ATTACHMENT C – AFFILIATE/OTHER ORGANIZATION DISCUSSION GUIDE
Introduction
Hello, thanks for giving us time to come and talk to you.
Let me introduce each of us. I am ____________, and this is _____________. [typically, two participating]
Just to remind you, I/we are researchers from the Urban Institute, which is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan, research organization based in Washington, DC. We are conducting a study for the US Department of Health and Human Services of the role of faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs, for short) in providing relief services during and after Hurricane Katrina.
We have completed a telephone survey of about 200 organizations in the Gulf Coast region and we are studying a handful of organizations in depth to understand how these organizations provided disaster relief and how they interacted with others, including public agencies, to deliver disaster relief services. One of these organizations is [PRINCIPAL CASE STUDY ORGANIZATION] in [city].
This is not a formal evaluation of the services that any organization provided, but an exploration of how networks and collaborations formed, in an effort to learn what might be done to improve coordination and collaboration among FBCOs and between FBCOs and government to deliver disaster assistance more effectively in the future.
I also want to make clear at the outset that we observe a strict policy of privacy in our research, so that we can learn by hearing your perspective as fully and candidly as you can share it with us. Therefore, we do not report what you say in any way that is attributable specifically to you, and we will not otherwise, unless compelled by law, share what you tell us here.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
Let me begin with some basic information about you and [ORGANIZATION].
1. Name
Title/Position
Organization
Telephone Number
Does the organization have a religious affiliation? [Specify]
2. How long have you been in [ORGANIZATION]?
How long have you been in this position__________?
To whom do you report ____________________[name and title]?
c) [As appropriate] What was your position in August 2005?
3. Does [ORGANIZATION] provide social services directly?
[PROMPTS: e.g., food, clothing, emergency services, counseling, mentoring,
employment assistance, disaster relief]
[If no social services, skip to Q.6]
a) Are these as needed (i.e., only episodic), or part of a sustained,
programmed and staffed operation? [PROMPTS: routinely scheduled, number
of times per week, dedicated volunteer or paid staff, dedicated budget]
4. What programs or services do you oversee?
5. Are any of these services publicly funded? [How much, from whom?]
6. Could you give us a quick overview of the organization’s mission and structure so we
can understand your role in disaster relief services?
[get org. chart, if possible]
7. Are you part of a larger organization, umbrella structure, or otherwise affiliated with
another organization? [DESCRIBE nature of organizational affiliation, religious
affiliation, if appropriate]
a) [As appropriate] Does your organization consider itself faith-based?
b) Does the organization consider itself community-based? [PROBE: does it
have local community representation on the board, target a local
neighborhood or community for receipt of services]
We’d like to understand what role you played in hurricane disaster relief, and in particular how your relationship worked with [CASE STUDY ORGANIZATION.
8. How soon in relation to the hurricane’s landfall did you become involved in relief
services? [DETAIL: prior to storm’s landfall, first week after, first month after,
forward in time]
How much of your physical facility, and other resources, were accessible after
the storm? [How much damage did they sustain?]
9. Can you tell us if you provided any direct assistance, and if so what kind?
___ Drinking water/emergency supplies
___ Search and rescue activities
___ Evacuation and transport outside the affected area
___ First aid, medical services
[For all respondents] [Use checklist to prompt for related services that might have been overlooked]
___ Temporary housing/shelter
___ Food/meals
___ Clothing/household goods
___ Medical and first aid services
___ Services for the handicapped
___ Mental health, counseling, support groups or other trauma services
___ Family unification or location of missing persons
___ Cash or loans
___ Fundraising specifically for relief
___ Help applying for public assistance
___ Help applying for insurance claims
___ Help applying for FEMA assistance/following up
___ Help getting legal services
___ Spiritual counseling
___ Housing rehabilitation/rebuilding
___ Job training/employment services
___ Child care or school services
___ Transportation services
___ Other (specify) ___________________
a) Were these services significantly different from services you have provided
in the past [social services or specific disaster relief]?
10. [For organizations that did not provide direct services, skip to Q. 12]
Could you tell us more specifically:
a) In what time frame were these services provided? [DETAIL: prior to the
storm’s landfall, in the immediate aftermath, forward in time]
b) Where were these services provided (e.g., geographic locale, physical
facility)?
c) How different were the needs in Katrina to what you had done in the past?
d) How well did past experience lend itself to circumstances in Katrina?
11. Were you able to do any advance preparation after the first storm warnings
appeared? [DESCRIBE]
How did you decide, or from whom did you get instruction, about what would
be expected of your organization?
b) How much pre-storm preparation were you able to implement as planned?
12. How long did it take you to put relief efforts into operation? [DESCRIBE:
hours? days?]
13. Was staff available to help in the immediate aftermath?
[If no, skip to c)]
a) How many?
b) How did you contact them?
c) When was regular staff available?
[As appropriate, depending on the model under analysis]
We’d like to understand what your relationship was with [CASE STUDY ORGANIZATION] in providing relief services.
Or,
We’d like to talk about the network or organizations with which you interacted in your response to Katrina.
