Interview topic guide: Partnership staff

Attachment E: INTERVIEW TOPIC GUide MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH

ATTACHMENT E

INTERVIEW TOPIC GUIDE

This page left intentionally blank for double-sided copying.

OMB No.: xxxx-xxxx

Expiration date: xx/xx/xxxx

interview Topic Guide

The Study of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships will conduct multi-day site visits to 12 partnerships. During those visits, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with the grantee director and three additional partnership staff. The interviews will focus on coordinating activities among partners, monitoring compliance with the Head Start Program Performance Standards, and providing technical assistance and training. We will also conduct four, one-hour semi-structured telephone interviews with state and local stakeholders who provide support to oversee early childhood systems that interact with the partnerships. For example, these could be staff from child care resource and referral agencies or child care subsidy administrators.

At the start of each interview, we will read a consent statement to the participant:

Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this discussion. Your participation is very important to the study. My name is __________ and I work for Mathematica Policy Research, an independent social policy research firm.

We are conducting a study for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to learn about the Early Head Start–child care partnership initiative and how agencies involved in the partnerships work together. We want to talk to [partnership grantee directors/partnership staff/stakeholders from other early childhood education programs and initiatives in the community] about their involvement in the partnerships and their opinions of the progress that has been made in implementing services for families. Being part of this discussion is up to you, and you can choose to not answer a question if you wish. We will not share your comments with other individuals involved in the partnership. Our report will describe the experiences and viewpoints expressed, but comments will not be attributed to specific individuals or programs. No individuals will be quoted by name.

Participation is voluntary. 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 for this collection is 0970-XXXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX. [Note to interviewer: The box below provides additional information as reference, in case participants have questions.]

The Paperwork Reduction Act Burden Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to learn about the characteristics and implementation of Early Head Start–child care partnerships. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average [90 minutes per response for partnership grantee directors/60 minutes per response for partnership staff and stakeholders], 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. 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-[XXXX]).

Topic	Subtopic	Type of informant
Experience with collaboration	Types of prior collaborations and partnerships	Partnership grantee director
	Experience developing collaborative agreements	Partnership staff
	Experience participating in collaborations and partnerships
	Communication with collaborators and partners
	Benefits and challenges of collaboration and partnerships
	Lessons learned from partnerships
Partnership development	Expectations at the start of the partnership	Partnership grantee director
	Information included in partnership agreements
	Funding arrangements, including funds allocated to partners for direct care, comprehensive services, quality improvement, and administrative requirements
	Process for determining how to allocate funds, including funding per child
	Whether agreement addresses rules for vacancy in partnership slots, including waiting periods for slots to be filled and compensation for vacant slots
	Experience of working with partners to develop the partnership agreement
	Communication during the development period
	Process for addressing concerns and making revisions to partnership agreements
	Resolving disagreements about the partnership agreement
	Extent to which each partner felt included in shaping partnership terms
	Successes and challenges of the partnership agreement development process
	Lessons learned about developing partnership agreements
Assessing strengths and needs	Process used to assess strengths and needs of each entity	Partnership grantee director
	Role of grantees and child care partners in assessing strengths and needs	Partnership staff
	Extent to which each entity/staff member felt included in the process
	Process for addressing differences in perceived needs
	Types of needs and strengths identified
	Successes and challenges of process used to assess needs and strengths; strategies to address challenges
	Lessons learned about process used to assess needs and strengths
Developing quality improvement plans	Process of developing quality improvement plans and using needs assessment information	Partnership grantee director Partnership staff
	Role of grantees and child care partners in developing quality improvement plans
	Extent to which each entity/staff member felt included in the process
	Types of information included in quality improvement plans
	Challenges of developing quality improvement plans; strategies to address challenges
	Lessons learned about developing quality improvement plans
Monitoring implementation of quality improvement plans	Process used to monitor implementation of quality improvement plans and HSPPS compliance	Partnership grantee director Partnership staff
	Role of grantees and child care partners in monitoring quality improvement plans and HSPPS compliance
	Extent to which grantees and child care partners felt that monitoring findings reflect needs and strengths
	Process for addressing concerns or disagreements about monitoring findings
	Findings from monitoring processes
	How information from monitoring is used by partnerships
	Challenges of monitoring quality improvement plans; strategies to address challenges
	Lessons learned about monitoring implementation of quality improvement plans and HSPPS compliance
Training and supporting staff working in partnerships	Process used to identify training and support needs among staff working in partnerships	Partnership grantee director Partnership staff
	Approach to delivering training and support, including any variation in approaches for partners with differing characteristics (such as different types of partners or partners with varying quality improvement needs) Education and experience of staff responsible for delivering training and support, including training and supervision provided to staff delivering training and support
	Process for accessing available state and local training and support resources for staff
	Costs of providing training and support
	Extent to which grantee staff and child care partners were able to participate in training and in providing or accessing support
	Barriers to participating in training and support
	Extent to which staff felt as though trainings and supports met their needs
	Additional training and support needed
	Challenges of providing quality improvement support and materials; strategies to address challenges
	Lessons learned about providing quality improvement support and materials
Networking among infant-toddler service providers	Approach to networking; organizations involved in planning and hosting networking events and opportunities	Partnership grantee director Partnership staff
	Extent to which grantee staff and child care partners participated in networking events and opportunities
	Barriers to participating in networking events and opportunities
	Extent to which grantee staff and child care partners felt that networking events were valuable or beneficial
	Challenges of facilitating networking events and opportunities; strategies to address challenges
	Lessons learned about facilitating networking events and opportunities
Implementing family partnership agreements	Process used for developing and updating family partnership agreements; staff responsible	Partnership grantee director Partnership staff
	Approach to delivering comprehensive services to children and families; staff responsible
	Barriers to implementing family partnership agreements and providing comprehensive services and referrals
	Lessons learned about implementing family partnership agreements and providing comprehensive services
Facilitating continuity of care and smooth transitions for children	Approach to regular communication, including staff involved, frequency, and topics discussed	Partnership grantee director Other ECE stakeholders
	Barriers to engaging in regular communication and lessons learned
	Process in place to facilitate continuity of care and transitions between settings for children
	Organizations/staff responsible for implementing transition processes
	Barriers to facilitating continuity of care and transitions between settings; lessons learned
Identifying rule misalignment with other ECE systems	Process involved in identifying barriers to partnerships resulting from policy misalignment	Partnership grantee director Other ECE stakeholders
	Individuals/organizations involved in efforts to identify and address barriers
	Role of partnerships in efforts to identify and address barriers
	Successes and challenges of efforts to address barriers
	Lessons learned about efforts to address barriers and policy misalignment
Coordinating with partnerships to provide quality improvement and professional development	Efforts to coordinate quality improvement and professional development services with other ECE systems	Partnership grantee director Other ECE stakeholders
	Individuals/organizations involved in coordination efforts
	Role of partnerships in coordination efforts
	Successes and challenges of coordination efforts
	Lessons learned about efforts to coordinate quality improvement and professional development services
Partnership benefits and lessons learned	Prior experience accessing child care subsidies	Partnership grantee director Other ECE stakeholders
	Prior experience accessing state and local quality improvement activities
	Prior experience accessing state and local professional development systems and supports
	Lessons learned about delivering services in partnership with child care providers

Note: ECE = early care and education; HSPPS = Head Start Program Performance Standards.

DRAFT E.1