Survey of Organization/System Readiness

OMB No:

EXPIRATION DATE:

THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995:  Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 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.

Survey of Organization/System Readiness

Section A, Respondent’s Characteristics, gathers basic information about you and your familiarity with the Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII).

A1. Indicate your gender

• Male

• Female

A2.  With which PII Site are you affiliated?

• Arizona

• California

• Los Angeles

• Illinois

• Kansas

• Washoe County, Nevada

A3.  What is the highest level of schooling that you have completed?

• High School Graduate

• GED

• Some College but No Degree

• Associates Degree

• Bachelor's Degree, Specify major ____________________

• Master's Degree, Specify field of study ____________________

• Ph.D., Specify field of study ____________________

A4. Please record the year that you started working in the field of child welfare.

YYYY (ex: 1987)

A5.  Are you currently employed by:

• State Agency

• County Agency

• City/Municipal Agency

• Township Agency

• Native American Tribe

• Private For-Profit Organization

• Private Non-Profit Organization

• Other, please specify ____________________

A6.  Which of the following best describes your current employment status?

• Employed, full-time at least 35 hours per week

• Employed, part-time

• Intern

• Other, please specify ____________________

A7.  Which of the following best describes your current position?

• Executive/Program Director

• Clinical Supervisor

• Clinical Practitioner

• Caseworker/Case Manager Supervisor

• Caseworker/Case Manager

• Quality Assurance

• Fiscal/Accounting

• Training

• Research/Evaluation

• Outreach Coordination/Worker

• Other, please specify ____________________

 Questions A8-A9 ask about your experiences with evidence based interventions (EBI). An EBI has an evidence base which supports its effectiveness and is typically “manualized” which means that it has specific practice guidelines that are described in a written manual. Case workers are expected to follow these practice guidelines when providing services prescribed by an EBI.

A8. Have you ever used an evidence based intervention?

• Yes, please specify or describe ____________________

• No

A9.  Did you receive training on how to use the evidence based intervention?

• Yes

• No

A10. How familiar are you with the Federal government Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) to reduce the number of children in long term foster care?

• Not at all

• To a slight extent

• To a moderate extent

• To a great extent

A11. How would you describe your role on PII?

• Grantee leadership

• Local site leadership

• Consultant

• Practitioner

• Supervisor

• Coach

• Community representative

• Key Stakeholder

• Other, please specify ____________________

A12.  Have you participated in any work group or planning activities for PII.

• Yes, if yes specify your primary group or activity (eg: finance, implementation, evaluation, etc.) ____________________

• No

Section B, Evidence Based Interventions, contains questions that explore your perceptions of using an established evidence based intervention or building a new evidence based intervention to improve permanency outcomes for children at risk of long term stays in foster care.

Please indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements using the following scale: Strongly Disagree; Disagree; Neither Agree nor Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree.

B1.  I would like to use or build a new evidence based intervention or an intervention designed to develop an evidence base for children in my caseload who are at risk of long-term foster care.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B2.  I am willing to follow a manual to guide how I carry out an intervention.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B3.  I know how to plan and deliver child welfare services to prevent long-term foster care better than academic researchers.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B4.   I am willing to use new and different types of interventions specifically to reduce the duration of children’s stays in foster care.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B5.       Not all evidenced based interventions improve the child welfare services that I provide.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B6.       Caseworker experience providing service for local children and families is more important than using or building evidence based interventions designed to reduce long term stays in foster care.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B7.       I would not be enthusiastic about using or building an evidence based intervention designed to reduce long term stays in foster care.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

B8.       I would try to use or build an evidence based intervention even if it were different than my usual practice with children at risk of long term foster care.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

The following questions, B9-B15, ask about selected factors that might affect your willingness to follow an evidence based intervention practice guideline. How likely would you be to use an existing or build a "new" evidence based intervention designed to reduce stays in foster care if the following was true:

B9.       It was required by your agency?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B10.     It “made sense” to you?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B11.     It was required by your supervisor?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B12.     It was being used by colleagues who were happy with it?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B13. It was required by your state?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat Unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B14. You felt you had enough training to use it correctly?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat Unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

B15. It is compatible with your philosophy of care?

• Very unlikely

• Somewhat Unlikely

• Neither likely nor unlikely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

Section C, Organizational Change, contains questions that address your perceptions of your work environment. Indicate the extent to which you agree with each item using the following scale: Strongly disagree; Disagree; Neither agree nor disagree; Agree; Strongly agree.

The following questions, C1-C6, address your perceptions of your agency's orientation toward change as well as the extent to which your organization encourages and supports new ideas and innovative approaches to delivering services to children and families involved with the child welfare system and caregivers/foster parents.

C1.  New ideas related to reducing foster care stays are readily accepted here.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C2. This agency is quick to respond when changes need to be made.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C3.  Agency management is quick to spot the need to do things differently.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C4.  This agency is very flexible; it can quickly change procedures to meet the new conditions and solve problems as they arise.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C5.  Assistance in developing new ideas related to child/family outcomes is readily available.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C6.  People in this agency are always searching for new ways to address the needs of child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

The following questions, C7-C11, address your perceptions of your agency’s responsiveness to child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents.

C7. This agency is more concerned about surviving budget constraints than it is about providing quality services to child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C8. Ways of improving service to child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents are not given much thought.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C9.  The needs of child welfare involved children, families and caregivers/foster parents are not considered top priority here.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C10.  The agency is slow to respond to the needs of the child welfare involved children, families, and caregiver/foster parents.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C11.  The agency is continually looking for new opportunities for serving child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

The following questions, C12-C16, address your perceptions of your agency’s concern with contemplating the objectives, strategies, and procedures designed to serve child welfare involved children, families, and caregivers/foster parents. 

C12.  In this agency, the way people work together is readily changed in order to improve agency performance.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C13.  The methods used by this agency to get the job done are often discussed.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C14.  There are regular discussions as to whether people in the agency are working effectively together.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C15.  In this agency, objectives are modified in light of information on the effectiveness of agency performance.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

C16.  In this agency, time is taken to review agency objectives.

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

Section D, Evaluation, contains questions that explore your opinions and experiences with the evaluation of child welfare programs.

D1. Do you feel it is important to evaluate the impact of programs designed to reduce long term stays in foster care?

• Yes

• No

D2.  Does agency leadership feel it is important to evaluate the impact of programs designed to reduce long term foster care?

• Yes

• No

D3.  Have you participated in a program evaluation or research project where participants were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group?

• Yes

• No

D4.  Would you be willing to participate in a study that was using an experimental design to test the impact on reducing long term stays in foster care?

• Definitely will not

• Probably will not

• Don't know

• Probably will

• Definitely will

D5.  Is agency leadership supportive of program evaluation that requires the assignment of children in foster care to experimental and control groups?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

D6.  How comfortable would you feel asking clients to participate in a study that used random assignment to an experimental and control group to measure the impact of a program designed to reduce long term stays in foster care?

• Uncomfortable

• Somewhat uncomfortable

• Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable

• Somewhat comfortable

• Comfortable

D7.  Would you be willing to use to use data collection instruments that would be required above and beyond your current work requirements?

• Definitely will not

• Probably will not

• Don't know

• Probably will

• Definitely will

D8.  Would you be willing to follow a random assignment procedure even it meant a client that you thought could benefit from the intervention would not immediately be able to receive it?

• Yes

• No