Background
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A1.
What is your job title?
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A2.
How long have you been in this role? How long have you been with
the [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY/PARTNER ORGANIZATION]?
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A3.
Please share a little bit about your responsibilities.
For
partners/community organizations:
A4.
How would you describe your [AGENCY’S / ORGANIZATION’S]
role in working with [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY]?
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Child
welfare agency’s approach to equity
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I
will now ask that you share a little bit about [CHILD WELFARE
AGENCY’S] approach to equity. By equity, we mean the
consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of
all individuals, including individuals who that have been
systemically denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and
Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of
religious minorities; LGBTQ+ persons; persons with disabilities;
persons who live in rural areas; and persons affected by
persistent poverty or inequities.
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B1.
How would you describe [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY’S] approach to
equity?
To
what extent has [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY] identified specific
objectives or goals to advancing equity? For example, as part
of the agency’s mission, vision, or strategic priorities.
Probe:
What
are those objectives or goals?
How
were these objectives or goals developed?
Does
the agency focus on specific populations, communities, or
aspects of equity such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation,
gender identity and gender expression (SOGIE)? If so, please
share a little bit about that.
How
long has this practice(s) been in place? Has it always existed
like this or have there been innovations or updates?
For
partners/community organizations:
B1b.
How does your [AGENCY/ORGANIZATION] engage with [CHILD WELFARE
AGENCY] to address equity?
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B2.
From your perspective, what initially prompted your agency to
focus on equity?
Probe
for:
a. Who
was involved in the decision making to focus on equity?
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B3.
How has [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY’S] approach to equity shifted
over time, if at all?
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Data
practices across child welfare services
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To
start, I’d like to hear about practices related to how your
agency uses data to understand or address equity across five
types of services: prevention of child abuse and neglect, child
protection, family support services, foster care, and permanency.
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C1.
How does your agency use data to understand or address equity in
the prevention
of
child
abuse and neglect?
Probe
for:
Identifying
and monitoring service needs
Monitoring
referral, availability, and access to services
Monitoring
the quality of prevention services
Tracking
outcomes for clients
Do
you review this information across demographic factors and
client characteristics? For example, SOGIE, race/ethnicity
including data from American Indian and Alaska Native families
and youth, disability, and geographic area? If so, what does
this look like? If not, why not?
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C2.
How does your agency use data to understand or address equity in
child
protection services?
Probe
for:
Tracking
reports
(total
number and unduplicated at the child level)
of
child abuse and neglect
Making
decisions during the screening process
Making
decisions during the investigation process
Making
decisions about differential response services and monitoring
differential response services
Do
you review this information across demographic factors and
client characteristics? For example, SOGIE, race/ethnicity
including data from American Indian and Alaska Native families
and youth, disability, and geographic area. If so, what does
this look like? If not, why not?
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C3.
How does your agency use data to understand or address equity in
family
support services?
Probe
for:
Identifying
and monitoring service needs
Making
decisions about removing a child and placing them in out of home
care
Monitoring
referral, availability, and access to services
Monitoring
the quality of services
Tracking
outcomes for clients
Do
you review this information across demographic factors and
client characteristics? For example, SOGIE, race/ethnicity
including data from American Indian and Alaska Native families
and youth, disability, and geographic area. If so, what does
this look like? If not, why not?
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C4.
How does your agency use data to understand or address equity in
foster
care?
Note
for interviewer: Jurisdictions may use terms other than foster
care, such as out-of-home care
Probe
for:
Identifying
and monitoring service needs in foster care, including kinship
care
Monitoring
referral, availability, and access to services in foster care
(such as identifying LGBTQ+ prospective foster parents),
including kinship care
Monitoring
the quality of services in foster care, including kinship care
Tracking
outcomes for children in foster care, including kinship care
Do
you review this information across demographic factors and
client characteristics? For example, SOGIE, race/ethnicity
including data from American Indian and Alaska Native families
and youth, disability, and geographic area. If so, what does
this look like? If not, why not?
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C5.
How does your agency use data to understand or address equity
across services that focus on permanency
(including legal and relational)?
