CoC staff interviews

^{FUP-FSS Demonstration Evaluation}

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CONTINUUM OF CARE (COC)

Consent Script for Continuum of Care (CoC)

In-person interviews with CoC lead organization director/senior administrator

Before we begin, I want to tell you a few things about this study and your participation in it. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. We will also email you a copy of this information.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contracted with the Urban Institute, and with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago as their subcontractor, to learn about how communities are using the Family Unification Program and Family Self-Sufficiency (FUP-FSS) Demonstration to serve youth who were formerly in foster care. The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, DC that conducts research and program evaluations on social policy and practice. The information gathered for the evaluation will be used to help HUD understand how FUP-FSS has been implemented, the effectiveness of partnerships among the participating housing authorities, public child welfare agencies, and other organizations that collaborate on the demonstration, the agencies’ experiences with implementation, and short-term outcomes for participating youth. We are not evaluating your organization or its role in the demonstration.

As part of this process, we are talking with representatives from public housing agencies (PHAs) participating in the FUP-FSS Demonstration, along with their partner child welfare agencies. In a small number of communities, we will talk to service providers and other Continuum of Care partners that provide services to FUP-FSS participants.

If you agree to participate in a voluntary interview, a pair of researchers will ask you some questions about the FUP-FSS demonstration, including questions about services provided to FUP-FSS youth, your collaboration with [PHA name], ways in which serving youth may differ from serving other groups, successes or challenges you may have encountered serving youth, and lessons learned. The discussion will take about 60 minutes. We may contact you after the interview to ask for clarification.

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. Participating or choosing not to participate will in no way affect your interactions with the Federal Government, including HUD, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and/or any other federal agencies. The interview will last about 60 minutes. The interview does not include sensitive questions beyond your experiences with the FUP-FSS Demonstration. That being said, you may choose to skip any questions you don’t want to answer and you may stop participating in the interview at any time. With your permission, we will audio record the interview to have an accurate record of what is said. One of the researchers will be taking detailed notes, but we will not identify your name in our notes. We may contact you after the interview to ask for clarification.

We will make every effort to protect your privacy confidentiality, and will not disclose information that you share in any way that would identify you. We will not allow anyone outside the research team to listen to the audio recordings or review the notes we take. Information provided to us will be reported in the aggregate by role, organization type or other broad categories. Individuals will not be identified by name or title. When we report our findings, we will combine the information we gather from everyone we talk to and present it in a way that does not allow the responses of individuals to be easily identified. However, we may identify the agency you work for, and unique roles could allow an individual to indirectly attribute a statement to you. Although we are taking steps to mitigate potential risks, there is a chance that you could be identified through a combination of survey responses and interview findings. We believe this risk to be minimal and will protect your identity by removing specific identifiers in our interview transcripts, only reporting findings in the aggregate, and not attributing comments or quotes to you unless we have your permission to do so.

You will be provided a document that answers questions about the FUP-FSS Demonstration Evaluation and the interviews we are conducting. After you review, you can decide if you still want to participate.

We want to be sure that you freely consent to participate in this interview and that you are aware that you are not obligated to answer any questions you do not wish to answer.

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STUDY OR TODAY’S DISCUSSION?

MAY WE PROCEED WITH THE DISCUSSION?

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CONTINUUM OF CARE (COC) LEAD ORGANIZATION STAFF

DO YOU CONSENT TO BE RECORDED?

[If consented to recording] I am going to turn on the tape recorder now, and we can get started.

Introduction

Today we’d like to talk to you about how [CoC lead organization name] collaborates with [PHA name] and [PCWA name] to serve FUP-FSS Demonstration participants. We know that you may work with other housing authorities and other child welfare agencies, but we would like to just focus on these for our conversation today.

Background

I’m going to ask some questions about [CoC name] and your position here.

• What is your position at [CoC lead organization name]?

  • What are your primary responsibilities?

  • How much time do you spend on youth homelessness?

  • How much time do you spend on FUP?

  • How much time do you spend on the FUP-FSS Demonstration?

• Are you the primary staff person responsible for FUP/FUP-FSS within [CoC lead organization name]?

  • [If no] Who would that be?

• What is/are their role(s)?

• What type of entity is [CoC lead organization name]? (E.g., local government, non-profit service provider, entity created solely to distribute CoC funds)

• What are the main activities [CoC lead organization name] engages in?

• Does [CoC lead organization name] do outreach to homeless youth in the community?

  • If so, how do you do this?

• How is [CoC lead organization name]’s coordinated entry system structured?

