State, Local, and Tribal Government (CN Agency Staff, State Medicaid Agency Staff, Other State Agency Staff, and School District Staff)

APPENDIX A.6c

DETAILED FOLLOW-UP TELEPHONE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL:
DISTRICT STAFF

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Detailed Follow-Up Interview Protocol: District Staff

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

State:	Date:
Interviewee(s)/position(s):	Start time:
	End time:
Permission to record:	Interviewer:

Introduction

We spoke with you during the site visit in [month] about your experiences with DCM-F/RP, the demonstration of direct certification for free and reduced-price meals using Medicaid data. In this interview, we’ll discuss your experiences and progress since the last time we talked and your overall assessment of the demonstration this year. This interview will last approximately one hour.

The information that 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, description of 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 nature of the information that you provide. If there is something that you want to say in confidence that you would not otherwise mention, let us know and we’ll use it to enhance our understanding, but we will keep the details private. Although participation in the data collection is a requirement of the demonstration, your individual participation in this interview is voluntary, and you do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to answer.

With your permission, we’d like to make an audio recording of the interview to fill in gaps in our notes. Do I have your permission to record the interview?

[If yes:] Thank you.

[If no:] You have my assurance that we will keep anything private that you wish. If you’d prefer, we will not cite anything that you say verbatim from the recording. Wait for response; if yes, record: Thank you. If no: That’s OK. Just bear with us/me as I take detailed notes.

[Moderator note: If you did not have time to cover all of the questions in the site visit protocol, ask them during this follow-up interview. If you need the respondent to clarify any earlier answers to the site visit protocol, please do so during this follow-up interview.]

Implementation process

The last time we spoke, we discussed your direct certification process in detail.

1. Have any changes occurred in your DCM-F/RP process since we last spoke? If so, what changed?
   [Probe:] Are you still receiving the Medicaid file the same way?
   [Probe:] Do you still match [by hand, using Excel, using point-of-sale software, etc.]?
   [Probe:] Are you still matching on a [fill in frequency from site visit notes] basis?
   [Probe:] Have you changed the way you extend eligibility?

   1. What are the reasons for these changes?

2. How has the level of effort involved in the DCM-F/RP process changed since the first DCM-F/RP match?

   1. [If changed, ask:] What are the reasons for this [increase/decrease]?

Challenges and resolutions

3. During the site visit, you told us about challenges related to [fill in from site visit notes]. What steps have been taken to address these challenges?

   1. To what extent has your district (or State) been successful in resolving these issues?

4. Have any new challenges arisen since we last spoke? If so, what are they?

   1. What steps are being taken to resolve these new challenges? To what extent have these steps been successful?

Outcomes

During our site visit, we discussed early outcomes of the demonstration. [For States that have conducted more than one round of DCM-F/RP matching:] Now that you have conducted additional rounds of DCM-F/RP, I’d like to revisit these numbers.

5. [Local-level matching, ask:] Think about the results of DCM-F/RP matching. Approximately how many children were on the DCM-F/RP lists provided to you by the [agency]? Roughly what proportion of these cases did you successfully match?

1. How does this compare to the proportion of SNAP cases successfully matched from the list of SNAP recipients?

   1. [Probe, if applicable:] What are some reasons you think that the Medicaid match was more/less successful than the DC-SNAP match?

6. Has DCM-F/RP matching success varied by student or household characteristics?

a. Are there any differences by:

1. Race/ethnicity?

2. Family/household size?

3. Family/household composition?

4. Families/households with name differences?

5. Split households (refers to children who live in two separate households if divorced parents split custody)?

6. Grade level?

7. Other student or household characteristics?

7. Are there any aspects of your district that may have affected the success of DCM-F/RP? If so, what are they?

Best practices and lessons learned

Let’s talk about some of the lessons learned from conducting DCM-F/RP this year.

8. Given everything you now know about the demonstration, is there anything you would have done differently? If so, what?

a. Is there any information you wish you had known earlier? If so, what?

9. Is there anything you think worked particularly well in your district that you would recommend to others?
   [Probe:] Are there any technologies, trainings, resources, or technical assistance that helped facilitate DCM-F/RP? Are there any that didn’t work well?

10. Are any changes to the DCM-F/RP process planned for next school year? If so, what?

a. [If yes, ask:] What are the reasons behind these changes?

b. [If no, ask:] Are there any changes you would like to make to improve matching success but that you cannot make at the moment? Please describe.

11. Based on your experiences in implementing DCM-F/RP and the outcomes you’ve seen thus far, would you recommend the demonstration to other States? Please explain.

Closing

12. Is there anything else you would like to add about your experience implementing DCM‑F/RP?

That concludes our interview. Thank you for speaking with me again.