Supporting Statement B RISE generic staff pre-posttest rev_7 25 12

Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII)

Pretesting Testing of Evaluation Surveys

(OMB 0970‑0355)

Supporting Statement Part B

August 2012

B. STATISTICAL METHODS (USED FOR COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS)

B.1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

The sample for the pilot test will include 500 staff in Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) offices and five private foster care provider agencies in Los Angeles County, who will receive training as part of the RISE intervention. The universe is about 520 private agency workers and about 560 DCFS workers.

B.2. Procedures for the Collection of Information

Sampling Procedures

Two DCFS offices and five private foster care provider agencies in Los Angeles County have volunteered to be part of this pilot test. Staff who will receive the training include case managers and supervisors. Consent to participate in data collection will be obtained by the contractor’s data collector. We will administer the pretest and posttest to a convenience sample of the first 250 (at most) private agency staff and 250 (at most) DCFS county staff that receive training. RISE plans to deliver the training sessions to a maximum of 25 workers per session. We will go to the first 10 trainings at private agencies and the first 10 trainings at DCFS offices and deliver the pretest, then go back 3 months after the training sessions to administer the posttest to the same workers.

Data Collection Procedures

The data collection period for the pilot test will begin in August 2012 and conclude in May 2013. We will administer a pretest/posttest to office and agency staff that receive the RISE training. An instrument (see attachment A to Supporting Statement A for consent forms and instrument) measuring their LGBTQ competency and perceptions of their office/agency support around LGBTQ issues will be administered to staff immediately before the training is delivered, at the training location. The instrument will be administered again 3 months later, at a location convenient for the workers and their office/agency.

B.3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Nonresponse

We do not anticipate any major problems with response rate and nonresponse for this pilot test. The DCFS offices and private agencies are highly motivated to participate in this intervention, having asked the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center to develop and offer this type of training.

B.4. Test of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

We will pilot test new procedures for administering a worker survey to capture changes in LGBTQ competence from prior to after training. The focus for the pilot test will be on worker receptivity, how well procedures work, timings, administration issues, and training issues. Any difficulties we encounter with respect to our procedures, materials, or instrument will be discussed with the evaluation contractor, and suggested revisions to the evaluation plan will be outlined. Information from the pilot test will be used in data collector training for the full evaluation.

B.5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data

The team is led by Maria Woolverton, project officer; Andrea Sedlak, project director; and Mark Testa, principal investigator. Additional staff consulted on statistical issues at Westat include John Rogers, senior statistician.