ACF State and County Human Services Commissioner Surveys

Fast Track Generic Clearance for Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

ACF County Human Services Commissioner Survey_final

ACF State and County Human Services Commissioner Surveys

OMB: 0970-0401

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ACF County Human Services Commissioner Survey

2020


The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).We promote the economic and social well-being of children, families, individuals and communities with leadership and resources for compassionate, effective delivery of human services. ACF administers more than 60 programs with a budget of more than $53 billion, making it the second-largest agency in HHS. ACF is comprised of 19 offices including the Office of Regional Operations, which represents 10 regional offices around the country. ACF is very interested in using feedback from local human services agency leadership to help inform and improve the provision of services for children and families served by our programs.


This survey is intended for county human services commissioners (a.k.a. Secretary, Chief Executive Officer, or Director). Although the majority of ACF funding is provided to a designated state agency, we recognize that the implementation and innovative practices are also generated at the local level. ACF federal funding provides support for TANF, child welfare/foster care, child care, Head Start, child support, and other human services programs. We know that counties operating in state-administered versus state-supervised, county-administered states may have different challenges and opportunities with implementing federally-funded programs. We are very interested in receiving feedback from local jurisdictions to inform our work with the states.


Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all answers will be used for internal planning purposes and to further the proper performance of the functions of the agency. Your responses will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. Please take a few moments to answer a few questions about your priorities and challenges, experiences working with ACF and share your suggestions for improvement. This survey should take no more than 30 minutes to complete.


Your data are automatically saved each time you press the blue "next" arrow at the bottom of a page.

You can return to the survey at any time using your unique emailed link. Access to the survey will expire on

Date XX/XX/XXXX.


Note: 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 number for this information collection is XXXX-XXXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.


County Priorities and Challenges

County Priorities

(1) For each of the following items, move the slider to indicate the strength of your agency’s

priorities in the next 12 months.


When assessing whether an item is a priority, please focus on where you intend to devote notable organizational and/or financial resources.


Organizational Efforts



Not a Priority










Highest Priority

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Engaging

families/consumers

in redesign of services


Improving family economic and social

well-being


Focusing organizational culture on

outcomes and

results


Advancing intergenerational/whole family

approaches to human services


Improving agency performance management

systems


Redesigning service delivery systems to

integrate programs


Improving data systems’

interoperability


Improving well-being by shifting from

crisis response to prevention


Fostering inter- or intra- agency collaborations

with other public

agencies



Programmatic Topics


Not a Priority










Highest Priority

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Welfare/TANF cash

assistance/self-

sufficiency


Child support


Homelessness and

housing


Child care/early care and

education


Child welfare/foster care systems/ preventing child

abuse and neglect


Substance abuse prevention and treatment, including

opioids


Workforce development/education and training/

employing hard-to-employ populations


(2) Spotlight: Overall Priority


Aside from more funding, we are interested in better understanding your highest overall priority for the coming year, regardless

of whether it is covered by the list above. Please use this space to share further details.




County Challenges

(3) Based on your experience administering ACF programs, and recognizing that no new

resources may be available, please share information about the challenges you face in

effectively serving children and families.


Not a challenge Minor challenge Major challenge


Insufficient collaboration across federal agencies

serving similar populations


Variation in federal eligibility requirements across programs


Guidance on privacy/confidentiality requirements for sharing

administrative data


Limits on existing program waiver authority Federal regulations

and policy guidance


Sufficient technical resources to use data to meet program objectives


Meeting federal, state, or local match and Maintenance of Effort

requirements for federal funding


Federal reporting, auditing, or monitoring requirements

State regulations and policy guidance


Other (Specify)



This question will collect more information about the items you identified as "major challenges."


(4) Please click and drag to arrange the items you selected as a "major challenge" in the order

of their importance.



Federal regulations and policy guidance


State regulations and policy guidance


Variation in federal eligibility requirements across programs


Limits on existing program waiver authority


Meeting state match and Maintenance of Effort requirements for federal funding

Federal reporting, auditing, or monitoring requirements

Insufficient collaboration across federal agencies serving similar populations

Sufficient technical resources to use data to meet program objectives

Guidance on privacy/confidentiality requirements for sharing administrative data



Now we will collect more information about the items you identified as the top 3 "major challenges."


