Interview Protocol for TANF and CW Staff

Instrument 2: Interview Protocol for TANF and CW Staff

OMB Control No.: XXXX-XXXX
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx
THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) Public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the
data needed, 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.

Study of Coordination of Tribal TANF and Child Welfare Services

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL for TANF and CW Staff
The purpose of the interview is to obtain information from the TANF and CW staff regarding the
implementation and progress of the Office of Family Assistance-funded Coordination of Tribal TANF and
Child Welfare Services program at each Tribal community.

INTERVIEW INFORMATION:
TRIBE:
PROGRAM:
AGENCY:
INTERVIEW DATE/TIME:
RESPONDENT 1:

RESPONDENT 2:

TITLE:

TITLE:

STUDY ID:

STUDY ID:

INTERVIEWER(S):

Directions to interviewer – please inform the interviewee: An important part of this study is to gain a
better understanding of the services that are available to children, youth, and families through [program
name], as well as how TANF and CW coordinate to jointly provide these services. We would like to ask
you some questions about the project’s coordination and service provision for [name of Tribe/Tribal
organization] families. We anticipate that our discussion today will require about 60 minutes.
Your participation is voluntary. All information gathered will be kept private and will not be shared with
other members of the Tribe [or Tribal Organization] or the program. Individual responses will not be
reported and all information will be aggregated for analysis and reporting purposes.
Would you like to proceed with the interview? Do you have any questions before we begin?
First we would like to get some background information.
A. Background
1. How long have you or your department been involved with [program name]?
2. Could you describe the basic services your department provides that are part of the [program name]?
3. In your opinion, what were the reasons for implementing [program name] in this community?
4. And what were the reasons for placing the program in [department where program is housed – from
Program Staff interview]?
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B. Planning
1. Were you involved in the planning for the [program name]?
Yes  continue with the set of questions.
No  skip to Section C.
2. Who else was involved in the planning process?
3. What issues were addressed during the planning phase?
4. What kinds of activities were conducted during the planning phase?
5. Were any new policies or procedures developed during the [program name] planning phase?
6. Could you describe any challenges encountered during the planning phase? What were the
challenges and what strategies were used to try to resolve the challenges?
7. Were traditional Native values used/ considered in the planning process? Please explain.

C. Relationships, Roles, and Responsibilities
We would like to ask you some questions about your role in your department.
1. What is your role in [program name]? How long have you been in your position? What are your
responsibilities? And what percent of your time is allocated to the program?
Respondent #1:

Respondent #2:

Position title:
______________________________
How long in the position: ______________
Responsibilities are:

Position title:
______________________________
How long in the position: ______________
Responsibilities are:

Percent of time allocated to [program name]___

Percent of time allocated to [program name]___

2. Could you give us a detailed description of what you do that is related to the [program name]?

D. Framework of Services to Families
Before we talk more about the specific services, we would like to have a better understanding of the
[name of Tribe or Tribal organization] approach to caring for families.
1. Can you describe your Tribe’s [or Tribal organization’s] approach to caring for families?
Would you also describe the approach in terms of one-stop services, wraparound services, system
of care, all of the above, or perhaps something else?

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2. Could you talk about how traditional Native values and cultural practices inform the [program name]
and its approach to activities and/or services for families?
3. How does your community define a healthy child? [Probe: definition of well-being, what constructs
does the community consider to be part of well-being.]
4. How does your community define a healthy family? [Probe: What does a “healthy family” look
like? What are some characteristics?]
[Ask TANF staff the following questions #5 and #6]
5. Please describe the eligibility criteria for families to receive TANF services.
6. How do you determine a family’s eligibility for the TANF program and services?
[Ask CW staff the following question]
7. How does your department define “relative” or “caretaker relative” for the purpose of establishing
custody?

