Building Bridges and Bonds (B3)

OMB # 0970-0356

Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

Building Bridges and Bonds (B3)

Semi Structured Protocol for Initial Phone Call

What is B3? What is the purpose of our call?

We’re contacting you on behalf of the Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) study. B3 is a new evaluation sponsored by the federal government examining the effectiveness of programs that are or are like Responsible Fatherhood programs. As you know, since 2006, there has been dedicated federal program funding for organizations that serve fathers. While there is a growing body of research to learn from regarding these efforts, there remains limited evidence about which program approaches are most effective. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded MDRC and its partners MEF and Abt SRBI a contract to test new approaches.

Today, we are calling because we are in a preliminary stage of gathering information to inform the research questions and design for B3. We heard about your program and thought it would be valuable to learn more about the kinds of services you provide to fathers. Over the next hour, we would like to walk through the questions we provided in advance of the meeting. We would also value your initial thoughts about the B3 study design. All the information provided in these discussions will be kept private to the extent permitted by law.

Organization Structure

• Walk through a brief history and overview of your organization.

• What other services are provided within the organization?

• How long has the fatherhood program been in operation?

• What type of agency or organization operates the fatherhood program? (e.g. social service government agency, social service stand-alone agency, child support agency.)

• What are the primary funding sources for the fatherhood services?

Program Features

• What services are offered? How are they staffed?

• What employment services are provided? What are the service goals? Do you use a specific curriculum or have any model affiliations?

• What parenting or co-parenting services are provided? What are the service goals? Do you use a specific curriculum or have any model affiliations?

• Who do you primarily serve? (e.g. non-resident fathers, resident fathers, under 25, over 35, ex-offenders, couples, mothers)

• How many clients can your program serve at any one time? How many are served at any one time in each service component?

• How many new enrollments do you have in an average year?

Program Reflections

• What aspects of your program do fathers seem to enjoy the most?

• What is most challenging about providing services?

• Are you currently planning any changes or additions to your program?

• If you had additional resources, are there any changes or enhancements you would consider?

Evaluation Reflections

• Review the project description.

• Are there any specific questions or topics you would like a study like B3 to explore?

• Would you be open to future conversations with the study team to explore the feasibility of different study design options?

NOTE: The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to gather preliminary information about the fatherhood field and explore with fatherhood programs the research questions that are of interest and the design options that are feasible. 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. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Anna Solmeyer; [email protected]; Attn: OMB-PRA (0970-0356).