Interviews for Trauma-Informed Communications at Disaster Recovery Centers

OMB control 1601-0029

Exp. 12/31/2026

Qualitative Evaluation for DRC Flyer

Interview Script

Background

The FEMA Individual Assistance Division, in collaboration with the OMB “Recovering from a Disaster” Life Experience team, has developed a trauma-informed flyer to share at Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs). The intent of this flyer is to provide disaster survivors with the key information they need to apply for Federal disaster assistance in a clear, consistent, and trauma-informed way. After developing this flyer, the team aims to conduct a qualitative evaluation with disaster survivors to better understand if this flyer, and similar trauma-informed communications, can improve the survivor experience.

Interview Characteristics

Interviews will be conducted at DRCs. Each interview will last no longer than 20 minutes. Interviewers will approach individuals are waiting in line for staff support at DRCs, to limit additional time that survivors have to spend at DRCs. Interviewers will look for a diverse set of participants including race and gender, however this may be constrained due to small sample size and limited interview locations.

Disaster survivors that are willing to participate as interviewees will be interviewed by two staff members:

• Facilitator: The Facilitator will guide the discussion and questions.

• Assistant: The Assistant will take notes.

Interview Agenda

Welcome and Introductions

• Introduce Facilitator and Assistant.

• Explain purpose of the interview: We would like to talk to you today in order to collect feedback on disaster survivors’ experience at Disaster Resource Centers. In particular, we are interested in understanding how a new communication tool, that is more trauma-informed, can improve overall clarity and understanding of how to apply for Federal disaster assistance. Your feedback will be used to update this flyer and provide additional guidance for other communication tools that are provided to survivors at DRCs. We value your input and want you to share your honest and open thoughts with us.

Vocalize the burden statement:

• Facilitator will vocalize key elements of the burden statement in the course of the introduction, to include PRA approval, length of session, voluntary nature of interview, and feedback opportunity.

• A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 1601-0029 (expires 12/31/2026). Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey. Public reporting for this survey is estimated to be no longer than 20 minutes per interview. All responses to this survey are voluntary, and you can stop at any time. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to [email protected].

Ground Rules

• Facilitator will share ground rules to establish norms for interview.

  • There are no right or wrong answers.

  • We will not be collecting any private information, including any information about active applications or cases for Federal disaster assistance.

  • The results of this interview will be reported on but names or other identifying information will not be written down or used.

  • My role as facilitator is to guide the discussion. The role of the assistant is to take notes.

Flyer Review

After covering ground rules, we plan to share the prototype flyer tool with interviewees, and allow them 5 minutes to review the flyer and the associated information. At the end of the 5-minute review, we will check in if they are comfortable discussing, or if they need more time.

Discussion

After the interviewees have reviewed the flyer, we plan to ask 4-6 questions, approximately one per each category of questions listed below. The questions in each category are examples, and we may ask follow-up questions (e.g. “Can you tell us more?”) depending on the responses.

• Overview:

  • What are your initial reactions to this flyer?

  • Is this kind of information helpful?

  • Did this flyer help you achieve the reason you came to the DRC today?

  • Where have you previously gotten information about Federal disaster assistance?

• Flyer specifics:

  • What parts of the flyer are clear?

  • Is the language used in the flyer understandable?

  • Is there any information missing from this flyer that would have been helpful during your visit to the DRC?

  • Is this the right amount of information to help you understand disaster assistance in your navigating your recovery?

  • Does this flyer help you understand the steps you need to take in your disaster recovery journey?

• Timing:

  • When would it be helpful to have a copy of a flyer like this one?

  • If you gotten the flyer beforehand, would your plan for the visit have changed?

• Overall recovery sentiments:

  • Do you feel more empowered to manage navigating your recovery from this disaster with the information on this flyer?

  • What kinds of information would be helpful to you in navigating disaster assistance during your recovery?

Wrap-up

The Facilitator will thank interviewees for their time, and summarize again the purpose of the interview. The Facilitator will also re-share the burden statement and follow-up contact information. Lastly, the Facilitator will say that interviewees can continue to learn more about the Life Experience work by visiting performance.gov.

Paperwork Reduction Statement: FEMA will use this voluntary information collection to better understand if the flyer, and similar trauma-informed communications, can improve the survivor experience. Public reporting for this survey is estimated to be no longer than 20 minutes per interview. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The control number assigned to this collection is OMB 1601-0029, which expires 12/31/2026. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to [email protected]. Attn: PRA 1601-0029 Interviews for Trauma-Informed Communications at Disaster Recovery Centers.