E1. Tribal TANF Relationship to the CW program [questions for TANF staff only]
Since Tribal TANF and Child Welfare coordination is a key objective of this grant, we would like to
know more about how the TANF and CW units work together or how they work with you in your
capacity as [position title].
1. Could you describe any challenges you have encountered in serving families that are involved with
both TANF and CW?
2. How have you worked with CW staff to address these challenges? Please describe.
3. What are some examples of successful coordination and/or cooperation between Tribal TANF and
child welfare?

E2. CW Relationship to the Tribal TANF program [for CW staff only]
Since Tribal TANF and Child Welfare coordination is a key objective of this grant, we would like to
know more about how the TANF and CW units work together or how they work with you in your
capacity as [position title].
1. Could you describe any challenges you have encountered in serving families that are involved with
both TANF and CW?
2. How have you worked with TANF staff to address these challenges? Please describe.
3. What are some examples of successful coordination and/or cooperation between Tribal TANF and
child welfare?

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OMB Control No.: XXXX-XXXX
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

G. TANF and CW Coordination
The TANF program focuses on helping families with children achieve self-sufficiency. The CW
programs focus on safety, permanency, and well-being and provide a range of services from initial
assessment and investigation, child protective services, court-ordered child welfare services or prevention
services to families at risk of child abuse and neglect and for children placed in out-of-home care. We are
interested in learning how the TANF and child welfare programs work together to address the needs of
vulnerable families.
1. Could you describe how the coordination of services works? [i.e., what does the program do?]
2. What exactly do you do when you work with families? With children? With Courts? Other?
3. How does the coordination of services that you just described address the needs of the families? How
do you help families?
4. Please describe the process for referring Tribal TANF families to CW if there is a risk of child abuse
or neglect? Please describe.
5. Do TANF and CW have a common approach to conducting comprehensive family assessments?
Please describe. [Probe: Implementing the Differential Response approach? What instruments are
used?]
6. How is the disposition of child protection cases communicated to Tribal TANF? Please describe.
7. Please describe any data sharing protocols that are in place between Tribal TANF and CW (if
applicable)?
8. How are sanctions related to Tribal TANF communicated to CW? Please describe.
9. To what extent is CW providing more intensive in-home services for children at risk of removal?
Could you describe the services that are provided?
10. What is your assessment of the level of coordination and/or cooperation between TANF and CW?
11. How could the coordination/cooperation be improved?
H. Service Coordination and Decision-Making
1. How does the [program name] coordinate the services or activities that you described across the
Tribe’s [or Tribal organization’s] programs and/or with other providers?
2. Who is involved in decision-making as it relates to families who participate in the [program name]?
Please describe. [Probe: Who makes decisions? Shared decision-making? Who participates?]

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OMB Control No.: XXXX-XXXX
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

I. Tribal TANF and CW Coordination Outcomes
Interviewer: Please provide each respondent a Coordination Outcomes table; go over teach item. Probe
for more clarification if information provided is not consistent with information from other respondents.
We are interested in learning what changes have been made to help increase coordination between Tribal
TANF and CW staff. Please tell us whether any of the following have been established as a result of the
Tribal TANF and Child Welfare Services Coordination grant?
Yes

No

Working
on it

NA

Comment

Communication
Have more informal communication
Have more formal communication
Have regularly scheduled meetings with staff from
both departments (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly)
Other:
Information Sharing
Share ideas
Have privacy/confidentiality agreements and releases
in place to share information
Have routine procedures in place to share information
between TANF and Tribal CW departments
Share case plans or treatment plans across departments
TANF and Tribal CW staff cross-trained on:
• Data sharing procedures
• Confidentiality procedures
• Assessment tools
• Child abuse [maltreatment]
• Parenting
• Other:
Implemented cross-referral procedure
TANF and CW staff at the same location
Developed a Central Intake Center
Have a liaison to report to heads of TANF and Tribal
CW departments
Use a common curriculum
Other:
Screening and Assessment
Use a common assessment tool (to assess and address
safety, self-sufficiency, risk and protective factors)
Review and share information from comprehensive
family assessments or other assessment tools
Coordinated screening and response for substance
abuse and mental health issues
Other:
Case Planning and Management
Joint staffing of cases or case planning by TANF and
Tribal CW staff
Established a single case or treatment plan
Case plans accessible through linked databases
Streamlined or coordinated plan for referral to partner
agencies
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Yes

