HAWAIIAN STAKEHOLDER TELEPHONE INTERVIEW GUIDE
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview today.
My name is _______________ and I’m a researcher from Econometrica, Inc.an organization located in Washington, DC. I’m am contacting you because the Urban Institute, on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is studying the housing conditions and needs of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians across the United States. The study will describe housing needs and socioeconomic conditions in Indian Country. It will provide HUD with information on how current programs are operating, the extent to which housing needs are being addressed, and demographic and economic trends. It will also answer questions about home ownership in Indian Country and the impacts of the recent financial crisis.
One component of the study specifically addresses the housing conditions and needs of Native Hawaiians.
[Name of stakeholder organization] is one of several organizations selected for interviews because of services you provide to Native Hawaiians or experience, or knowledge you have about one or more of the Native Hawaiian population cohorts. Interviews will cover access to and the condition of affordable housing for Native Hawaiians.
We will use what we learn today and from other interviews to contribute to a report on housing conditions and needs among Native Hawaiians. This report will be submitted to HUD to inform the federal government of housing needs and challenges.
Confidentiality Statement [Interviewer must read this]: .
Before beginning the interview, I (we) want to thank you for agreeing to participate in this study and remind you that your participation is voluntary. I (we) know that you are busy and will try to be as brief as possible. We have many questions and are going to talk to many different people, so please do not feel as though we expect you to be able to answer every question. The interview today should last about 45 minutes. This interview is not part of an audit or a compliance review. We are interested in learning about your ideas, experiences, and opinions about housing for Native Hawaiians. There are no right or wrong answers.
In addition, before we start, I want to let you know that although we will take notes during these interviews, information is never repeated with the name of the respondent in any reports or in any discussions with supervisors, colleagues, or HUD. When we write our reports and discuss our findings, information from all the people we speak with is compiled and presented so that no one person can be identified.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Could you tell us your name, the organization you represent, and your position at that organization?
What are the purposes and objectives of your organization?
What has been the involvement of your organization with Native Hawaiians (NHs) in the state of Hawaii? That would include current and prospective Beneficiaries, as well as the self-identified NH community as a whole.
What are the responsibilities of your current position?
How long have you been in your current position?
Prior to your current position, have you had any prior work or project experience that enabled you to work with the state’s Native Hawaiian community?
Do you have experience working with the NH community on a statewide basis or only on selected islands or counties? If only on selected islands or counties, please tell us which ones they are.
Has your organization coordinates any collaborative efforts with Homestead Associations? (If YES): Could you explain what those efforts involved?
In addition to HUD, could you tell me what other types of programs are available to increase the housing stock for Native Hawaiians?
In your view, how difficult is it for members of the Native Hawaiian community not living on home lands to find affordable housing? (Difficult, Somewhat Difficult, Not Difficult)
In your view, does the affordability of housing available to Native Hawaiians vary significantly by island or county?
[If YES] Please specify the regional variance and the degree of affordability variance across parts of the State.
In your view, does the quality of housing currently occupied by the Native Hawaiian community vary significantly by island or county?
[If YES] Please specify the regional variance and the type of housing quality variance across regions.
Based on your experience, would you classify the quality of housing on home lands as better than, equal to, or of poorer quality than that available to the Native Hawaiian households not living on home lands? (If response to question 10 indicates regional differences): Discuss by region.
[If poorer quality] Could you indicate the primary types of deficiencies?
Based on your experience, would you classify the quality of housing on home lands as better than, equal to, or of poorer quality than that available to the general population in Hawaii? (If response to question 10 indicates regional differences): Discuss by region.
[If poorer quality] Could you indicate the primary types of deficiencies?
Based on your experience, would you classify the quality of housing of the non-home lands Native Hawaiian population as better than, equal to, or of poorer quality than that available to the home lands population in Hawaii?
[If poorer quality] Could you indicate the primary types of deficiencies?
Based on your experience, would you classify the quality of housing on the non-home lands Native Hawaiian population as better than, equal to, or of poorer quality than that available to the general population living on the same island or in the same county in Hawaii?
[If poorer quality] Could you indicate the primary types of deficiencies?
Based on your experience, are there any significant differences in the quality of housing occupied by the Native Hawaiian applicant population and the rest of the Native Hawaiian population?
[If YES] Could you indicate the type of differences?
Based on your observations, do you think that a significant number of homestead residences are overcrowded?
[If YES] Does this seem to be more of a problem in some islands than in others?
[If YES] Please indicate the islands where overcrowding is a more significant problem.
Do you think that overcrowding is a more significant problem on the home lands than for the Native Hawaiian and general populations not living on the home lands?