(5) Toughest Challenges


Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding federal regulations and policy guidance.




Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding state regulations and policy guidance.




Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding variation in federal eligibility requirements across

programs.



Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding existing program waiver authority.



Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding state match and Maintenance of Effort

requirements for federal funding.




Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding federal reporting, auditing, or monitoring

requirements.




Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding collaboration across federal agencies serving

similar populations.





Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding technical resources to use data to meet program

objectives.





Please provide more detail about the challenges you face regarding privacy and confidentiality requirements for

sharing administrative data.





Working Across Programs

  1. From your experience implementing ACF programs at the local level, are you able to braid or align existing funding streams and resources to support innovation and effectiveness?


  • Not at all


  • With some difficulty To some extent

  • A great deal

  • We have not undertaken this effort



  1. From your experience implementing ACF programs at the local level, are you able to align data and/or data

systems to support innovation and effectiveness?

  • Not at all


  • With some difficulty To some extent

  • A great deal

  • We have not undertaken this effort


(8) Please rate the overall strength of your state agency's interagency collaborations for each of the following

health and human services program areas:


Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent


Food Assistance

Housing/Homelessness

Early Childhood


Health/Maternal and Child Health Workforce/Employment/Labor Child Welfare

Other (Specify)



(9) We know that it can be challenging to interact with multiple federal agencies at the state or local level. Which

agencies should ACF prioritize for interagency partnerships in the next twelve months?


Please drag items to rank the partnerships that would best address the challenges you face and support your priorities.


HHS- ACL (Area agency on aging)

HHS-SAMHSA (Substance abuse and mental health)

HUD (Housing) USDA-FNS (SNAP)

Department of Labor (WIOA)

HHS-CMS (Medicaid)


HHS-MCHB (Maternal and child health)

Other (Specify)


Recommendations for ACF


(10) What potential role(s) for ACF would most help you achieve your agency priorities in the coming year?

Please use the slider to indicate the importance of each role specified.


Low Priority High Priority


Convener of state and

local key partners and

stakeholders


Relationship broker between state and local agencies

with other federal agencies on cross-system integration


Facilitator of peer-to-peer learning with state/local

counterparts


Messenger/presenter at regional, state, or local

meetings


Disseminator of state and local model approaches


Advisor providing federal

policy guidance, interpretation, and

analysis


Advisor providing individualized technical

assistance and consultation


Informal, executive-level thought partner and problem solver


Developer of public- private partnerships, convening philanthropy

and other funders


(11) We would like information about the topics of interest for technical assistance for local executive leaders (as

opposed to direct service staff, supervisors, or other middle managers).

Please rate your level of interest in receiving technical assistance for each topic.


Not at all important Slightly important Important Very important

Blending/braiding multiple funding streams


Incorporating the latest research into programs

(e.g. child development in child care)


Using data to improve outcomes


Data privacy and confidentiality requirements Data interoperability

Putting hard-to-employ populations to work


Organizational development and structures


Best practices/model approaches for service delivery


Preventing child abuse and neglect

Other (Specify)



(12) What is your preferred form of communication with ACF?

Please drag the three most useful to the box. Click and drag to shuffle the order within the box.


Items Top 3 Most Useful


Shape1 Ad-hoc, one-on-one in-person meetings


Regularly scheduled in-person one-on-one meetings


Regional peer-to-peer meetings


Virtual meetings/conference calls


Grantee meetings and/or national conferences


Newsletters and emails Blogs


Short videos


Other (Specify)

(13) What tools or resources would you find most useful from ACF?

Please drag the three most useful to the box. Click and drag to shuffle the order within the box.



Items Top 3 Most Useful


Shape2 One-page summaries of ACF programs and priorities


Evidence-based practices reviews


Data and reports to compare your ACF programs to other states


3- to 5-page research, policy,

or issue briefs



Customer satisfaction survey

templates


Resources on federal funding opportunities and navigating federal grants


Best practices/case studies or summaries of other states'

initiatives



(14) We welcome other suggestions for how ACF can foster more efficient and effective services and reduce

barriers for state and local human services agencies. Please use the space below.


Working with ACF and Regional Offices

Now we would like to hear about your experiences seeking assistance with ACF programs.