  • How is participant intake and assessment coordinated among service providers?

    • Are there ways in which intake and assessment differ for youth and adults?

    • [If yes] Can you tell me about that?

Involvement in FUP and FUP-FSS

Now, I have some questions about [CoC lead organization name]’s involvement with FUP and the FUP-FSS Demonstration.

• What were some of [CoC lead organization name]’s motivations to become involved with FUP?

  • When did your agency first become involved with FUP?

• What were some of your agency’s motivations to become involved with the FUP-FSS Demonstration?

  • When did your agency become involved with the FUP-FSS Demonstration?

Community Context

Now we'd like to hear your insight on the community context in which you are serving FUP youth.

• Can you tell us about the homeless youth population in [PHA jurisdiction]?

  • What are common demographic or other traits?

  • What are the most common causes of homelessness for this population?

• Approximately how many homeless youth ages 18 to 24 come through coordinated entry each year in [PHA jurisdiction]?

• Do homeless youth come through other entry points, aside from coordinated entry?

  • How many youth do not come through the coordinated entry system?

  • Are there other ways these homeless youth can get services?

• Please describe the availability of housing services for homeless youth in [PHA’s jurisdiction]?

  • What housing resources other than FUP are available for homeless youth through the CoC?

  • Are there housing service providers for youth that are not funded by the CoC?

  • [If yes] What types of organizations are those providers?

  • [If yes] How did it come to be that these services are not funded by the CoC?

• What self-sufficiency related resources other than FUP-FSS are available for homeless youth through the CoC? (for example, financial counseling, job search, job training, education/vocational training, case management?)

• Can you tell me about any regulatory or statutory barriers to serving youth in [PHA jurisdiction]?

• If yes, how does that interact with the work of [CoC name]?

Identifying FUP-Eligible Youth

Now, I have some questions about how CoC-funded agencies identify youth who are potentially eligible for FUP.

• What, if any, role does [CoC lead organization name] have in this process?

• Which CoC-funded agencies are involved in identifying potentially FUP-eligible youth?

• How do CoC-funded agencies identify potentially FUP-eligible youth?

• Do these agencies use a common assessment tool?

  • If so, what assessment tool do they use?

  • Are there other assessment tools they use?

• How does that assessment tool/s help these agencies identify potentially FUP-eligible youth?

• Does either [CoC lead organization name] or these agencies match HMIS data to child welfare data to identify youth who had been in foster care?

  • [If so] How often are participants matched?

Referring Potentially FUP-Eligible Youth

Now, I have some questions about how CoC-funded agencies refer potentially FUP-eligible youth to [PCWA name].

• Did [CoC lead organization name] work with [PCWA name] to establish a process for identifying and referring potentially FUP-eligible youth to [PCWA name]?

  • [If yes] Please describe how this came about.

  • Did [CoC lead organization name] work with [PHA name] or [PCWA name] to establish a process for identifying potentially FUP-FSS eligible youth?

  • What role does [CoC lead organization name] have in these referral processes?

• How is the FUP referral process integrated into your coordinated entry system?

• How long have CoC-funded agencies been referring youth who may be FUP-eligible to [PCWA name]?

• Approximately how many potentially FUP-eligible youth have CoC-funded agencies referred to [PCWA name] since [most recent voucher award date]?

• To your knowledge, do CoC-funded agencies ever not refer a potentially FUP-eligible youth to the [PCWA name}?

  • If so, under what circumstances would these agencies not refer a potentially FUP-eligible youth to the [PCWA name]?

• Do CoC-funded agencies ever refer a potentially FUP-eligible youth to another housing program instead of FUP?

  • [If yes] What other program(s) do they refer potentially FUP-eligible youth to?

  • What factors might lead CoC-funded agencies to refer potentially FUP-eligible youth to those programs instead of FUP?

How, if at all, do CoC-funded agencies prioritize youth for FUP referrals who are currently child welfare-engaged versus highest-need homeless youth who were previously in foster care?

Service Provision

Now, I have some questions about services provided to youth with FUP vouchers by CoC-funded programs.

• Do CoC-funded programs provide any housing assistance services to FUP-eligible youth?

  • [If yes] What kinds of services are provided to youth by CoC funded programs?

    • Voucher application assistance?

    • Housing search assistance?

    • Cash assistance? (E.g., help paying security deposit and application fees)

    • Landlord assurances?

    • Move-in services?

    • On-going case management?

• What are your funding sources for these services?

