Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration
ENFG—Employer Version
OMB No: XXXXX
Expiration Date: XXXX
Public Burden Statement: 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. The OMB control number for this project is XXXX-XXXX. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 90 minutes per respondent, per year, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 2-1057, Rockville, Maryland, 20857.
Community Support Evaluation: Supported Employment
Employment Needs Focus Group—employer Version
Welcome and Introduction
Good [morning/afternoon/evening]. My name is [insert first name] and I will be your moderator for this sessions. I work for ICF—a research firm in located in Atlanta, GA. We have been contracted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to moderate this discussion. You have been invited here because SAMHSA is interested in hearing your opinions about the specific employment needs of program participants, potential employers, and employment specialists working to link consumers with employment.
Thank all of you for agreeing to participate. Your comments and suggestions are very important. Our discussion will take about 90 minutes. Before we begin, I want to let you know that I am not an expert on [INSERT STATE NAME] supported employment. Rather, my role as the moderator is to:
Get your perceptions, opinions, and suggestions about various topics.
Help guide the flow of the conversation.
Make sure that everyone has an equal chance to weigh in.
Ensure questions about various aspects of the topics are covered.
Ground Rules
Before we begin, I’d like to review some ground rules for today’s discussion.
ICF is required to have approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct this focus group. The approval number for this project is XXXX-XXXX. Also, if you have any comments regarding the time estimates associated with this study or suggestions on making this process simpler, please write to: Robin Davis, Project Director, ICF International, Telephone: (404)-592-2188, Email: [email protected], 3 Corporate Square, NE, Suite 370, Atlanta, GA 30329. [Moderator: Post this bullet on white board for each session.]
We are audiotaping this focus group. I ask that you speak loudly and clearly. If I think you are speaking too softly to be heard on the recording, I will ask you to speak up.
Don’t engage in side conversations—we need for everyone to hear what the others are saying and for everything that’s said to be heard easily on the recording.
We would like to hear from everyone in the group, but you don’t have to answer every question. Sometimes I’ll ask everyone for their input. At other times, I will just throw a topic open for general discussion.
There are no right or wrong answers. We expect differences in how people see things and want to understand these differences.
Feel free to disagree or question each other. The purpose of a group session is for us to learn things in group interchanges that we don’t get out of one-on-one discussions. If someone says something you disagree with or see in a different way, please share with the group.
Please be considerate when participants are sharing their different experiences, needs, or perspectives. The point of this activity is to understand the employment needs of consumers, employment specialists, and employers as well as understanding where there is strong agreement/consensus of these needs and where there is little agreement about these needs.
Your participation is voluntary. Therefore, at any point in time you may leave the virtual focus group room.
If you would like to share an opinion anonymously, you may send a private response to the moderator to read to the group. However, note that the moderator will not read private responses if doing so will interrupt the flow of the discussion or the group has moved beyond the topic.
If you have another phone, please turn it off or set to vibrate.
If you need to step away from your computer or phone during this meeting, please send a “chat” message to me when you leave and when you have returned. Please do not put this line on hold if your phone is programmed to play hold music.
Participant Introduction
I’d like to start by having you all introduce yourselves. Please tell us your first name (or the name you would like to use for this focus group and how long you’ve been there in your current role. Then, assuming you’re at your desk and have your webcam working, show something on your desk or in your office that reveals something about yourself, like a hobby or favorite vacation spot.
To begin, moderator reads [or shares] a brief description of the state’s SAMHSA-funded SE project, including the target population and program goals.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
During the course of our discussion, we will spend time talking about the employment needs of your companies, as well as your experiences with the [NAME OF STATE PROJECT], such as being recruited to participate, receiving training or other supports, interacting with employment specialists (or job coaches), and hiring SE consumers. You may participate in other SE programs, but for the purpose of today’s call, please focus your comments on [NAME OF PROJECT].
First, let’s discuss the involvement of your companies with [NAME OF PROJECT].
How did your company become involved with [NAME OF PROJECT]?
Probe at what point they learned employees were SE consumers.
Probe recruitment by employment specialists or other stakeholders.
How was contact made and by whom?
Did you receive any training on or materials about supported employment or what’s known as the Individual Placement and Support [IPS] model?
How helpful were these in preparing you to participate in the program?
What additional supports have you received? Probe the following:
Additional training, information, and/or materials
Communication with employment specialist
Guidance when needed
Help with issue resolution
Other
How satisfied are you with the supports you have received?
What factors determined your company’s willingness to participate in the project?
Probe the following:
Hiring needs
Assurances received (employer should define these)
Company mission
Stakeholder buy in and/or belief in program goals
Incentives/tax credits
Other benefits
Enhanced company image
Other
How important are these same factors to your company’s continued participation?
How likely is your company to continue to participate in the project? Why?
What factors would increase your company’s willingness to continue participation?
What factors pose barriers to your company’s willingness to continue participation?
Now let’s walk through the process of placement for employees you were (or are) aware were SE consumers, as well as your employment experiences.
What are the steps involved?
Probe candidate identification and consideration
Contact or referral from ES
Review of candidate information
Interviewing process
Other assessments (e.g., writing)
Accommodations to meet candidate needs during process
Timing of client disclosure and involvement from ES during this process
Length of process to make hiring decision
Probe hiring/employment
Feedback provided to SE consumer and ES around hiring decision
Ability to meet employment accommodations
Continued involvement from ES after hiring
Performance assessment/issues
Other
What kinds of accommodations that you have been asked to provide to support SE program participants?
Which accommodations were easy to implement? Why?
Were there any accommodations that were more difficult or challenging to implement? How did you address these challenges?
Would these accommodations now be readily available for program participants?
Were there some accommodations you could not implement? Please describe.
What happened as a result of the lack of accommodations?
From your perspective, how do the needs of SE consumers differ from non-SE employees?
Probe the following:
Work schedule or time off
Work location
Transportation
Medical/health (e.g., appointments, treatments)
Family needs (e.g., child care)
Legal
Cultural/linguistic
Other
How would you define the successful placement of an SE consumer within your company?
Probe the following:
Match with client needs and/or preferences
Match with employer needs
Client and employer satisfaction
Whether client discloses
Length of client employment
Employer willingness and/or ability to provide accommodations, etc.
Other
What factors have facilitated successful placements?
What factors have posed barriers to successful placements?
Based on your experiences, we would like to hear your opinions about program sustainability and scalability.
Earlier we discussed the types of supports you have received as SE program employers and your satisfaction with these. In your opinion, what are the most critical aspects of the current program to sustain employer engagement?
Probe responses to Q.1, other
What recommendations do you have for engaging employers and/or gaining buy-in?
What other recommendations do you have for sustaining the program?
SAMHSA would like to prioritize scaling up SE programs [NAME OF PROJECT] within funded states. Can you share what might be needed to support large-scale adoption of this program by employers in your State?
Probe the following:
Policy changes
Training (mandatory and non-mandatory)
Outreach and awareness materials or campaigns
Funding
Technology
Involvement of professional networks
Other
What best practices do you recommend to achieve this?
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | G Sgro |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-24 |