PII NonSub Change Justification

To: Brenda Aguilar; Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

From: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE); Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: February 22, 2013

Subject: Nonsubstantive Change – Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) Evaluation (OMB #0970-0408)

Background

Phase 1 of the Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) Evaluation involved clearance for site-specific evaluations in Kansas and Washoe County, Nevada and for the cross-site evaluation instruments in 6 PII sites.  At the time of initial clearance, gifts of appreciation to respondents were proposed for only parent interview respondents in the Kansas site. At this time, we are requesting that the clearance reflect our intent to provide gifts of appreciation to parent interview respondents in the Washoe site as well.  Gifts of appreciation are not offered for respondents to the cross-site evaluation instruments.

Rationale for change

The Washoe County PII evaluation did not originally provide tokens of appreciation to parent interview respondents. However, we believe that offering tokens of appreciation may increase the response rate at this site, which to date has been low. Respondents are being asked to take part in multiple 90-minute interviews during the course of their involvement with the study (up to twice per year for the duration of their involvement with the child welfare system). A total of 102 cases have had the opportunity to complete a baseline assessment. Of these, only 54 respondents (53%) have completed the baseline assessment. There is little difference between treatment and control respondents in the proportion of respondents who have completed the assessment. For treatment respondents 24 out of 43 respondents (56%) completed the baseline assessment, while for the control respondents 30 out of 59 respondents (51%) completed the baseline. To date only two potential respondents have refused to consent to the interview; the difficult part of reaching this population is getting in touch with the respondents and setting and keeping an interview appointment. Data collectors have on average made at least six attempts to contact respondents, including in-person drop-in visits to the respondents’ homes. Broken appointments are another reason for not completing an interview. We believe offering a small gift may reduce the number of broken appointments and also increase the number of appointments that are made. We propose that by offering respondents a small monetary gift (a $20 gift card) at every data collection point, in appreciation for the time it takes to complete the interview, the response rate will increase, both at baseline and at subsequent data collection points. The Kansas evaluation is offering respondents a small gift ($ 10 gift card) for their participation in 90-minute interviews. We propose a slightly larger gift for Washoe respondents because they can be asked to engage in data collection as much as twice yearly during the length of the study while the Kansas evaluation will only be collecting data at three time points. Because of this extended time commitment from Washoe respondents, we propose a slightly larger amount than is being offered in the Kansas evaluation.

Current Supporting Statement A language

A.9.        Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

 

The PII evaluation project will not provide payments or gifts to respondents. In Kansas, however, parents will be offered a small monetary incentive (a $10 gift card) for taking part in the family assessment.  Local agencies involved in the Kansas project made a decision to provide incentives from their own budgets.  The same incentive is available for older youth for participation in the Family Interaction Task portion of the assessment battery. No incentives are being provided to participants in the Washoe County evaluation or for completion of cross-site instruments.

 Proposed revision to Supporting Statement A

 A.9.        Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

 

The PII evaluation project will not provide payments or gifts to respondents. In Kansas, however, parents will be offered a small monetary incentive (a $10 gift card) for taking part in the family assessment.  Local agencies involved in the Kansas project made a decision to provide incentives from their own budgets.  The same incentive is available for older youth for participation in the Family Interaction Task portion of the assessment battery. In Washoe County, parents will be offered a small token of appreciation ($20 gift card) for taking part in the family assessment. No incentives are being provided to participants in the Washoe County evaluation or for completion of cross-site instruments.