State Agency Respondents

Attachment J. Other Stakeholder Protocol

OMB No. 0584-[NEW]

Job Search as a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) Component

January 14, 2021

Project Officer: Danielle Deemer

Office of Policy Support

Food and Nutrition Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1320 Braddock Place

Alexandria, VA 22314

703.305.2952

[email protected]

OMB Number: 0584-XXXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Other Stakeholder Interview Protocol

[Interviewer note: Depending on the structure of a State’s SNAP E&T program, this interview may not be conducted or may need to be tailored depending on the stakeholders involved. When scheduling the site visit, determine if another State-level agency has a role in implementing, maintaining, and/or monitoring SNAP E&T, including if job search participants also participate in an E&T component managed by this State agency. This protocol has been purposefully written to encompass a variety of potential stakeholders, so interviewers will need to tailor questions to the stakeholder’s role in the State’s SNAP E&T program.]

My name is [name], and I’m a researcher at Insight Policy Research. As you may know, Insight is conducting a study for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS) on the role of job search as a SNAP E&T component. The study seeks to better understand the overall role of job search activities in serving SNAP E&T participants and examine whether certain approaches to job search activities are more effective than others in leading SNAP participants to self-sufficiency.

My colleagues and I are currently visiting the State SNAP agency, local SNAP offices, and E&T providers here and in three other States to collect information from a wide range of stakeholders involved in operating a SNAP E&T program. I want to start by thanking you for taking time to speak with us today. Your perspective and insights on these issues will be very helpful to the study.

Your participation in this interview is voluntary, and your responses will be kept private, except as otherwise required by law. We will not share the information you provide with anyone outside the study team, including your supervisor and State-level staff. You may refuse to answer any question, and you may stop the interview at any time. There will be no penalties if you choose not to participate in a part or the entirety of this interview.

We will take notes over the course of the interview and would like to audio record the conversation to help us remember the information we collect. The information you share with us today will be summarized and combined with information gathered from other people we interview. Nothing you say will ever be linked to your name. However, because of the relatively small number of States participating in the study, it is possible a response could be attributed to you.

I expect our conversation will take about 1 hour. First, do you have any questions for me about the project in general or what we will be discussing today?

Do I have your permission to record our conversation? You may stop the recording at any time. [Confirm permission before recording starts. Do not record without respondent permission.]

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-xxxx. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1 hour per response, 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 the following address: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx*). Do not return the completed form to this address.

1. Introduction

I’d like to learn about your role and responsibilities at [agency].

1. What is your current job title or position?

2. How long have you been in this position?

3. What are your primary responsibilities?

2. Organization and Staffing

Next, I would like to learn more about your organization.

1. Please describe your organization and its mission.

1. What programs/participants do you serve? Approximately what proportion of your clients are SNAP E&T participants?

2. What differences, if any, do you see between your SNAP participants and other participants you serve?

2. Please describe your organization’s role in SNAP job search activities. Does your organization offer services to SNAP E&T participants? Do you have a role in program monitoring?

1. How long has your organization been working with SNAP E&T?

2. How did your relationship with SNAP E&T begin?

3. Has this relationship changed over time? If yes, how? Please describe any forthcoming changes as well.

3. Let’s talk about your State’s economy and job market.

1. How do economic conditions vary across the State?

2. What are the in-demand jobs in the State? How do they vary across the State?

3. How does your organization stay up to date on local labor market dynamics (such as employment rate, wage rates, industries hiring)?

4. How do you use this information in designing the E&T program? In designing job search activities? [Probe for: Do you use wage rates, employment rates, or other data to make program decisions?]

3. Services Offered

[Interviewer note: Only pose questions in this section to stakeholders that provide services to E&T participants.]

Let’s talk about the services your organization offers.

1. What E&T components does your organization offer to SNAP participants? [Probe for: job search activities, supportive services, workfare, on-the-job training, education]

1. Are your services targeted to certain populations (for example, homeless, youth, veterans, at a certain education level, interested in a certain industry)?

2. Tell me about the job search activities you offer. How is each job search activity delivered?

3. What is the intensity and duration of each job search activity? How long do SNAP E&T participants typically engage in each activity? Why do they typically leave?

2. Are job search activities integrated with other program resources and activities? If so, how?

3. Do the job search activities offered to E&T participants vary across different areas of the State? If so, how?

1. What are the reasons for this variation? What role did your agency have in deciding where to locate job search activities? What criteria were used to decide where to locate services?

2. How do you think these variations might affect participation?

4. Are some job search activities more popular than others? If yes, which ones? What are the reasons they’re more popular?

1. Do E&T job search activities have high or low take-up? How does it compare with other SNAP E&T components that you offer?

2. Do take-up rates for job search activities vary across the State?

5. What are some reasons the take-up rate is higher in some regions versus others? [Probe: related to region’s unemployment levels?]

4. Data Collection and Program Monitoring

[Interviewer note: Only pose questions in this section to stakeholders that conduct data collection and program monitoring.]

Next, I want to talk about your role in data collection and program monitoring.

1. What role does your organization play in oversight of job search activities for SNAP participants? Please describe.

1. Do you monitor compliance with SNAP job search requirements? If so, how? [Interviewer note: Collect any training materials or guidance related to monitoring.]

2. What data does your organization track on SNAP job search activities and participants? [Probe for: metrics on participation, outcomes] [Interviewer note: collect tracking and reporting templates]

1. How does your organization obtain these data? [Probe: From other organizations (providers)? From participant self-reports?]

2. How are these data used?

3. Do you share these data with the SNAP agency? If so, for what purpose(s)?

i. How are these data submitted? To whom? By whom? How frequently?

5. Outcomes

Next, I would like to learn about participant outcomes.

1. Please describe how you define “success” for SNAP participants in job search activities.

1. How does your organization work to assist participants in achieving success?

2. Using this definition of success, roughly what proportion of your State’s SNAP job search participants typically achieve success?

1. How do these participants achieve success? How come others do not achieve success?

3. What types of job search activities do you think best contribute to SNAP participants’ success?

1. What would help contribute further success for job search clients?

4. How does your organization measure the success of job search activities for SNAP participants?

1. How does that information inform your decision-making?

6. Challenges and Lessons Learned

1. What are common challenges SNAP participants encounter in meeting their job search requirements? [Probe for: transportation, availability of jobs, barriers to using the computer/internet]

1. What supports are available to address these challenges?

2. What additional supports, if any, are needed?

2. What challenges has your organization encountered in implementing job search activities?

1. How are these challenges being resolved? Do you work with the State SNAP agency to resolve these challenges?

3. What works well when it comes to your organization’s SNAP E&T job search activities? Please explain.

4. What lessons have you learned in serving job search participants?

1. What advice would you give to other States or organizations working with SNAP participants in job search activities?

7. Wrap-Up

Thank you for answering our questions.

1. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

2. Is there anything we did not ask about that you think is important for us to know?

That completes our questions for you. Thank you very much for speaking with us.