State, Local and Tribal Governments

OMB Control Number: 0584-XXXX
Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Attachment A.4:
SNAP Local AGENCY worker interview Protocol

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. As a reminder, the purpose of today’s interview is to gather information about the performance of the CBO partners that are conducting SNAP applicant interviews in your area.

With your permission, I would like to record the interview so that I have a reliable backup to my notes. The recording will only be listened to by Insight staff, and will be deleted at the conclusion of the study. Is that okay with you?

[If yes, start recorder]
[If no, take detailed notes]

SNAP STAFF RATINGS OF APPLICATION ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY CBOs

I’d like to begin by asking you a few questions about the CBOs’ efforts to provide SNAP application assistance. Later on, I will ask you some questions about how well the CBO interviewers are doing with respect to conducting SNAP applicant interviews, but for now, I want you to focus specifically on the application assistance provided by those CBOs.

1. Have you had an opportunity to review any applications that have been submitted by the CBOs? If so, how would you rate the assistance they provided? Specifically:

1a. Were the applications complete?

1b. Were they filled out accurately?

1c. Do they appear to be submitted in a timely manner, or do you find there are often delays between the date on the application and the date it is received by SNAP? If there are delays, what do you think might account for those delays?

1d. Does it take longer to process CBO-assisted SNAP applications than it does to process other SNAP applications (e.g., those where the applicant received no assistance, or received assistance from a SNAP office worker)? If so, what do you think accounts for the different processing times?

2. Have the CBOs’ efforts to provide SNAP application assistance affected your workload? If so, how?

3. What about the nature of your work? Have your responsibilities changed? Are there things you need to do now that you did not need to do before? Are there things you no longer have had to do since the CBOs started providing SNAP application assistance?

WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CBO

Now I want you to think specifically about the SNAP applicant interviews that the CBOs conduct. I’d like to get a sense of the extent to which you interact with the CBO employees or volunteers who are conducting SNAP applicant interviews in this area.

4. Do you have any regular contact with them, or with other representatives from the CBOs? If so, what is the nature of that contact (e.g., how frequent, is it in person, by phone, via email, etc., and what are the reasons for the interaction—is it usually regarding an application submission, to answer a question, to follow up on a case, etc.)?

SNAP STAFF RATINGS OF CBO INTERVIEWERS AUTHORIZED TO CONDUCT SNAP APPLICANT INTERVIEWS

Let’s move on to discuss how CBO conducted interviews may have impacted you or your office. Please describe for me any ways that your workload has changed since the CBOs started conducting SNAP applicant interviews.

5. Has the nature of your work changed since the CBOs started conducting SNAP applicant interviews? If so, how? Are there things you need to do now that you did not need to do before the CBOs started conducting applicant interviews? Are there things you no longer have had to do since the CBOs started providing SNAP applicant interviews?

6. About how long does a typical SNAP interview take when conducted through a SNAP office? Do you have a sense of how this might compare to the interviews that are conducted through the CBOs?

SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES

Now I’d like to get a more general sense of what you think have been the successes and challenges associated with having CBOs conduct SNAP applicant interviews.

7. In your opinion, what have been the most significant successes associated with having the CBOs conduct SNAP interviews?

8. What factors do you think made those successes possible?

9. What have been some of the challenges associated with having the CBOs conduct SNAP applicant interviews?

10. What steps, if any, have been taken to address those challenges?

11. Do you believe these steps have been adequate in addressing the challenges?

CLIENT SATISFACTION

12. Do you think having the CBOs conduct SNAP interviews has affected overall client satisfaction among SNAP applicants and participants? If so, how? If not, why not?

WRAP UP

That’s all the questions I have for you. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much for your time.

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 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 60 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.

Page 3