimants are scheduled for RESEA meetings at [AJC name]?

1. How many staff members are involved in selecting and scheduling claimants for RESEA meetings?

   1. Please provide the names and titles for each staff member involved in scheduling RESEA meetings.

   2. For each staff member, what percent of their time do they spend on scheduling RESEA meetings in a typical week? This may include scheduling initial RESEA meetings, subsequent meetings, and rescheduling meetings that claimants missed.

      1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, approximately how many hours does each staff member spend scheduling claimants for RESEA meetings? This may include scheduling initial RESEA meetings, subsequent meetings, and rescheduling meetings that claimants missed.

7. Aside from staff time, what other resources are used to schedule UI claimants for RESEA meetings? This could include things like scheduling software or other technology used for this.

3. If so, how much does [each item they list] cost?

Component 3: AJC Orientation

Note to interviewer & note-taker: It is very important to take careful note of the time unit (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) used to assess role responsibilities in each question.

8. What does in-person AJC Orientation look like in your AJC? How long does a typical orientation last?

1. Which staff members are involved in delivering AJC Orientation to RESEA participants?

   1. Please provide the names and titles of staff involved in delivering AJC orientations.

   2. Approximately what percent of each staff member’s time spent on RESEA is spent delivering AJC Orientations in a typical week? This includes time spent preparing for orientation (e.g., preparing PowerPoint slides or handouts) as well as actually delivering orientation to participants.

   3. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, approximately how many hours does each staff member spend delivering AJC orientations for UI claimants selected for RESEA?

9. Do you use any other resources to deliver AJC Orientation? This could include things like Zoom licenses or paper handouts.

1. If so, how much does [each item they list] cost?

10. Is there an option to deliver AJC orientations for UI claimants selected for RESEA virtually?

1. [If yes] What is involved in delivering a virtual orientation?

2. [If yes] Which staff delivers virtual orientations? What are their job titles?

3. [If yes] How many minutes does a virtual orientation take for the average claimant? How many minutes does it take to prepare for delivering a virtual orientation?

4. [If yes] In a typical week, what percentage of orientations are delivered virtually? In a typical week, how many claimants participate in AJC orientations virtually?

5. What nonpersonnel resources, including Zoom licenses or other technology, do you use to deliver virtual meetings?

4. What is the dollar value of [resource]?

Component 4: Initial RESEA Meeting

Note to interviewer & note-taker: It is very important to take careful note of the time unit (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) used to assess role responsibilities in each question.

11. What do initial in-person RESEA meetings look like in your AJC? Please note that we are specifically interested in initial meetings here, or the first meeting staff have with an RESEA participant after they are selected. We will ask about any additional meetings you have with participants later.

1. Which staff are involved in conducting initial meetings with RESEA participants?

   1. Please provide the names and titles of all staff involved in providing initial RESEA meetings.

   2. Approximately what percent of time spent on RESEA does each staff member spend on delivering initial RESEA meetings in a typical week?

      1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] In a typical week, how many hours does each staff member involved spend delivering initial RESEA meetings?

12. Do you use any other resources to conduct initial meetings? This could include things like Zoom licenses or paper handouts.

1. If so, how much does [each item they list] cost?

13. Is there an option to conduct initial meetings virtually?

3. [If yes] What is involved in delivering a virtual initial RESEA meeting?

4. [If yes] Which staff deliver virtual initial meetings? What are their job titles?

5. [If yes] How many minutes does a virtual initial RESEA meeting take for the average claimant? How many minutes does it take to prepare for delivering the initial RESEA meeting?

6. [If yes] In a typical week, what percent of initial RESEA meetings are delivered virtually? In a typical week, how many claimants participate in initial meetings virtually?

7. What nonpersonnel resources, including Zoom licenses or other technology, do you use to deliver virtual meetings?

   1. What is the dollar value of [resource]?

Component 5: Subsequent RESEA Meeting (if applicable)

Note to interviewer & note-taker: It is very important to take careful note of the time unit (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) used to assess role responsibilities in each question.

14. What do in-person subsequent RESEA meetings look like in your AJC?

15. Which AJC staff members are involved in conducting subsequent meetings with RESEA participants?

1. Please provide their names and titles.

2. About what percent of their time spent on RESEA is spent conducting subsequent RESEA meetings each week?

   1. [If staff are unable to give a percentage estimate] For each staff member, approximately how many hours do they spend delivering subsequent RESEA meetings in a typical week?

16. Do you use any other resources to deliver subsequent meetings? This could include things like Zoom licenses or paper handouts.

1. If so, how much does [each item they list] cost?

17. Is there an option to conduct subsequent meetings virtually?

1. [If yes] What is involved in delivering a virtual subsequent RESEA meeting?

2. [If yes] In a typical week, how many claimants participate in subsequent RESEA meetings virtually?

3. [If yes] How many minutes does a virtual subsequent RESEA meeting take for the average claimant? How many minutes does it take to prepare for delivering the virtual subsequent RESEA meeting?

4. [If yes] In a typical week, what percent of subsequent RESEA meetings are delivered virtually? In a typical week, how many claimants participate in subsequent meetings virtually?

5. What nonpersonnel resources, including Zoom licenses or other technology, do you use to deliver virtual subsequent RESEA meetings?

2. What is the dollar value of [resource]?

Wrap up

1. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your role at this AJC or your work with the RESEA program that we have not already covered?

Thank You

Thank you for answering these questions. You have been extremely helpful in sharing your experiences with us. If you have any questions or concerns, or if you would like to share anything with us that we did not discuss, please feel free to contact us.

Public reporting burden for this data collection instrument is estimated to average one and a half hours per response. The burden estimate includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and submitting the survey. This collection of information is voluntary. You are not required to respond to this collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  Please send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information to the U.S. Department of Labor, Chief Evaluation Office, 200 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20210, or ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov and reference OMB control number 1290-0NEW.