Allied Staff - Interview Guide

Attachment I

Interview Guide for

Allied Staff (e.g., Housing, SNAP, Medicaid, Child Care)

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-XXXX

Exp. Date:

Public Reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated at 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing 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. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to CDC/ATSDR Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road NW, MS D-74, Atlanta, GA 30333; Attn: PRA (0920-XXXX).

Interview Guide for

Allied Staff (e.g., Housing, SNAP, Medicaid, Child Care)

This guide should be administered to the Staff from social services agencies sharing similar clients.

Note: Begin audio-recording the interview.

Staff Role/Context

1. What is your current position and role?

1a. What are your main responsibilities?

1b. How long have you been in your current role?

1c. Before your current role, did you work in other positions for the State or County?

Vision/Mission

(ASK INTERVIEWEE)

Before we get started, I would like to clarify some terminology. How do you refer to Child Welfare and TANF/Colorado Works in your county?

2. What is the vision (mission or values) of your agency/program?

3. Does your agency/program’s vision (mission or values) relate to your work with Child Welfare and/or TANF/Colorado Works? If yes, how so?

Planning

(READ TO INTERVIEWEE)

During this interview we will be asking questions about integration. We define integration as the coordination of TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare policies and processes that link services across service boundaries for newly identified clients, dual-system clients, or clients with multiple co-occurring needs. Integration can be used to describe a range of activities, such as several agencies providing a service at one location and the creation of shared planning and budgeting. We use the term integration here to describe the activities taking place between TANF/Colorado Works (“welfare”) and Child Welfare agencies or divisions.

4. In what ways do you work together with TANF/Colorado Works?

4a. When did you begin working together?

4b. Do you have shared clients?

4c. What led you to working together?

5. In what ways do you work together with Child Welfare?

5a. When did you begin working together?

5b. Do you have shared clients?

5c. What led you to working together?

6. To what extent do you think it is desirable for your agency/program to work together with Child Welfare and TANF/Colorado Works?

Leadership/Managerial

7. Do you think the leadership at your agency/division has supported you working together and becoming integrated with Child Welfare and TANF/Colorado Works?

If yes:

7a. How has leadership supported you working together and becoming integrated?

• Probe on guidelines/policies, information sharing, data sharing, cross-training

Funding

8. Does your agency and Child Welfare share funding?

If yes:

1. When did the sharing of funds begin?

2. If you know, what proportion of total funds is shared between you and Colorado Works/Child Welfare?

3. If you know, for what types of services or supports are the funds shared?

• Probe for shared funding related to certain programs, shared staff, office space

1. If you know, who is responsible for overseeing the budget of the shared funding?

8. Does your agency and Colorado Works share funding?

If yes:

9a. If you know, when did the sharing of funds begin?

9b. If you know, what proportion of total funds is shared between you and Colorado Works/ Child Welfare?

9c. If you know, for what types of services or supports are the funds shared?

• Probe for shared funding related to certain programs, shared staff, office space

9d. If you know, who is responsible for overseeing the budget of the shared funding?

8. What if any, are the challenges associated with sharing funding with Child Welfare/Colorado Works?

• Probe for Federal-related barriers; State-related barriers

10a. How are these challenges addressed?

Cross-Training

11. Do TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare provide training to help your staff develop the skills and knowledge needed for working with them?

If yes:

1. Who designed the training?

2. What is the primary content of the training?

3. Who participates in the training?

4. Who conducts the training?

5. Is the training mandatory?

6. How frequently is the training offered?

12. In what areas does staff need additional skills/knowledge/support to work with TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

Communications

13. How do you communicate with TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

14. What types of information do you and TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare share with each other?

• Probe on when sharing started, how information is shared, how often information is shared.

Data Systems

15. Does your agency/program have a data sharing system with TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

If yes:

• Probe:

• Since when have data been shared?

• What types of data are shared?

• Who has access to shared data?

• Who uses this information and how?

Decision-making

16. Are you aware if your agency/program and TANF/Colorado Works and/or Child Welfare have shared decision-making structures and mechanisms?

If yes:

1. Since when has this been in place?

2. How are decisions made?

3. Are the leadership and/or management at each agency/division (i.e., Child Welfare and TANF/Colorado Works) aware of decisions being made at the other agency/division?

4. How are you informed of these decisions?

Case Planning

17. Does your agency/program coordinate case planning with TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

If yes:

1. What is the extent of joint case planning?

2. How does the process work?

3. How long has the process been in place?

18. Is there a committee or workgroup to oversee joint case planning activities between your agency/program and TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

If yes:

18a. How long has this committee been in place?

18b. How often does the committee meet?

18c. Who are the members?

18d. How is it governed?

18e. Does the group have any decision-making authority?

Facilitators and Barriers

19. What factors do you think help facilitate your agency/program and TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare working together/integrating?

20. What are the barriers to your agency/program and TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare working together/integrating?

21. Are there specific barriers when working with any of these target populations? (e.g., clients with complex service needs, families receiving both TANF and Child Welfare services, teens that cannot live with parents due to abuse and neglect).

22. What factors do you think would help facilitate the coordination of your program activities with Child Welfare and/or TANF/Colorado Works?

Conclusion

23. From your perspective, what do you think is the future direction of integration between your agency/program and TANF/Colorado Works and Child Welfare?

24. Is there anything else you would like to add, any recommendations or lessons learned?

Those were all of my questions. We have learned a lot. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.

Allied Staff 7