[If YES] Please compare and explain.
If the level of the overcrowding among the Native Hawaiian population is greater than that of the general population, could you indicate if the overcrowding is more prevalent on some islands than others?
[If YES] Please indicate the islands where overcrowding is a more significant problem.
Do you think that homelessness is a significant problem among the Native Hawaiian population in the state?
Do you think that the degree of homelessness among the non-homestead resident Native Hawaiian population is greater than, equal to, or less than the general population of the state?
[If greater homelessness among the Native Hawaiian population] Could you indicate the factors that contribute to this variance in the degree of homelessness?
What are some ways that Native Hawaiians cope with or adapt to housing problems related to affordability, overcrowding, and quality?
From your observations, do the homestead residents have adequate resources to adequately maintain their homes?
[If NO] Could you list the observed items that led you to give this answer?
On average, would you judge the support provided by Homestead Associations to their members to be more than adequate, adequate, or less than adequate?
[If less than adequate] Could you indicate the areas where you think they could provide enhanced support?
If there is one area in which the Homestead Associations could provide more support to their residents, what area would that be?
Do you think that the Homestead Associations have adequately “tapped” external sources of funding?
[If NO] Could you list factors contributing to this less-than-adequate
Do you think that the Homestead Associations have achieved an adequate level of coordination with public service agencies in their “border” communities (e.g., public safety, schools)?
[If NO] Could you indicate the areas where there has not been adequate cooperation and/or coordination?
Are there any significant barriers to adequate coordination between the Homestead Associations and their “border” communities?
[If YES] Could you indicate what those barriers are?
Do you have an estimate of the percentage of total household income that the average Native Hawaiian household must devote to housing expenses?
[If YES] Could you give us that percentage?
If you were able to provide an estimate of Native Hawaiian household income devoted to housing, do you think that percentage is greater than, about equal to, or less than the percentage of the general state population?
Could you indicate the most critical unmet need facing the Native Hawaiian households living on home lands (either for individual households or for the Associations)?
Could you indicate the most critical unmet need facing the Native Hawaiian households not located on home lands?
Is there any topic or issue you think we should have discussed today but has not been mentioned? If there is such an issue, please let us know what it is and why you think it is important.
Thank you for your time and cooperation.
HOMESTEAD ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR INTERVIEW GUIDE
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview today.
My name is _______________ and I’m a researcher from Econometrica, Inc.an organization located in Washington, DC. I’m am contacting you because the Urban Institute, on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is studying the housing conditions and needs of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians across the United States. The study will describe housing needs and socioeconomic conditions in Indian Country. It will provide HUD with information on how current programs are operating, the extent to which housing needs are being addressed, and demographic and economic trends. It will also answer questions about home ownership in Indian Country and the impacts of the recent financial crisis.
One component of the study specifically addresses the housing conditions and needs of Native Hawaiians.
We are contacting all Homestead Associations for interviews for your insights about housing on state-recognized homelands. Interviews will cover housing conditions and needs on the homelands as well as community development efforts on the homelands.
We will use what we learn today and from other interviews to contribute to a report on housing conditions and needs among Native Hawaiians. This report will be submitted to HUD to inform the federal government of housing needs and challenges.
Confidentiality Statement [Interviewer must read this]: .
Before beginning the interview, I (we) want to thank you for agreeing to participate in this study and remind you that your participation is voluntary. I (we) know that you are busy and will try to be as brief as possible. We have many questions and are going to talk to many different people, so please do not feel as though we expect you to be able to answer every question. The interview today should last about 45 minutes. This interview is not part of an audit or a compliance review. We are interested in learning about your ideas, experiences, and opinions about housing for Native Hawaiians. There are no right or wrong answers.
In addition, before we start, I want to let you know that although we will take notes during these interviews, information is never repeated with the name of the respondent in any reports or in any discussions with supervisors, colleagues, or HUD. When we write our reports and discuss our findings, information from all the people we speak with is compiled and presented so that no one person can be identified.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
INTERVIEW GUIDE
What is your current position title at this Homestead Association?
What are the duties and responsibilities of your office?
How long have you been in your current position?
Did you ever serve in this position prior to your current term?
[If YES] When and for how long?
What is the approximate acreage of your home lands?
Could you briefly explain the objectives and activities of your Homestead Association?
On your homestead, how many families currently live in homes on a residential homestead?
Do you have any pastoral or agricultural homesteads within your allotted area?
[If YES] Are there any occupied residences on those homesteads?
[If YES] How many?
Is there any active cultivation or use of your agricultural and pastoral homesteads?
[If YES] Could you please describe these activities.
Do these activities result in commercial sale of products outside the homestead area?
[If YES] Please describe.
Are there any commercial leases on your homestead lands?
[If YES] Could you please list them for me?
Do you know if these commercial leases have resulted in any employment for homestead land residents?
[If YES] Please describe.
On an annual basis, how much money do these commercial leases provide directly to your Association?
Is your Association actively pursuing additional commercial leases?
[If NO] Could you explain why not? If yes, could you explain why and what types of leases you are pursuing?
Do you have household data for your residents?
[If YES] Could you estimate the average household income for your member residents?
How old are the residences on your home lands? Perhaps you could give us a range of ages of the residences on your home lands, from the oldest to the newest?
Based on your observations, do you see a need for construction of new residences on your home lands?
[If YES] Can you estimate the percentage of your homesteads where new construction would be warranted?
In your opinion, is overcrowding a significant problem within the households on your home lands?
[If YES] Could you estimate the percentage of households on your home lands where overcrowding is a problem (and please explain your measure of overcrowding)?
In your opinion, is overcrowding in some cases a “masking” of a condition of homelessness for some individuals or households?
[If YES] Would you say that homelessness is a major, contributing, or minor factor in the overcrowding you observe on your home lands?
What is the amount of your annual grant from the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL)?
Is your Association currently receiving any funds from any other state or federal agencies?
[If YES] Could you tell us what the agencies are and the approximate amount of the funding you are receiving from each agency?
Does your association currently have any other external sources of funding from nonprofit institutions or funds obtained from capital markets?
[If YES] Could you tell us what those funding sources are and how you intend to use those funds?
Does your Association currently have any short- or mid-term plans for one or more major community development efforts?
[If YES] Could you briefly describe those planned efforts and also tell us the likely sources of funding?
Overall, are the residences on your home lands maintained well?
[If NO] What is the major reason for the poor maintenance (e.g., low household income, lack of access to necessary services, etc.)?
Does your organization provide any support to residences for maintenance?
[If YES] Could you describe these services?
Does any other organization or program provide maintenance services to households?
[If YES] Could you describe the organizations/programs and the services they provide?
In your opinion, do the households on your home lands have adequate access to health services?
[If YES] could you tell us what services are readily available to households? If no, could you tell us what are the barriers to households’ obtaining adequate access?
In your opinion, do social problems, such as substance abuse or youth gang activities, have a measurable impact on the quality of housing on your home lands?
[If YES] Could you describe the impact you have observed?
Is the Association involved in any programs to address problems such as substance abuse or gang activity?
[If YES] Could you describe those programs?
Do you think that your home lands need additional support in addressing problems such as substance abuse and gang activity?
[If YES] Could you describe the type of additional support you need?
Could you estimate the number of households on your home lands that do not have sufficient income to cover their basic household expenses, such as utilities and standard maintenance activities?
Do you have any data on the number of residences on your home lands that have either a major structural deficiency or health hazard?
[If YES] could you tell us what percentage of your homes have a major deficiency? What is the most common deficiency in your homestead housing stock?
Do your households have adequate access to services and funding to address these deficiencies?
[If NO] could you describe the major barriers the residents face in obtaining the needed services and funding?
Do all of the residences on your homestead have what are considered as standard features of modern residences, such as running water, indoor plumbing, and electricity in all parts of a residence?
[If NO] Could you tell us what percentage of your residences lack one or more of these standard features?
Do the households on your homestead have adequate access to mortgage capital for construction, maintenance, or rehabilitation?
[If NO] If there is not adequate access, what are the major barriers to obtaining the needed access?
In your opinion, do you have an adequate level of cooperation with the “border” communities next to your homestead to provide such items as public safety services and schooling?
[If NO] What steps do you think should be taken to improve the situation?
How have infrastructure items, such as roads and water lines, been funded in the past? Do you think that this funding process was adequate, or do you see a need for a new strategy or sources to fund infrastructure?
In your opinion, what is the most critical unmet need, related to the quality of housing, on your home lands? Why is this item the most critical unmet need?
Are there any topics/issues that we have not covered in this interview that you think we should talk about? Please explain why you think these topics or issues are important.
Thank you for your time and cooperation.
DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOMELANDS (DHHL) INTERVIEW GUIDE
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview today.
My name is _______________ and I’m a researcher from Econometrica, Inc.an organization located in Washington, DC. I’m am contacting you because the Urban Institute, on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is studying the housing conditions and needs of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians across the United States. The study will describe housing needs and socioeconomic conditions in Indian Country. It will provide HUD with information on how current programs are operating, the extent to which housing needs are being addressed, and demographic and economic trends. It will also answer questions about home ownership in Indian Country and the impacts of the recent financial crisis.