Probe
for:
Identifying
and monitoring service needs related to reunification, adoption,
guardianship, and aging out
Making
decisions about placements and permanency options, including
reunification, adoption, guardianship, and aging out (such as
identifying LGBTQ+ prospective adoptive parents)
Monitoring
referrals, availability, and access to services related to
reunification, adoption, guardianship, and aging out
Tracking
outcomes for children and youth related to reunification,
adoption, guardianship, and aging out
Do
you review this information across demographic factors and
family characteristics? For example, SOGIE, race/ethnicity
including data from American Indian and Alaska Native families
and youth, disability, and geographic area. If so, what does
this look like? If not, why not?
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Data
practice across the data life cycle
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Now,
I’d like for you to walk me through the data practices your
agency uses to advance equity. These might include practices
related to planning, data collection, data access, and data
analysis including the use of algorithms or statistical tools;
and practices related to reporting and disseminating analysis
results.
Please
note whether
the practice varies across the child welfare service continuum.
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For
direct service staff and supervisors:
D1.
What, if any, data does your agency collect on [race/ethnicity,
SOGIE, tribal membership, disability, religious affiliation,
rurality, income, or other dimension of equity]?
Who
is generally responsible for collecting and entering this data?
What is your role regarding how this data is collected?
How
is this data collected?
Whom
do you collect this data from?
How
do you learn about individuals’ [race/ethnicity,
SOGIE, tribal membership, disability, religious affiliation,
rurality, income, or other dimension of equity]?
For example, by asking individuals to self-report, or through
staff observation? How often do you collect these data and are
there data fields associated with these responses? Is this
information updated after it’s collected? If so, how
often is it updated?
What
tools, systems or strategies does your agency use to collect
these data? For example, intake paperwork, linked database,
survey, interviewing techniques
Do
you communicate to families and/or youth why are you asking for
this information?
Are
you aware of any policies, procedures, or other expectations for
how this data should be collected? If so, please describe them.
Probe:
Do
you follow these expectations on collecting this data? If so,
how? If not, why?
Do
you see any challenges or concerns to collecting this data? If
so, what challenges or concerns? For example, time, lack of
clarity on expectations, personal discomfort, etc.
How
could these policies, procedures, or expectations be improved?
Are
you aware of ways in which this data is used to inform practice
and/or policies? If so, please tell me about that.
Is
there additional data your agency collects explicitly
differentiating American Indian race/ethnicity coding from
tribal affiliation and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
eligibility? If so, how is it collected?
What
information, if any, would you like to collect that your agency
does not currently collect?
Why
would this information be helpful?
Why
is it not being collected?
Is
there additional data your agency collects that could be used to
understand or address equity for [dimension of equity]? If so,
how is it collected?
For
child welfare and partner agency leaders and research and data
staff:
D1.
What data does your agency collect that could help understand and
advance equity?
Probe:
How
and why was the data practice(s) adopted?
Who
supported and informed the development of the data practice?
What
resources were necessary for implementing the data practice?
How
long did it take for the data practice to begin implementation?
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D2.
How did your agency decide what data or information to collect
and how to collect it to advance equity? For
example, identifying priorities and needs related to data, the
goals of data collection, or the types of data that are
collected.
Probe:
Who
was involved?
Do
community members or other organizations, including partner
agencies, participate in deciding what data to collect and how
to collect it? If not, why not?
If
yes:
What
does that participation look like?
Would
you change anything about this process? If so, what, and why?
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D3.
Are there specific [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY] policies or procedures
that provide guidance on how staff should collect and handle data
that could be used to advance equity? If so, please describe
these policies or procedures.
How
were these policies or procedures developed? How are staff
included in the development of these policies?
What
entity establishes these policies or procedures? For example,
are standards established by the child welfare agency or a
larger governmental body like an umbrella agency or state-level
agency?
How
long have these policies and procedures been in place? Have
there been innovations or updates?
How
could these policies or procedures be improved to better promote
equity?
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D4.
How would you describe the quality of the data related to
[race/ethnicity,
SOGIE, tribal membership, disability, religious affiliation,
rurality, income, or other dimension of equity]
that [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY] collects?
How
do you assess the quality of this data? Does
your agency perform case reviews to determine the quality of
data being collect?
What
could help improve the quality of the data that is collected?
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D5.
How well does your agency’s data system meet your needs as
it relates to collecting and using data about [dimension(s) of
equity] across the data lifecycle? Probe as needed for each
relevant dimension of equity (race/ethnicity, SOGIE, tribal
membership, disability, religious affiliation, rurality, income,
or other dimension of equity) and data practice (data collection,
access, analysis, reporting and dissemination)
What
are its strengths?
How
could it be improved?
Do
you receive information about missing data and/or requests to
improve the quality of the data? If so, what does this look
like?
For
research and data staff:
Are
all fields related to race/ethnicity,
SOGIE, tribal membership, disability, religious affiliation,
geographic area, and income being filled out in the system?
Are
there error messages and hard stops in your system when these
items are not entered?
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D6.
Does your agency analyze data to understand inequities that may
exist? If so, how?
What
measures do you use to understand inequities that may exist?
How
are data disaggregated to help you understand inequities that
may exist?
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D7.
Does your agency use statistical tools or algorithms when
analyzing data to understand inequities that may exist? If so,
how?
Do
you use predictive models? If so, how do you test these models
for biases?
For
what purposes do you generate statistical analyses? For
example, is it to identify inequities?
What
are the strengths of this approach to reviewing or analyzing
data?
What
are some limitations of this approach?
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D8.
Who is involved in analyzing data to understand inequities that
may exist?
Probe:
To
what extent do supervisors or direct service staff review or
analyze data? What does this look like?
To
what extent do families, including youth who have interacted
with the child welfare system, review data? What does this look
like?
To
what extent do community members participate in reviewing data?
What does this look like?
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D9.
Who is involved in interpreting data to examine inequities that
may exist?
Probe:
To
what extent do supervisors or direct service staff interpret
data? What does this look like?
To
what extent do families, including youth who have interacted
with the child welfare system, participate in this
interpretation? What does this look like?
To
what extent do community members participate in interpreting
data? What does this look like?
For
partners/community organizations:
How
involved are community members in reporting and disseminating
data from equity-related analyses?
By
“reporting,” we mean providing the results of
reviewing and analyzing data. By “disseminating,” we
mean sharing the results with others.
Are
there any specific strategies you think are working well? If so,
what are some examples?
What
could be improved?
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D10.
Once data have been analyzed to assess inequities, how are the
results used?
Probe:
How,
if at all, do results inform policies, procedures, practices, or
decision making?
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D11.
Have you identified inequities when analyzing data? If so,
please walk me through what you found and how these findings were
used.
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D12.
How are the results of equity-related analyses shared with others
within the agency and outside the agency?
Probe:
Who
are results reported to?
Are
results shared with community members, including individuals who
have direct experience with the child welfare system?
How
are reports disseminated throughout the agency? Are they
reviewed with staff, so staff know the importance and
implications of data collected?
In
what format are results shared?
How
frequently are results reported?
How
are results used?
What
do you think are the strengths of this process?
What,
if anything, would you change about this process?
For
partner/community organization direct service staff:
What
data, if any, related to [dimension(s) of equity] do you receive
from [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY]? Dimensions
of equity include race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression (SOGIE), tribal membership, disability,
religious affiliation, rurality, and income.
How
do they share that data with you?
What
does it look like when you receive it? Do you receive raw,
individual-level data and/or aggregate data?
For
what purposes do they share that data with you?
How
often do you receive those data?
What
do you do with the data once you receive it?
Do
you provide any data related to [dimension(s) of equity] to
[CHILD WELFARE AGENCY]?
If
yes:
What
data do you share with them?
Who
do you share it with?
How
do you share the data with them? Do you share raw,
individual-level data and/or aggregate data?
For
what purposes do you share this data with them?
How
often do you share the data with them?
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D13.
How does your agency decide how the data you collect and analyze
will be used to advance equity?
Probe:
Who
is involved in this process?
Do
community members or agency partners participate in this
process? If not, why not?
If
yes, probe:
What
does that participation look like?
Would
you change anything about this process? If so, what, and why?
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D14.
Please describe any activities your agency is undertaking to
measure the impact of your data practices that aim to advance
equity. When I say data practices, I’m referring to the
planning, collection, access, analysis, reporting, and
dissemination of data, and the use of statistical tools and
algorithms.
Is
there any evidence that these data practices are advancing
equity? If so, what evidence?
How
does your agency know if a practice seems to promote or might
have the potential to promote equity? What data are you
collecting or reviewing to understand the impact? How does the
data you collect to assess potential vary, if at all, by data
practice?
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D15.
Are there data you would like to have access to that would
facilitate your agency’s efforts to advance equity that you
currently cannot access? If so, please describe how those data
would facilitate your agency’s efforts to advance equity.
What
data practices are needed to hold child welfare agencies
accountable for addressing equity?
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D16.
Please describe any training or professional development you have
completed related to data collection or data use for
[dimension(s) of equity].
Was
this a one-time opportunity or something that has been offered
multiple times?
To
what extent have training or professional development activities
addressed practices for collecting data on [dimension(s) of
equity] to address equity?
Have
they addressed how to collect data about [race/ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE),
tribal membership, disability, religious affiliation, rurality,
and income]?
To
what extent are other training or professional development
activities needed relevant to data collection or data use to
address equity?
What
training topics are needed?
What
are the barriers to implementing these training?
For
managers or supervisors:
Do
you provide specific supports to direct service staff on
practices and strategies for collecting and using this data? If
so, can you tell me more about that? If not, why is that?
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Facilitators
and challenges to using data to advance equity
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E1.
What has helped your agency to implement data practices that aim
to promote equity? For
example, factors related to policy, training, culture, capacity,
workforce.
Probe
for facilitators for: data planning, collection, analysis,
interpretation, and reporting.
For
partners/community organizations:
Probe
based on the organization’s relationship with the child
welfare agency and how it is involved in advancing equity. Probe
across data practices, child welfare services, and relevant
dimensions of equity.
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E2.
What has made it challenging to implement data practices that aim
to promote equity? For
example, lack of staff buy in, data collection burdens, policy
constraints, bureaucratic issues, lack of training and capacity,
organizational culture.
Probe
for barriers related to: data planning, collection, analysis,
interpretation, and reporting.
For
partners/community organizations:
Probe
based on the organization’s relationship with the child
welfare agency and how it is involved in advancing equity. Probe
across data practices, child welfare services, and relevant
dimensions of equity.
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Opportunities
at agency and system levels
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F1.
Thinking about data practices in child welfare generally, what
are some opportunities for improvement that you think could help
advance equity?
What
does improvement look like at the [state/territory, tribal or
local] level for [data practice across the service continuum as
discussed above]? For
example, soliciting and incorporating ideas from community
members about what information would help them understand
inequities and help come up with ideas for tackling them,
policies to make it easier to share data, procedures for using
best practices when collecting data from families, workforce
development and training.
What
are the barriers or challenges that might prevent such
improvements from happening for [data practice across the
service continuum as discussed above]?
What
assets or resources are there in your community that could help
make these improvements happen?
For
partners/community organizations:
F1a3.
Would you change anything about how [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY]
engages community members? If so, what?
What
does improvement look like at a national level? For example,
changes to federal policies, funding, collaboration/coordination
across sectors, resources on best practices for data collection,
data use, training, or other topics.
What
are the barriers or challenges that might prevent such
improvements from happening?
What
are the assets or resources that could help make these
improvements happen?
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Knowledge
of equity approaches
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So
far, our conversation has focused specifically on data and
equity. Before we wrap up, I would like to hear your thoughts on
any strategies or approaches that could help advance equity in
the child welfare system more broadly.
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G1.
Are there any approaches, models, or strategies to advance equity
that your agency is not currently implementing, but would like to
implement? If so, please describe and share why you would like
to implement them.
Why
are you not implementing these?
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G2.
What about equity would you like to learn more about in the
context of your work? For example, information about equity,
specific data practices that can promote equity, etc.
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Interview
wrap-up
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H1.
Those are all the questions I have for you. Is there anything
else that you would like to share about [CHILD WELFARE AGENCY’S]
data practices as they relate to equity?
For
partners/community organizations:
Are
there any resources that you would like to share to elaborate on
anything we discussed today?
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