14. Were you aware of other relief efforts and plan your response around them?
[DESCRIBE]
a) Did you have existing relationships with other responders? [DETAIL: in
the immediate area; in other locales that would likely help or receive
evacuees?]
b) Did you attempt to establish relationships in anticipation of the storm?
15. Before we talk specifically, can you give us a broad outline of the organizations with
whom you interacted in anticipation and after the storm hit to provide relief services?
[names, relationships, help sought]
16. Now let’s talk about specific relationships and collaborations:
Did you actively collaborate with any of those organizations? [DETAIL:
denominational affiliate, umbrella organization, schools, universities
hospitals, other nonprofit, public agency, location or each]
b) Can you describe the nature of the collaboration? (e.g., formal arrangement,
financial/in-kind contributions, share facilities, staff, provide guidance or
referrals, receive guidance or referrals, etc.)
c) [For each collaboration] Were any of these relationships pre-existing or were
they crafted in anticipation of or in response to the storm?
d) How did you communicate with each other in the immediate aftermath of the
storm?
e) Did you establish a chain of command or, if not, how else did you coordinate
Relief efforts?
Is the collaboration still in place?
[If not] How long did the collaboration last?
17. Did you refer (or hand off) evacuees to these other organizations? (for what
services?)
[If yes,]
Did you provide any case management to coordinate services for
those referred out?
b) Could you make contact with the receiving organization to receive?
clients? [PROBE: How, how often, were contacts made across jurisdictions?]
18. What [other, as appropriate] government agencies or officials did you contact, or try
to contact, in relation to delivering relief services? [DISTINGUISH: federal, state,
local, public hospitals, schools/universities]
a) What help did you seek?
b) Did you try to contact FEMA or the Red Cross specifically? How soon were
you in contact with either?
c) What help did you get [from whomever you contacted]?
d) Had you worked with these agencies or individuals before? Did prior
relationships help in getting desired assistance?
e) Did you get any assistance in assessing individuals’ eligibility for publicly
funded services?
f) What help did you fail to get?
19. What helped or hindered your getting assistance from other organizations?
20. How did you get help across jurisdictions, in the area, and especially across states?
21. Overall, did the networks or collaborations succeed?
a) What would you do differently next time?
[If public agency, skip to 25]
22. Can you give us an estimate of the cost of the relief services you provided?
a) [For congregations] Was this funding from general church funds, tithes, the
governing body or some other source?
b) Did you get any contributions from around the country?
c) Did you receive any funding from federal, state, or local sources?
[Source?]
d) How soon after the storm did you get funding? How helpful was it?
e) Did you have to seek out funding or did it come to you? [DESCRIBE: from
members, local affiliate, broad public response]
f) Did you try to get any other special funding for your Katrina relief efforts?
[If yes] From whom? How much?
g) Overall, was funding sufficient?
h) Overall, how easy or difficult was it to get the funding you needed?
i) [As appropriate] What was the approximate budget for social services in
fiscal year 2005 prior to Katrina?
23. Can you tell us about how your relief efforts have changed since the storm?
a) Of the services that you talked about above, what ones are you still providing?
b) Of those that you are not providing, when and why did you stop?
c) Did you start providing new or additional services at some point [DETAIL
when and what services]?
[e.g., from survey: housing, renovation/rebuilding, employment
services, child care, spiritual counseling, other counseling for trauma/stress,
transportation or other support services?]
24. What do you think were the most significant barriers to coordination or collaboration?
[Open, use checklist as prompts].
___ location of potential helpers
___ lack of knowledge about others’ capabilities, availability
___ lack of communication
___ insurance or liability issues
___ resources (yours or potential partners)
___ determination, willingness to establish the lead
___ government rules, regulations
___ other
a) What would you do differently next time?
25. Can you tell us something about what influenced [ORGANIZATION]
to respond as it did? [PROBE: is response tied to professional, organizational or
religious mission]
a) Had your colleagues or others in the organization discussed potential relief
work prior to Katrina? [when, under what circumstances]
b) [As appropriate] Does the organization consider itself faith-based?
c) Does the organization consider itself community-based?
[PROBE, in what way: local representation on the board, targets a local
neighborhood or community, staffed by local residents, other]
26. What do you think worked well in your relationship with [CASE STUDY
ORGANIZATION]?
Why? [OPEN: opportunity to review major problems, whether anyone attempted
To fix them]
27. What do you think could have worked better? Why? [OPEN: as above,
opportunity to review major problems]
28. What would you like to see done differently to deliver more effective disaster
relief in the future?
[If public agency, skip to 28.b]
a) What would you change about your relationship with public agencies to better
coordinate in a future disaster? [DISTINGUISH federal, state, local, and
specific agencies]
[If public agency]
b) What would you change about your relationships with faith-based or
community organizations to better coordinate in a future disaster?
29. Do you have any written documents that you can share with us, such as
emergency disaster plans, MOUs with partner organizations, or meeting notes with
partners or other organizations with whom you interacted around your hurricane relief
efforts?
Thank you so much for your time. This has been very helpful.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Interview Guide: |
| Author | FKramer |
| Last Modified By | fkramer |
| File Modified | 2007-07-11 |
| File Created | 2007-07-11 |