ACF Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Next Generation (BIAS-NG) Project
Generic Information Collection for Qualitative and Descriptive Quantitative Data Collection for a First TANF Site
0970-0502
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
PART B
October 2018
Submitted By:
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mary E. Switzer Building
330 C Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
B1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 2
B2. Procedures for the Collection of Information 3
B3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Non-response 3
B4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken 3
B5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data 3
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation (BIAS-NG) consists of a series of mixed-methods studies to identify, develop, and test interventions related to social service and benefit receipt. This Generic Information Collection (GenIC) pertains to a site in the program area of TANF, the Monroe County Department of Social Services
The target respondents to be included in this GenIC include:
Customers or individuals receiving services from state and local ACF programs in the domain of TANF
Staff working in state and local programs or agencies in the domain of TANF
This IC pertains to activities that support the impact evaluation and implementation research.
For the implementation study, this data collection will involve formal interviews as well as surveys, sampling the full universe of staff and clients participating in the study. For the impact study, data collection will rely on administrative records on case outcomes and MIS data on agency processes, as described below.
Universe of Potential Respondents
The universe for client interviews is any adult client who is enrolled in the research by having an Employment Assessment or Work Experience Program orientation scheduled, and who can be reached by the agency during the month of the interviews. We estimate about 840 cases open per month for the Employment Assessment phase of the test, and about 445 per month for the Work Experience Program phase of the test. We intend to approach at least 30 new cases, one-third of which were only invited to the Employment Assessment, and the remaining two-thirds of which completed the Employment Assessment and the Work Experience Program meeting. The expected burden is no more 1 hour of burden per respondent.
The universe for staff and administrator surveys is any staff who conducts the Employment Assessments or Work Experience Program, or reception desk staff, supervisors, and management for those programs. We anticipate extending the staff survey to 50 staff. Of these, we expect that 40 staff (80 percent) will respond. The expected burden is no more 1 hour of burden per respondent.
The universe for staff interviews is any staff who can be reached by the agency during the months of the interview plus some supervisors. We expect a maximum of 30 interviewees at 1 burden hour per respondent.
For descriptive or implementation research purposes, the study will field self-administered surveys to select staff. Staff will be contacted in person to complete a paper survey, to maximize response rates. Staff can refuse to complete the survey, or refuse to answer any of the questions on the survey, and will not be penalized in any way. The survey instrument is provided in Appendix C.
To collect qualitative data, study teams composed of at least two members will conduct the in person or possibly telephone interviews. These staff members are experienced in the process of implementation research. Each interview will begin with an introduction that explains the purpose and goals of the BIAS-NG project. The facilitator will inform participants that the conversation will be audio-recorded but that we will stop the recording at any time they do not feel comfortable being recorded. For individual phone interviews, the facilitator will simply begin the conversation with the participant after receiving verbal consent. For in-person interviews, the facilitator will begin after receiving the signed consent form. At the end of the interview, participating clients will receive a gift card worth $25. The instruments guiding these interviews are provided in Appendices A and B
For outcomes data for the impact analysis, we should have very little missing data from the administrative records because the county is required to track the information we are requesting for each of their TANF clients and cases.
For qualitative implementation research data collection, the research team will work closely with administrators and staff to recruit families and staff for us to interview. We will aim to gather informants that reflect a mix of case experiences. To further increase the likelihood of participation, we will offer clients participating in interviews gift cards as incentives, as discussed in Supporting Statement Part A.
Staff working with the program and control groups will be asked to complete a short survey in person, on paper, several months after the launch of the intervention. Based on previous experience with other research projects, we expect around 80 percent of staff to complete the short survey.
Formative focus groups and interviews with fewer than 10 people informed the development of interview protocols for data collection and the development of survey instruments. The data collection instruments will not be pre-tested at scale.
Jean Grossman, MDRC, Project Director
Rekha Balu, MDRC, Senior Research Associate
Kim Clum
Senior Social Science Research Analyst
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C St. SW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20201
(202) 205-4922
Victoria Berk Kabak
Social Science Research Analyst
Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C St. SW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20201
(202) 401-5871
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Clum, Kimberly (ACF) |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |