Instrument 2: Screening Interview to identify respondents for the HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation first-round telephone interviews

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Instrument 2: Screening Interview to Identify Respondents for the HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation First-Round Telephone Interviews

National and Tribal Evaluation of the 2^nd Generation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG)

0970-0462

September 2016

Revised April 2017

Submitted by:

Office of Planning,
Research & Evaluation

Administration for Children & Families

U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services

Federal Project Officers:

Nicole Constance, Hilary Forster, and Amelia Popham

Instructions for HPOG Program Directors

As you know, [name of local HPOG program] is participating in a national evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), for the second round of HPOG grants (HPOG 2.0), sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The evaluation is being conducted by Abt Associates, and its partners, the Urban Institute, MEF Associates, and Insight Policy Research. The evaluation is assessing a range of promising HPOG-funded education and training programs around the nation for helping low-income individuals, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, to secure well-paying healthcare jobs.

As part of this study we are conducting telephone interviews with management, staff, partners and stakeholders at every HPOG program to learn more about how programs are designed and implemented as well as the training and support services they provide. We need your help identifying the most appropriate individuals to talk to us about each of the topic areas. The topic areas we will cover in these interviews include:

• program administration;

• outreach and recruitment;

• eligibility and intake, including the application process;

• basic skills training, including adult basic education, adult secondary education, college developmental education, and English language acquisition;

• healthcare occupational training;

• career pathway training opportunities;

• work-readiness training;

• academic supports;

• personal/logistical supports ;

• employment assistance and work-based learning opportunities;

• employer engagement;

• control group services; and

• sustainability.

When thinking about who is the best person to respond to each topic area, please consider a range of HPOG program management and staff, as well as contacts at your program such as partners and stakeholders. In many cases the most appropriate person will be you. Even in those cases, we’d like to get additional perspectives from other members of your staff.

Completing this form will take approximately 30 minutes. The phone interviews will take approximately 60-90 minutes.

The Paperwork Reduction Act Burden 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 control number for this collection is 0970-0462 and it expires xx/xx/xxxx. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to [Contact Name]; [Contact Address]; Attn: OMB-PRA (0970-0462).

The following are topic areas and example questions from the telephone interview protocol that highlight the range of information and detailed knowledge sought by the telephone interview:

• Program Administration: Based on information collected by your HPOG study liaison, we have compiled a list of organizations that are involved with or have supported [name of local HPOG program]. What is each organization’s current role in [name of local HPOG program]?

• Outreach and Recruitment: Which recruitment strategies do you believe have been most effective (and why)? Which strategies have been the least effective?

• Eligibility and Intake (including eligibility criteria, application process, and HPOG ineligibility): What do you do for applicants who are found ineligible or unsuitable for HPOG participation?

• Basic Skills Training (including adult basic education, adult secondary education, college developmental education, and English language acquisition): What do you do for participants requiring basic skills training (e.g., Adult basic education, Adult secondary education, College developmental education, and English language acquisition)?

• Healthcare Occupational Training: For each of the healthcare training courses that our records show you offer, I would like you to tell me if each course is open only to HPOG participants or to any non-HPOG students, including the control group.

• Career Pathway Training Opportunities: Were any of the healthcare training courses offered purposely designed (or redesigned/compressed) for accelerated completion? If so, which healthcare training courses?

• Work-readiness Training: Some HPOG programs offer skill development training, activities, or workshops to improve participants’ soft and/or work-related skills such as an orientation/introduction to healthcare careers, financial literacy, college skills training, and others. Does your HPOG program offer the following type of skill development training and activities to prepare participants for healthcare training and employment?

• Academic Supports: Is there an individual who is assigned to work one-on-one with each [name of local HPOG program] participant throughout their time in the program? This person is sometimes called a “case manager,” though there are other titles such as “navigator.” What type of case management and counseling services are delivered to participants? Who among your staff provides these services? Are any of the services delivered by partners (at a cost to your program or not) or community service agencies?

• Personal/Logistical Supports: According to our information, [name of local HPOG program] offers the following personal/logistical supports... Have there been any changes? Are these services provided directly by you, your partners (at a cost to your program or not), or other community service agencies?

• Employment Assistance and Work-Based Learning Opportunities: What type of job search and placement assistance does your organization and/or any of your partners provide to [name of local HPOG program] participants? Are they provided directly by your program, your partners (at a cost to your program or not), or other community service agencies?

• Employer Engagement: Please describe the type of activities or services that are provided by employers working with your program.

• Control Group Services: What are barriers to accessing those alternative services for control group members?

• Sustainability: What activities or program components are fully supported by HPOG funds? Are they supported by all, mostly, or some HPOG funds, or not supported at all by HPOG funds?

To help prepare for these interviews, we would like to identify key informed respondents to interview for each of the topic areas. The attached spreadsheet is an example of the detailed information we need to gather about respondents. Please provide us with the name, job title, organization, telephone number, and email address for each respondent who will participate and select the topic area from the drop down list for which you believe this person is best suited to respond. If staff members have expertise on multiple topic areas, please select additional topics in the columns marked phone interview in the spreadsheet.

As a reminder, please consider a range of HPOG program management and staff, as well as contacts at your program such as partners and stakeholders.

Exhibit 1: Spreadsheet for Identifying Respondents for Round One Telephone Interviews

On behalf of ACF, thank you for your assistance.