Consent form

DOL Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot (ENPP)

Formative Study Design

ENPP Focus Group Consent Form

Hello, my name is [ ] and I’m with ICF, a consulting group based in Fairfax, Virginia. We are conducting an evaluation of the Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot (or the ENPP) on behalf of the Chief Evaluation Office at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). 

The ENPP is new—it’s a pilot that’s been going for 5 months—so a key part of our evaluation is collecting and analyzing data that describes how this program is operating. This will help DOL and its partners learn the best ways to scale, replicate, and sustain the program after the pilot ends and the program is rolled out to additional bases.

To help us understand how the ENPP is working at your base, we would like to conduct an interview with you. We anticipate the interview will take 30 minutes. We want to know what you're experiencing with the ENPP, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Please speak up at any point if you have comments—even if they’re not a direct response to our question.

**Before you consent to participate, I’m going to read some information on our procedures and your participation. Your participation is important because it will help improve the services provided to transitioning service members (TSMs) and their spouses. 

Privacy/Confidentiality I

We are conducting interviews and focus groups with Employment Navigators, regional managers, Serco and VETS pilot leads, pilot site TAP managers, program partners, and other TSMs. We will not report your name, or the names of anyone you mention, in our reports. We may include quotes or summaries of what we’ve learned, but nothing will be associated with your name.

While we will do our best to protect your privacy, we do not have control over every situation that might occur. For example, it is possible that someone reading the report would be able to identify an anonymous quote or observation because of their familiarity with your opinions and/or specific experiences.

Procedures 

• This will be a video discussion, or focus group, that will last about 90 minutes.  

• We will record this discussion.

• We will take notes on what we discuss.

• We are providing a $25 incentive for your participation.

Privacy/Confidentiality II

To protect your privacy, we will keep our notes in private files and only authorized staff at ICF will be allowed to use them.   

Voluntary Participation 

• Your participation today is completely voluntary.  

• You may choose not to answer questions that you do not want to answer. 

• You can leave this discussion at any time for any reason, without penalty or loss of benefits. 

Benefits and Risks

If you choose to participate, your data will help provide insights about how best to scale, replicate, and sustain the EN program. It will also help DOL and VETS understand how the program is working and how it can be improved to meet the needs of TSMs and their spouses. 

The primary risk to participating in this evaluation is a breach of confidentiality. Because the pilot is operating in only a handful of bases, we cannot guarantee your confidentiality, although we will do our best. We’d like to encourage you to give candid responses to help improve the program.

For More Information 

If you have any concerns or questions about your participation, please contact Emily Appel-Newby at, [email protected], or call 703.934.3000.

If you have any questions about your rights as a participant, you can contact Dr. Christine Walrath. Dr. Walrath is the chair of ICF’s Institutional Review Board, or IRB. The IRB is responsible for approving and monitoring research studies at ICF that include human subjects. You can email her at [email protected] or call 703.934.3000. 

 Do you agree to participate in this dicsussion? Saying “yes” means that the researchers have answered all of your questions and you consent to participate in this study. 

• Participant consents to the interview 

• Participant does not consent to the interview 

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