No

Working
on it

NA

Comment

Coordinated service planning and case management
with Tribal agency staff and/or external service
providers for dual-involved families
Support for mutual efforts for family engagement or
involvement
Serve on a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)
Other:
Delivery of Services
Onsite supportive services provided
Formal and informal linkages to community support
networks used by TANF and CW
Develop targeted prevention activities
Other:
Policy
Created or revised agency protocol or policy. Describe.
Documented coordinated TANF and CW policies in
revised policy manuals (to institutionalize practice).
Best practice guidelines used or established for
coordination across TANF and CW staff
Other:
Information systems
Developed a clearinghouse or central repository for
sharing forms and information (e.g., client data)
between TANF and CW departments
Use a common data collection system (e.g., linked
databases, etc.)
Electronic referral system established
Other:
Organizational/Systemic
Interagency agreement to facilitate referral process or
service delivery
Merged resources (e.g., funds, space, staff, items for
clients, food for workshops, etc.). Describe.
Engage in strategic planning or visioning initiatives
Other:

1. In your opinion, are these changes that we just discussed beneficial?
2. Is there a sense of commitment from the TANF and CW staff to work together to coordinate services?
Please describe.
3. In your opinion, how well are the TANF and CW services coordinated now, compared to before this
coordination grant started?

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J. Facilitators and Challenges to Implementing Services
1. In terms of implementing the key activities for the [program name], what has gone well? [Probe for
facilitators]
2. What have been the challenges in implementing the activities of the [program name]? Please
describe.
Probe:
Severity of family needs
Expectations
Service gaps
Historical trauma
Interpersonal relationships
Budget
Confidentiality (rules)
Inter-agency relationships
Quality assurance capacity
Language
Turf
Evaluation capacity
Policies
Coordination
Common intake forms
Professional jargon
Staffing (tenure or turnover)
Data sharing
Other
3. Could you describe any challenges you may have encountered in collaborating with the [community
partners] OR [Tribal agencies/departments] to implement [program name]? (Probe: Stakeholder
involvement and commitment? Sufficient referrals? Access to services? Coordination of services?
Utilization of services? Payment for assessments? Monitoring?)
a. How did these challenges impact the progress of children, youth, or families that participate
in the [program name]?
b. How did these concerns impact your work?
c. How did you address these challenges?
4. What successes have you observed in the implementation of collaborative services between TANF
and CW?

K. Training and Technical Assistance
1. Have you been involved in any training related to the [program name]?
Yes  ask the following questions.
No  skip to question 6 below.
a. On what topics?
b. Did you find the training(s) beneficial?
c. Were any of these cross-training with TANF or CW staff? Or other Tribal staff? If so which
ones?
2. Has the knowledge you gained from these trainings changed your practice? If so, how? Can you give
us an example?
3. Have you experienced any challenges in applying the new information that you learned in the
trainings? If so, how? Can you give us an example?
4. Has the Tribe [or Tribal organization] received any technical assistance for [program name]
implementation? Please describe.
5. Has the technical assistance helped the Tribe [or Tribal organization] to implement [program name]?
Please describe.

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6. Is there any other training or technical assistance that you think would be helpful in implementing the
[program name]? [Interviewer: Some grantees have budgeted for TA under the grant. If so, probe:
Are there additional areas of TA, not included in your budget, that would be important for the
program?]
7. Do you seek advice from or confer with other Tribes [or Tribal organizations] who are implementing
Tribal TANF and CW coordination projects? If so, what kinds of topics are addressed?
8. Do you have suggestions for what types of cross-grantee sharing/ learning opportunities would be
beneficial for your program?

L. Perceived Benefits and Future Goals
1. In your opinion, what have been some of the key benefits for children, youth, or families served
through the [program name]?
2. Is there anything else that you would like to add regarding the topics we have talked about?

Thank you!

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