(15) When an issue regarding ACF-funded programs requires you to seek assistance, where do you turn as your primary source of assistance?

Please drag one answer to the box.


Items Primary Source of Assistance


Shape3 State human services/social services agency

ACF Regional Office ACF Central Office

ACF-funded technical assistance provider

State- or local-contracted technical assistance provider

Professional association

(APHSA, NGA, etc)

Informal professional contacts

Other (Specify)



(16) Did you seek assistance from the ACF Regional Office in the last year?


  • Yes

  • No

  • Not sure/do not know


(16a) How often did you seek assistance from the ACF Regional Office in the last year?



  • 1-2 times

  • 3-5 times

  • 6-11 times

  • Monthly or more

  • Not sure/Don't know


(16b) How satisfied were you with the timeliness of assistance you received from the ACF Regional Office?


  • Very satisfied

  • Satisfied

  • Dissatisfied

  • Very dissatisfied


(16c) Please rate your overall satisfaction with the assistance you received from the ACF Regional Office.

  • Very satisfied

  • Satisfied

  • Dissatisfied

  • Very dissatisfied


(16d) Please provide more information about what was most helpful from the ACF Regional Office.






(16e) Please provide more information about your concerns with the ACF Regional Office and suggestions for

improvement.






(17) Did you seek assistance from the ACF Central Office in the last year?


  • Yes

  • No

  • Not sure/don’t know



(17a) How satisfied were you with the timeliness of assistance you received from the ACF Central Office?


  • Very satisfied

  • Satisfied

  • Dissatisfied

  • Very dissatisfied


(17b) Please rate your overall satisfaction with the assistance you received from the ACF Central Office.

  • Very satisfied

  • Satisfied

  • Dissatisfied

  • Very dissatisfied


(17c) Please provide more information about what was most helpful from the ACF Central Office.







(17d) Please provide more information about your concerns with the ACF Central Office and suggestions for improvement.






18. Did you meet with your region's ACF Regional Administrator or their staff in the past year?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Not sure/don’t know



(18a) Please rate your overall satisfaction with your meeting(s) with the ACF Regional Administrator's Office.





(18b) Please provide more information about your concerns with the ACF Regional Administrator's Office and

suggestions for improvement.



Respondent Background

In order to target our follow-up activities, please share some background about you and your agency.


  1. What is your title?

  • County CEO (Commissioner, Secretary, Executive Director, Director)


  • County Deputy Director, Chief of Staff, or direct report to county CEO



  • County Senior Director or Program Administrator

  • Other (Specify)


(20) What is your agency's total annual budget?

  • $500 million or less


  • More than $500 million to $1 billion

  • More than $1 billion to $5 billion

  • More than $5 billion to $10 billion

  • More than $10 billion


(21) Please estimate how much of your program budget is allocated to contracts with private non-governmental

providers or community agencies:


  • 0-25%

  • 26-50%

  • 51-75%

  • 76% or more


(22) How many FTEs does your agency employ?

  • 1-100

  • 101-500

  • 501-1000

  • 1001-5000

  • 5001 or more


(23) Please select the state you currently work in:


State _____________(drop down box)



(24) Which programs does your agency oversee?

Please select all that apply.

  • Public assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

  • Workforce development and employment training

  • Child welfare, foster care, child protective services, child abuse prevention

  • Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Subsidy and child care

  • Head Start, Early Head Start, or other early childhood programs

  • Home visiting

  • Public health, maternal, and child health

  • Mental health

  • Substance abuse

  • Child support

  • Domestic violence

  • Refugee assistance

  • Housing and homelessness

  • Developmental disabilities

  • Aging

  • Adult and juvenile justice

  • Community Services Block Grant programming

  • Homeless services

  • Other (specify)




By clicking "forward" below, your survey will be submitted and final.


Thank you for your time and effort responding to this survey.



1

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) STATEMENT OF PUBLIC BURDEN: The purpose of this information collection is to help inform and improve the provision of services for children and families served by ACF programs. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per respondent, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. This is a voluntary collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB # is 0970-0401 and the expiration date is 05/31/2021. If you have any comments on this collection of information, please contact Lauren Antelo, Office of Regional Operations, [email protected].


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