Appendix E. Program Administrator Focus Group Outreach Email

Email for Program Administrator Focus Group

The research team will email 10 program administrators to set up two 90-minute virtual focus group conference calls consisting of 5 administrators each.

Dear [Program Administrator],

I am writing to invite you to participate in a focus group of program administrators like yourself who operate programs that provide both employment and training services, and financial capability services either directly or indirectly. The focus group is part of the Integrating Financial Capability and Employment Services (InFin), which MEF Associates, and its partner, the Urban Institute, are conducting under contract to the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. MEF Associates and Urban Institute are social policy research organizations located in the Washington, DC area.

The focus group discussion will focus on challenges to integrating financial capability interventions with employment and training services, and promising practices for doing so. Through a discussion among a group of program administrators, we hope to learn about innovative ways to approach challenges in serving low-income families beyond what we will learn in our separate interviews and site visits. We intend for these discussions to be an opportunity for you to directly learn new strategies and approaches from your peers and share your own experiences with them.

We believe there is minimal risk to you in participating in this conversation because of the care we take in keeping your information private and because we will aggregate your thoughts with others participating in calls. The information you share will contribute to the evidence policymakers and practitioners have about financial capability interventions delivered in Employment and Training program contexts, and how they may be helpful for adults with low incomes, but you may not experience any direct benefits from participating in the study. We will share information gathered from these conversations in publicly available research reports, blog posts, and presentations.

If you are interested in participating in the focus group, please indicate your availability from the following timeslots:

[timeslots]

We would be happy to answer any questions you have about the focus group or about the overall study. We appreciate your continued help on this project.

Best,

[focus group team lead]