• Do CoC-funded programs provide any post-lease-up self-sufficiency related services to FUP youth?

  • [If yes] What kinds of services are provided to youth by CoC funded programs?

    • Financial counseling/management?

    • Job search?

    • Job training?

    • Educational or vocational training?

    • Transportation assistance?

    • Childcare assistance?

    • On-going case management?

    • Long-term housing planning (e.g., in preparation for when voucher assistance ends)?

    • Other services?

• How long after lease-up are you and other agencies providing supportive services to youth?

  • To what extent does this vary?

• What proportion of youth who lease up with FUP are eligible for services from CoC-funded programs? What makes them eligible?

  • Do services vary for FUP-FSS demonstration participants?

• [If yes] How so?

Partnership with PHA, PCWA and Other Collaborating Agencies

Please tell us about how [CoC lead organization name] collaborates with [PHA name] and [PCWA name] as FUP-FSS partners.

• How did [CoC lead organization name]’s collaboration with [PHA name] and [PCWA name] come about?

  • Did someone at [PHA name] or [PCWA name] reach out to [CoC lead organization name] or did [CoC lead organization name] initiate the relationship?

• Has [CoC lead organization name] ever collaborated with either the [PHA name] or [PCWA name] before?

  • [If yes] What was the nature of that collaboration?

• Is there a single point of contact at these agencies to address issues around serving youth participating in FUP-FSS?

  • [If no] For FUP youth generally?

  • [If no] Would having a single point of contact be helpful?

    • Why or why not?

• Does [CoC lead organization name] have a single point of contact for partner agencies to reach out to with questions about serving youth?

• What does [CoC lead organization name]’s Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, for the FUP-FSS demonstration with [PHA name] and [PCWA name] require of each party?

  • [Probe] prioritization of FUP youth, coordination of referrals, integration into coordinated entry system, identification of services funded through CoC, quarterly meetings, common goals and standards of success

  • How, if at all, do you update your MOU to reflect changes in activities?

• How does [CoC lead organization name] coordinate with [PHA name] and [PCWA name] to serve youth participating in the FUP-FSS demonstration?

• How often does [CoC lead organization name] typically communicate with [PHA name] or [PCWA name] about FUP-FSS?

  • What are those communications typically about?

  • Do you think there should be more communication, less communication, or is the amount about right?

• How often does [CoC lead organization name] meet with [PHA name] or [PCWA] about FUP-FSS?

  • What are those meetings typically about?

• What training, if any, does [CoC lead organization name] provide to the [PCWA name] or [PHA name]?

  • How often does the [CoC lead organization name] provide this training?

• What training, if any, does the PHA provide to [CoC lead organization name] and/or CoC-funded agencies?

  • Which organizations are involved in these trainings?

  • How often does [PHA name] provide this training?

• What training, if any, does [PCWA name] provide to [CoC lead organization name] and/or CoC-funded agencies?

  • Which organizations are involved in these trainings?

  • How often does [PCWA name] provide this training?

• [If the PHA and/or PCWA only trains the CoC lead organization] How, if at all, do you pass along information from these trainings to CoC-funded agencies?

• How would you characterize [CoC lead organization name]’s relationship with [PHA name]?

  • Are respective roles and responsibilities clear?

  • In your perspective, is there a sense of common mission?

• How would you characterize [CoC lead organization name]’s relationship with [PCWA name]?

  • Are respective roles and responsibilities clear?

  • Is there a sense of common mission?

Funding FUP-FSS Partnership

Next, we have a few questions about your funding sources for services provided to FUP-FSS participants, specifically.

• What CoC funds are used to cover the cost of supportive services for youth participating in the FUP-FSS demonstration?

Implementation Challenges

We’d also like to hear about challenges you may have experienced as a FUP-FSS Demonstration partner.

• What challenges have [CoC lead organization name] and CoC-funded agencies encountered as part of the FUP-FSS Demonstration partnership?

  • How did your agency overcome those challenges?

• What, if any, aspects of the partnership do you consider to be successful?

  • What factors facilitated the success of the partnership?

Reflections

As we approach the end of our conversation, we'd like to ask you to reflect on your experience with the FUP-FSS Demonstration and provide any recommendations you may have.

• What do you think is working well with the FUP-FSS Demonstration?

• What do you think could have been done better to implement the demonstration?

• Are there any changes that would help CoCs use FUP-FSS more effectively?

Closing

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.

• Is there anything that I did not ask that you think I should know about your role or the FUP-FSS partnership?

• Do you have any final questions for me about the study?