Recruitment, Reminder and Interview-Individuals/Households

OMB Approval No.: 0584-XXXX

Approval Expires: XX/XX/XXXX

Appendix B-1: RECRUITMENT SCRIPT--FOCUS GROUPS

Note: Focus group participants will be recruited by the Urban Institute [or MEF Associates], unless the local office director prefers to have local agency staff recruit participants. Participants will be at least 18 years of age. About 20 adult heads-of-households for each group will be contacted to ensure that about 10 agree to participate and that each group includes about 5 actual participants. The recruitment and reminder scripts below assume that both calls are made by the same Urban Institute [or MEF Associates] staff member.

Hello, may I please speak with [PARTICIPANT’S NAME]? [Once the participant is on the call . . .]

Hello, I’m [NAME], a researcher with the Urban Institute [or MEF Associates], a research organization located in the Washington, DC area. [NAME OF CASEWORKER] at the food stamp [SNAP; name of program to be tailored to specific site] program, gave me permission to invite you to join an upcoming discussion group for SNAP recipients. We are holding a one-time meeting to hear from SNAP participants about the experience of going off the SNAP program and then coming back on soon after. As a token of our appreciation, you will receive $30 and a light meal [lunch or dinner, depending on the time of the session], and you will be helping SNAP administrators understand how to better serve clients and reduce the burden of going off and on SNAP on families. Our research team is coming to [CITY] on [DATE] to conduct the discussion group. We are hoping that you would be willing to talk with us about your experiences. We hope to hear as many points of view as possible about why people go off and on SNAP and how it affects households like yours. We feel that your input would be really valuable.

Am I correct that you recently had the experience of going off the SNAP program and then coming back on? [IF NO, SKIP TO “That’s fine” below. IF YES, CONTINUE.]

Your decision to participate in the discussion or not will have NO impact on your receipt of SNAP or any other public assistance benefits. Your participation is completely voluntary. The discussion should take about an hour and a half. As I mentioned, you will receive $30 as a token of appreciation. We will also serve a light meal. Our research team will use what we learn to contribute to a report to the federal government on the patterns, causes, and costs of going off and on SNAP. Your name will not be recorded, and all information will be kept private.

Would you be interested in and available to participate in the discussion group on [DATE] at [TIME]? The discussion will take place at [the SNAP offices OR OTHER SPECIFIC LOCATION], located at [ADDRESS].

[IF YES] Terrific. I’ll put your name down as a participant, and would ask that you write down this meeting in your calendar. One of the research team members will call you again prior to the meeting to remind you of the details – the date, time, and location, etc. Enjoy the rest of your day. Good bye.

[IF NO] That’s fine. Thank you for letting me tell you about this. Enjoy the rest of your day. Good bye.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 9 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.