State and Local Agencies

Appendix F3

Round 3
Massachusetts Executive Interview Guide

Round 3: Mature Operations and Feasibility of HIP Expansion

The purpose of Round 3 interviews with Massachusetts Executives is to document early HIP operations. The interviews will take place approximately 11 to 12 months after HIP is fully operational. Interview subjects may include, but are not limited to the following Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and other Massachusetts executives:

• Commissioner

• Deputy Commissioner for Policies, Programs, and Field Operations

• Deputy Commissioner for Operations Management

• General Counsel

• Chief of Staff

• Assistant Commissioner for Field Operations

• Assistant Commissioner for Administration and Finance

• Assistant Commissioner for Program Integrity

• Chief Information Officer

• Statewide Director for Training and Business Process Redesign

Round 1 interviews include the following questions. Questions may be modified or supplemented during the interviews to clarify and expand responses. If more than one person is present at an interview session, we will capture each person’s level of involvement and encourage each person to respond to questions.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 85 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing 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: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx). Do not return the completed form to this address.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Date and Time of Interview

2. Location of Interview

3. Name(s) and Title(s) of Respondent(s)

4. If they have changed since the previous interview, provide a description of your responsibilities related to HIP and who you interact with.

HIP INFORMATION

5. Please provide your assessment of HIP operations since the previous interview, such as ACS transaction processing, readiness of retailers, and ease of use for participants.

6. Please provide your assessment of the HIP program in general.

7. Please describe the greatest challenges that you have encountered concerning HIP since the previous interview.

   1. How were these challenges addressed and what lessons learned can be derived from them?

8. Please describe the stakeholders (e.g., DTA Central Office, DTA local offices, FNS, ACS, retailers, and community based organizations) that you have interacted with since the previous interview.

   1. What were the greatest challenges being faced by these stakeholders and how where they addressed?

ISSUES/LESSONS LEARNED

9. Other than previously discussed, what issues, if any, have you encountered during operations and how were these issues resolved?

10. In retrospect, what could be done to improve HIP operations?

11. What lessons learned can be derived from your experiences with HIP?

12. Do you think HIP should be expanded to other areas of Massachusetts and why?

13. Do you think HIP should be expanded to other states and why?

14. What changes would you make to policies, procedures or systems before expanding HIP in Massachusetts or to other states?

EXPENDITURES

15. What additional activities and related costs would you expect to incur if HIP were implemented statewide?

16. Were there activities/costs that you did not anticipate that might impact another state if HIP were deployed nationally?