One component of the study specifically addresses the housing conditions and needs of Native Hawaiians.
We are interviewing managers and administrators within DHHL for your insights about administration of housing programs supported by the state. Interviews will cover housing conditions and needs and operations under the block grant.
We will use what we learn today and from other interviews to contribute to a report on housing conditions and needs among Native Hawaiians. This report will be submitted to HUD to inform the federal government of housing needs and challenges.
Confidentiality Statement [Interviewer must read this]: .
Before beginning the interview, I (we) want to thank you for agreeing to participate in this study and remind you that your participation is voluntary. I (we) know that you are busy and will try to be as brief as possible. We have many questions and are going to talk to many different people, so please do not feel as though we expect you to be able to answer every question. The interview today should last about 45 minutes. This interview is not part of an audit or a compliance review. We are interested in learning about your ideas, experiences, and opinions about housing for Native Hawaiians. There are no right or wrong answers.
In addition, before we start, I want to let you know that although we will take notes during these interviews, information is never repeated with the name of the respondent in any reports or in any discussions with supervisors, colleagues, or HUD. When we write our reports and discuss our findings, information from all the people we speak with is compiled and presented so that no one person can be identified.
Do you have any questions before we begin?
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Could you please tell us what your position is at DHHL and what your responsibilities are?
How long have you been in your current position, and what is the total amount of time you have worked at DHHL?
Based on your observation of residences on homestead lands, would you rate the quality of the housing as adequate or inadequate? Why?
Do you know of any residences on homesteads that lack features such as running water, indoor plumbing, or electricity in every room?
[If YES] Could you estimate the percentage of residences that lack such features?
Do you have any data or information that indicates the percentage of household income that home lands residents must devote to their leases and other household expenses?
[If YES] Could you tell us what the percentage is and what your data source is?
In your experience, have problem behaviors such as substance abuse or youth gang activities been a problem on the home lands?
[If YES] Had this activity results in significant damage to residences?
[If YES]: Is this damage a major ongoing cost item for households, DHHL, and other service providers?
Can you provide an estimate of the percentage of home lands households that you consider to be overcrowded? Also, could you please indicate your standard of overcrowding?
Do you think that some cases of overcrowding may “mask” the homelessness of some household members? Why or why not?
What is your estimate of the adequacy of the infrastructure (roads, water/sewer lines) currently available to homestead residents?
In your opinion, do home lands residents have adequate access to sources of mortgage capital to maintain and/or rehabilitate their homes?
[If NO] Could you list the barriers to their getting such access?
Based on your observations, on the whole, do you think that home lands residences are adequately maintained?
[If NO] Could you list the factors that contribute to poor maintenance?
Based on your experience, do you think that the home lands communities receive adequate support from their “border” communities (e.g., public safety, schooling)?
[If NO] Could you tell us the service areas in which there is inadequate support?
Apart from DHHL, what are the other funding sources that are “tapped” by the Homestead Associations?
In your opinion, are there any components of the current Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant legislation that significantly limit the ability of homestead households and Associations to obtain needed financing?
[If YES] Could you describe those limitations?
If you could make one change to the existing Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant legislation, what would it be?
Based on your observations, do the Native Hawaiians currently on the DHHL “waiting list” have housing that is superior to, equal to, or inferior to that of Native Hawaiians living on home lands? Please explain.
Have you or your office observed a significant degree of homelessness among the Native Hawaiian population not living on home lands (this would include the Native Hawaiian population not eligible for homestead leases)? Please explain.
How difficult is it for the Native Hawaiian population not living on home lands to find affordable housing (i.e., housing that would not require more than 30% of the household’s standard monthly income)? (Very difficult, Difficult, Sometimes Difficult, Most Often Not a Problem)
[If always very difficult OR always difficult] Could you tell us the communities where this “affordability” problem is most acute?
Have you observed any noticeable differences between the quality of housing enjoyed by the Native Hawaiians eligible for home lands leases and by those not eligible?
[If YES] please describe the differences you have observed.
Are there any support services currently not provided by DHHL to homesteads that, if provided, would significantly enhance the quality of home lands-based housing?
[If YES] Please indicate why there is a need for such a support service.
In your opinion, what is the greatest unmet need in the home lands residential communities? Why is this a critical need?
Is there any topic or issue you think we should have discussed today but has not been mentioned? If there is such an issue, please let us know what it is and why you think it is important.
Thank you for your time and cooperation.
HAWAIIAN STAKEHOLDER TELEPHONE INTERVIEW GUIDE
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| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | H21286 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-28 |