Pretesting for Direct Certification with Medicaid Demonstrations

Appendix A-2

semi-structured site visit interview protocol questions

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SEMI-STRUCTURED SITE VISIT INTERVIEW PROTOCOL QUESTIONS

Evaluation of Demonstrations of Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (DCM-F/RP)

Introduction

The purpose of this interview is to gather information about [State’s] demonstration of direct certification of students for free or reduced-price meals using Medicaid data. This new demonstration is known by the acronym DCM-F/RP [for States that participated in the previous demo, add: to distinguish it from the prior DCM demonstration]. This interview will last approximately one hour.

The information we collect in this interview will be used to describe the experiences of States participating in the demonstration. Because each State’s project is unique, describing a particular State’s experiences could identify that State. We will not use your name in our reports, but your identity might be inferred from the identity of your State and the information you provide. If you want to say something that you would not otherwise mention, let us know—we will use it to inform our understanding but will keep the details private. Although the demonstration, which your State applied to conduct, requires participation in the data collection, your individual participation in this interview is voluntary.

With your permission, we would like to make an audio recording of the interview to make sure we get the information right. Do I have your permission to record the interview?

Implementation process

1. First, please introduce yourself by name and position at [agency/SFA].

2. Please briefly describe the overall DCM-F/RP process in [State]. [For State CN staff in Utah and Virginia, add: including how most SFAs conduct their matching.]

3. Now, tell me in more detail about your role(s) in the DCM-F/RP process.

4. In what ways has the implementation of DCM-F/RP changed the direct certification process in [State]?

5. How much additional time and resources have been needed—at the State and SFA levels—to implement DCM-F/RP (over and above the efforts for conducting direct certification with other programs)? Which activities associated with DCM-F/RP have been most difficult or time-consuming?

6. What steps have you taken to ensure that the results of the DCM-F/RP process are accurate?

Challenges and successes

Next, I would like to discuss the challenges and successes you have had in implementing the demonstration.

7. What challenges have you [for State CN staff interview, add: and SFAs in your State] encountered in implementing DCM-F/RP? What were the consequences of these challenges?

8. To what extent have you been able to resolve each of these challenges? How have you accomplished that (or attempted to address it)?

9. Think about the results of DCM-F/RP matching. Overall, roughly what proportion of students eligible for DCM-F/RP was successfully matched in your [State/district]? How does this compare to the proportion of SNAP cases successfully matched?

10. Has your experience with, or success in, DCM-F/RP matching varied by student characteristics or for any subset of Medicaid cases or types of households? [For State CN staff:] Has success in matching varied by SFA characteristics, such as type of district, size, urbanicity, or diversity of the student population?

11. What aspects of your State’s [or district’s] approach, systems, or direct certification processes have facilitated DCM-F/RP implementation? What features have made implementation more difficult?

12. What [additional] changes, if any, have been planned to address implementation challenges or improve the success of DCM-F/RP going forward?

Closing

13. Is there anything else you would like to add about your experiences implementing DCM-F/RP so far?

14. [For State CN staff:] As you know, we will also be meeting with staff at [two/four] SFAs in your State, to learn about their roles in the process. In what ways are the SFAs we are visiting typical of others in your State, and in what ways are they different?

Thank you for meeting with us today. We will contact you [main respondent for each agency] again in [month] to conduct a follow-up telephone interview to reflect on your experiences near the end of the first DCM-F/RP school year.