Staff Interview Protocol

APPENDIX A
GUIDE FOR SITE VISIT INTERVIEWS WITH PROGRAM STAFF

OMB No.: xxxx-xxxx
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx
TOPIC GUIDE FOR SITE VISITS

Research Topics

Questions for Site Visits
PROGRAM CONTEXT

Regional Context

Are there specific policy conditions in the state or locality that may be favorable or
unfavorable toward marriage?
What is the economic climate, particularly the prevalence of jobs for low-skilled workers?
What seem to be the norms related to marriage and family in the specific population the
program aims to target?
To what extent are other supportive services available for low-income families, including
employment and other services for fathers?

Motivation

What agency, program, or individual spearheaded the local development of the BSF program?
What was the impetus for implementing the BSF program?

Planning

What agencies or individuals were involved in the planning process, and how were they
identified and engaged?
What was the process used to design and plan the program’s implementation?
What were the program’s sources of funding? What was the process for obtaining this
funding?
How did the state or local political climate impede or support the development of the BSF
program?

Program Setting

What agencies were involved in recruiting participants and serving BSF couples? What roles
did they serve? Why were they interested in supporting BSF?
Is BSF integrated into a “host” program? If so, what are the goals and structure of the host
program? How does BSF fit into the host program’s philosophy and operations?
What other services are available at either the host program or within the community to
provide additional support to BSF couples?
How committed do program staff appear to be to the program model?
What type of training was provided to host program staff at the outset to prepare them for the
BSF program?
How family-friendly is the physical environment where couple services are provided?
How comfortable are family coordinators in talking with clients about relationships?
OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT

Enrollment
Process

What outreach strategies are used to identify and recruit participants? Which strategies appear
to be more effective compared to others?
What messages do participants receive about BSF during the enrollment process? Who
delivers these messages and how effective do they appear to be?
What process or tools are used to identify couples for whom the program is inappropriate (e.g.,
those involved in domestic violence)?
What methods are used to reach out to fathers? How well do these methods seem to work?
How important is the use of male outreach staff?

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Research Topics

Questions for Site Visits
How do fathers respond to direct outreach?

Recruitment

How successful are sites in recruiting eligible couples?
Does recruitment success vary by population group or other background characteristics? If so,
how does it vary?
How often does one partner consent to the program and study, but not the other?

Pre-Workshop
Activities

Once couples are enrolled, what methods are used to sustain interest while waiting for
curriculum workshops to begin? How frequent/intensive are these activities?
What messages do enrollees receive about workshops prior to their start?
How do staff respond when only one parent attends pre-workshop activities?
CURRICULUM DELIVERY

Format

What is the format, sequence, and duration of curriculum group sessions? How often do
groups meet and over what period of time? When and where do groups meet?
How many group leaders, facilitators or coaches or other program staff attend the curriculum
group sessions? How many couples are scheduled/invited to each group session?

Group Leaders

How closely do curriculum group leaders follow the curriculum? What adaptations occurred,
and why?
How often do workshop group leaders encounter situations for which they feel unprepared?
How are the curriculum group leaders trained, supervised and monitored?
What types of education, background, and experience do curriculum group leaders have?
In what ways do curriculum group leaders think the program could be improved?

Couples’
Experiences

Do couples actively participate during sessions? Do mothers and fathers participate equally?

To what extent do couples engage in take-home exercises, if applicable?
What do couples like/dislike about the curriculum group sessions? What do they find most
and least useful?
What level of satisfaction do participants report? What suggestions do they have for changes
in the curriculum group sessions?
To what extent is the social aspect of the curriculum group important to couples? Do they
socialize outside of the program?
LINKS TO FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES
Needs Assessment

What assessment tools or methods are used to identify needs for support services? How open
are couples to being assessed for these needs?
What education and experience do program staff conducting needs assessment have?
What is the process for assessing whether intimate partner violence is occurring after entry into
the program? Who conducts such assessments, where, and how often?

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Research Topics

Questions for Site Visits
Are new mothers formally assessed for post-partum depression? If so, what screening tool is
used and what action is taken for positive assessments?

Referral and
Follow-Up

For what services are couples most often referred?
How frequently do referred couples follow up and actually participate in services? How active
are BSF program staff in encouraging follow-up?
Does take-up of support services vary by whether services are available on-site or elsewhere in
the community?
What do program staff do if participants refuse needed services, such as substance abuse
treatment or mental health services?
PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

Curriculum Group
Attendance

How often do couples attend initial curriculum group sessions together?
How often do couples continue to attend curriculum sessions together? Are there “cliffs” for
attrition from curriculum group sessions? What reasons are given for ending attendance?
How often do participants attend without their partners? Is this more common for men or
women? What reasons do participants give for attending without their partner?
What are the background characteristics of couples who participate?
How do the background characteristics of couples who participate more frequently compare to
those who participate inconsistently, and those who do not participate at all?

Meetings with
Family
Coordinators

How frequently and for how long do family coordinators meet with couples? What topics are
discussed during these meetings? Where do the meetings take place?
How reliably do couples attend meetings or home visits with family coordinators?
Does attendance at home visits or meetings with family coordinators vary between mothers
and fathers?
RETENTION STRATEGIES

Strategies for
Promoting Initial
Participation

What activities or strategies are used to encourage participation in the initial curriculum group
sessions, prior to their start (e.g., home visits, orientation sessions, phone calls)?
What role do incentives appear to play in encouraging couples to participate in initial
activities?
What steps do program staff take when enrollees do not show up at initial sessions?
At what point, and for what reasons, do program staff decide a nonparticipating couple is
unlikely to ever attend (and cease attempts to encourage them)?

Maintaining
Participation

What strategies are used to maintain involvement of participants in the group sessions? Which
of these appear to be more effective and less effective?
How important does the presence or absence of male-female teams of staff appear to be in
retaining the participation of couples?
What characteristics or attributes appear to be most important for the group facilitators?

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Research Topics

Questions for Site Visits
Does frequent contact by family coordinators result in greater participation?

Barriers

What non-program related factors seem to keep couples participating, and what factors seem
related to attrition?
Do barriers to participation differ for mothers or fathers? How do staff address these barriers?
How do program staff deal with couples who break up over the course of attendance at group
sessions?
PROGRAM REPLICATION

Determining
Factors

What conditions appear to be critical for replicating the program? Are there demographic,
economic, political, or cultural conditions that must be met?
What key characteristics do successful sites share?
What tools, training, or resources do staff need to help them better address the challenges that
participants face?
What could be changed or improved about the program and the way it is implemented to make
it more successful?
PROGRAM COSTS

Total Program
Cost

How much does the program spend to implement and provide all activities to participants?
What is the total cost per couple?
Has the program benefited from volunteer labor? If so, how many people volunteer, how
much time do they provide, and what tasks do they perform?
How much does the program spend per component activity? How much do actual
expenditures differ from the amount budgeted?
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Types of
Assistance and its
Usefulness

What types of technical assistance or guidance did you receive in setting up and trying out
your program?
Which types of assistance or guidance were the most helpful?
Was there any assistance or guidance that you think would have been helpful, but that you did
not receive?

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