Site Visits, Additional MDO & AJC Staff, etc

APPENDIX D

AGENDA AND Master Protocol FOR Site Visit ACTIVITIES

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK

First, read this statement to interviewees: “The information you and others provide will be used to improve services for people interested in self-employment. Under the public burden statement required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, our OMB control number for this information collection is _______ and permission to collect this data expires on ________.  Responding to this questionnaire is completely voluntary.  The survey will take about two hours for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.”

Sample Agenda for SET Site Visits, Rounds 1 and 2

1. Visits to participating workforce agencies (two per site) and AJCs (two per site)

   1. Semi-structured group interviews with:

      1. Administrators from partner workforce agencies, such as workforce investment agencies and UI offices (three staff per site, 1.5 hours)

      2. AJC field staff involved in workforce system orientations and general assistance to customers (four staff per site, 1 hour)

   2. Observations (if possible) of:

      1. Customers completing the SET online orientation (0.5 hours)

      2. AJC staff answering questions about SET demonstration (0.5 hours)

      3. Publicity materials made available in AJCs (0.5 hours)

2. Visits to participating MDO providers (three MDOs per site)

   1. Semi-structured interviews with:

      1. SET self-employment advisors (group interview, three staff per site, 1.5 hours)

      2. Director or other manager of MDO (individual interview, three staff per site; 1.5 hours)

      3. Other MDO staff involved in SET demonstration (individual or group interview, four staff per site, 1 hour total)

   2. Observations (if possible) of:

      1. Initial intake, assessment, and service planning sessions (1 hour)

      2. Ongoing counseling sessions (0.5 hours)

      3. Classroom training sessions (1 hour)

      4. Peer support or networking group session (0.5 hours)

3. Visits to additional partner organizations (such as microfinance providers, variable by site)

   1. Semi-structured interviews with partner staff who provide services to SET demonstration participants (individual or group interview, four staff per site, 1 hour per interview)

   2. Observation of SET participant receiving help from partner staff (if possible, average of 2 observations per site, 1 hour)

Master Protocol of Questions for SET Site Visit Interviews, by Data Source

	Data Sources
Research Question	Interviews with Workforce Agency And AJC Staff	Interviews with MDO Staff	Interviews with Staff at Other Partner Orgs.	Observations
What is the context in which SET is implemented?
What are the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Self-Employment Training (SET) communities? How rural and urban are the sites? What are the patterns of unemployment in these sites? How prevalent is self-employment and/or small business ownership?			
What microenterprise development infrastructure exists in each community?			
What are the small business development centers (SBDCs) and microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) that operate in each community?			
Who is targeted and served by the existing (non-SET) microenterprise development services? Are services available for all individuals in need of assistance with microenterprise development?			
Is the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program available in the study communities? How does it operate?			
How does the workforce development system coordinate with microenterprise providers (and vice versa)?			
What is the prevalence of self-employment and/or small business ownership in study communities? How much demand exists for microenterprise services?			
What is the economic environment in which the demonstration is implemented?			
How do the SET communities compare with other communities nationwide?			
What organizations participate in SET service delivery and what are their responsibilities?
1. What role do workforce development systems play in the SET Demonstration program?			
2. What role do MDOs and SBDCs play?			
3. What are the characteristics of participating local providers? In what capacity do they participate in service delivery?			
4. What partnership structures and linkages are necessary between One-Stop Career Center (OSCC) staff, SET providers, and providers of ancillary support for successful provision of services?			
6. How do community-based organizations (CBOs) contribute to SET?			
7. How are activities managed and coordinated among all of these organizations?			
8. How are resources allocated across different implementing organizations? Do participating organizations find the resources to be adequate? Why?			
What is the target population for SET and how are outreach and recruitment conducted?
1. Who is SET intended to serve? What are the eligibility criteria for SET?				
2. What outreach is conducted? What role do OSCCs play in outreach and recruitment? What other organizations are involved?	
3. How many people express interest in the SET demonstration? How do prospective applicants respond to the eligibility and other information provided during orientation sessions?				
4. How often do customers apply for SET services? What are the characteristics of SET applicants? How often do customers opt not to apply for SET services? Why? To what degree do they appear to find it challenging to complete the application or require staff assistance to do so? What components of the application do the customers find challenging?				
What services are offered through SET?
1. How are customers’ initial service needs assessed? Who conducts these assessments?				
2. What training and technical assistance (TA) services are offered through the SET program? Which training/TA topics are most frequently accessed and how often? Are there types of training/TA that participants request or need that SET does not provide?				
3. To what degree do SET providers offer customers ongoing guidance and follow-up from a designated business advisor/counselor?				
4. How frequent are the needs assessments, service referrals, and overall service provision? How useful do staff find these assessments?				
5. What challenges are encountered in delivering SET demonstration services? Which aspects of the program work well?				
How does SET link customers to local lenders and other sources of seed capital?
1. How do SET providers link customers to the SBA microloan program?			
2. To what extent does SET assist customers with applications to other lending institutions?			
3. How does SET assist participants with applications for SBA or other loans?				
4. To what extent does SET assist customers to access other potential sources of seed capital (such as microgrants)?			
5. How does SET assist customers to access these other sources of seed capital?				
Is the SET program implemented as designed?
1. Which elements of the demonstration program are implemented as designed and which are not? Why?				
2. What changes are made to the SET program over time and why? Are changes effective at addressing the problems identified?				
3. Are there important differences in how the SET program is implemented across states or local sites? If so, how and why?				
What lessons are learned in implementing the SET program?
1. What program start-up and ongoing service delivery challenges are encountered? How are these challenges addressed? Are the solutions devised effective?			
2. What issues arise in coordination across key agencies and/or programs?			
3. To what extent is there duplication of services? Why?			
4. Are there issues specific to rural areas or other types of communities?			
5. Are there issues specific to working with particular subgroups of the program’s target population?			
6. What factors facilitate or impede SET implementation?			
7. What lessons are learned from implementation?			
What are the effects of SET on the participating communities?
1. To what extent does SET change access to microenterprise services?			
2. To what extent does SET change the types or quality of microenterprise services offered?			
3. Does SET implementation have a spillover effect on the use of OSCC services?	
4. Are other changes occurring in the community at the same time as SET implementation (for example, major economic development initiatives or massive layoffs) that might magnify or dampen the program’s effects?			

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK