Interviews with Co-Located ECE Program Directors (Appendix G)

Appendix G: Co-located ECE Program Directors Interview Protocol

Introductory Script

I am ______________ and this is ______________from Child Trends. Child Trends is a non-profit research organization. We have been contracted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct a research study to understand the child care needs and preferences of families living in public housing developments. As the [Position Name] of [Agency/Organization/Program Name], we’d like to talk to you about ways to support families with young children experiencing housing instability and any barriers to supporting families experiencing housing instability from the ECE perspective. We expect that our conversation today will last about 45 minutes.

All of your responses and comments today will be kept confidential and will not be connected to your name in the products that we create as part of this project. If we include any quotes from interviews, we will make sure that any potentially identifiable information is removed. There is one exception to confidentiality we need to make you aware of. In research studies, it is our ethical responsibility to ensure everyone is safe. This means we are responsible for reporting current or previous situations where a child might have been seriously harmed by an adult; specifically: of child physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, child neglect, or any life-threatening situation to appropriate authorities. Also, if we are concerned that anyone is at risk of harming themselves, we will want to connect you to supports to keep everyone safe. However, we are not seeking this type of information in our study nor will you be asked questions about these issues directly.

To keep track of everything that is being discussed today, we would like to record the conversation. The purpose of recording is to make sure that we are correctly capturing your responses in our notes. The recording and written notes from this interview will be kept on a secure server at Child Trends and no one outside of the research team will be able to access them. We will delete the recording once the notes are complete.

Would like to participate in today’s interview?

Yes/No

Are you comfortable with us recording this interview today?

Yes/No

As we stated before, there are no “right” or “wrong” answers to any of our questions—we are simply interested in hearing about your experiences. If you feel uncomfortable answering a question, just let me know and we can skip it and move to the next one. Please note that participating in this interview is completely voluntary. You may request to stop the interview at any time.

As a reminder, you will receive a gift card to thank you for your time today. We will share more details about the receipt of the gift card at the end of the interview.

Do you have any questions before we get started?

Let’s begin.

1. Background Information

[5 minutes]

First I’d like to learn a bit more about the families your program serves.

1. Approximately how many young children are enrolled in your program? If you do not know the exact number, please use your best guess.

2. Of these children, how many are currently living in [name of public housing development]?

Transition: The next set of questions will ask you about the operation of your program.

2. Co-located Child Care

[30 minutes]

3. How would you describe the relationship between your child care program and [name of public housing development]?

   1. Does your child care program employ any residents of [name of public housing development]?

      1. Does your program or [name of public housing development] provide any training or credentialing for families living in [name of public housing development] that are interested in working in your child care program?

   2. Does [name of public housing development] conduct any outreach with families in your child care program?

      1. What does this outreach look like? Can you tell us about a recent example?

   3. Does [name of public housing development] hold any units for families in your child care program?

   4. Does your child care program prioritize supports or services for families living in [name of public housing development]?

4. Have you supported any families with applying for a subsidized housing unit in [name of housing development] or elsewhere?

   1. If so, can you describe what that process looked like?

      1. What went well with this process?

      2. Were there any barriers to your ability to support families through this process?

5. How often do you communicate with staff at [name of public housing development]?

   1. How do you communicate with staff at [name of public housing development]?

6. What funding or revenue sources do you use in order to operate this program?

   1. PROBE:

      1. Parent pay

      2. Head Start

      3. Child care subsidy

      4. State or local funds

   2. Have these revenue sources changed at all since the outset of the pandemic?

   3. Do these revenue sources cover all of your operational costs?

7. Is your child care program licensed?

   1. Why or why not?

      1. Are there any benefits to being licensed?

      2. Are there any barriers or challenges to being licensed?

   2. Can you walk us through what steps you had to take in order to receive the license?

      1. How easy or difficult was this process?

      2. Did you need any additional resources or supports to complete this process?

8. Is your program quality rated in your local quality rating and improvement system (QRIS)?

   1. Why or why not?

      1. Are there any benefits to being quality rated?

      2. Are there any barriers or challenges?

   2. Can you walk us through what steps you had to take in order to receive your rating?

      1. How easy or difficult was this process?

      2. Did you need any additional resources or supports to complete this process?

9. Do you face any challenges operating child care that is co-located with a housing program?

10. Do you think co-located care better meets the needs of families? Why or why not?

11. What do you see as the biggest benefits of having co-located or onsite child care at [name of housing development]?

Transition: We have just one more question for you in closing.

3. Closing Thoughts

[5 minutes]

12. Is there anything else you think would be helpful for us to know about accessing child care for families living in public housing in your community?

Closing script: Thank you for your time. If for any reason we need additional clarification about anything that was said is it okay if we follow up with you? You should also feel free to reach out to us if there’s anything you remember that you’d like to share.

3