R3-Impact Mentor Supervisors Topic Guide
Introduction. We are from the research firm [Abt Associates/Child Trends] and we are conducting the [STUDY NAME] evaluation. The study is overseen by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau, in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the evaluation, we are conducting an implementation study to learn how counties implementing [PMP or START] are approaching their work.
As part of this study, we are talking with mentor supervisors to learn more about how [PMP/START] is being delivered in your community. During our conversation, we will ask questions to understand more about your community, your agency / organization, and how [PMP/START] is being implemented in your community, including partners involved in implementing the program, factors influencing implementation of [PMP/START], and your thoughts about how well the program is working.
Before beginning our discussion, we want to thank you for agreeing to talk with us today. We know you are busy and we appreciate the valuable time you are spending with us today. The interview will take about 90 minutes. Your participation is voluntary, and there are no penalties for choosing not to take part in the interview. You can refuse to answer any questions or stop the interview at any time. Our aim is to learn from your insights and experience. There are no right or wrong answers. Your answers will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. The information you provide will not be shared with other staff at your agency or organization. Your name will not be listed in any published reports, and comments will not be attributed to you. Instead, your answers will be combined with answers provided by other people in your same role that we interview across the country for this study. However, because of the relatively small number of agencies/organizations participating in the study, there is a possibility that a response could be correctly attributed to you. Your data will only be used for research purposes. The legal authority for this project is 42 U.S.C. § 1310a and Public Law 115-271. For System of Records Notice (SORN) information, please see the SORN number 09-80-0361, “OPRE Research and Evaluation Project Records.
We would like to record this discussion with a digital recorder so we can listen to it later when we write up our notes to make sure we captured everything accurately. No one besides our research team and the transcription vendor will listen to the recording. If you want to say anything that you don’t want recorded, please let us know and we will be glad to pause the recorder. Do you have any objections to being part of this interview or to us recording our discussion?
This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to understand programs that provide peer mentoring for parents involved in the child welfare system. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 90 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. The OMB number and expiration date for this collection are OMB #: XXXX, Exp: XXXX. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Kimberly Francis (Abt Associates); kimberly_francis@abtassoc.com.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
Respondent Information
Name, title, organization/affiliation, length of involvement with the organization and with the program
Overall role/job responsibilities
Description of role
Understanding of responsibilities
Program Background (CFIR Domains: Process of Implementation)
Prior knowledge of recovery coaching interventions
Involvement in decision to implement START/PMP
Concerns about implementing START/PMP and how these concerns have been addressed
Concerns about child welfare system buy-in and attitude
Concerns about agency capacity for implementation
Concerns about training and supervising mentors
Reasons for interest in implementing START/PMP
How, if at all, organization has tailored START/PMP to adapt for local context
How, if at all, organization has tailored START/PMP to address disproportionality in CW system involvement and disproportionality in program outcomes
Strategies to reduce barriers to access, including increasing culturally-responsive services
Technical assistance and training received on START/PMP (including feedback on the quality of technical assistance and training)
Program Structure (CFIR Domain: Individuals)
Mentor recruitment and onboarding
Required qualifications for mentors
Strategies for recruiting/retaining qualified mentors, including mentors who have lived experience and are culturally representative of the population being served
Mentor demographics and how they compare to CW population generally and parents served in the program specifically
Challenges recruiting and retaining mentors
Process, timing and content for mentor onboarding
Training on intervention
Training on organizational policies and culture
Training on disproportionality within child welfare, culturally responsive service, agency equity strategies, or working with specific populations (e.g., disability, mental health, etc.)
Mentor and supervisor turnover and shortages
Impact of mentor pay on retention and engagement
Impact of turnover on service provision
Mentor support and supervision
Training received to perform supervision
Approach to supervision (strengths-based, mentor-driven, trauma-informed, etc.)
Frequency of retraumatization and triggering for mentors
Supports available to mentor in case of retraumatization
Supervision schedule (group and one-on-one meetings)
Supervisor-mentor ratio and challenges meeting this ratio
Substance of supervision (reflection during supervision, case staffing, etc. to manage mentor “performance”)
Key supervision challenges and how they are addressed
Caseload size, including challenges associated with maintaining appropriate caseload sizes
Access to opportunities for advocacy and additional training
Program Services (CFIR Domain: Innovation, Process of Implementation)
Process and timeline for receiving parent referrals
Process and timeline for matching parents with mentors
Characteristics included in matching (race, age, gender, etc…)
Patterns observed in parent preferences
Capacity to meet parent preferences and challenges in doing so
Process for documentation of referrals that do not end in matches/enrollment
Challenges
Capacity
Process and timeline for mentors contacting parents
First meeting between parent and mentor
Process
Timeline
Format (phone/in person)
Challenges for mentors and parents
What works well about the process
Development of individualized plan for parents (including Motivational Interviewing)
Process, including how mentors work with parents to develop the plan, forms used, and any data entry
Timeline
Challenges for mentors and parents
What works well about the process
Connection to treatment and recovery services
Type(s) of treatment services (residential, outpatient)
Coordination with treatment team
Type(s) of recovery support services
Parent role in choosing treatment and recovery options
Availability of convenient and appropriate options (including online services and culturally appropriate services)
Support for alternative pathways to recovery
Challenges in connecting parents to treatment or recovery options
What works well about the process
Connection to other social services
Most common service needs
Challenges meeting most common service needs
Coordination with service providers
Factors influencing retention and completion
Parent strengths and facilitators of success in the program (meeting individual goals)
Engagement and reengagement strategies
Barriers to parents’ completion of their own goals
Strategies to mitigate barriers
Variation in barriers by identify (e.g., race, gender) or life experiences and strategies to address this variation
Performance and evaluation
Approach to monitoring equitable access and outcomes; strategies to improve equity
Use of data for supervision
Use of data for service planning
Operational Challenges and Successes
Ways the program has met/exceeded or fallen short of its goals
Challenges the program has encountered and how they were overcome
Areas for improvement; plans for changes and modifications
Advice for organizations implementing similar interventions
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Carrie Furrer |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-08-18 |