Homelessness in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina - Appendix A: Interview & Focus Group Guide

Appendix A: Interview & Focus Group Guide

Service Provider Interview Guide

Opening
- Thank you for taking the time to meet with me/us. We recognize that your time is valuable and we appreciate your participation.
- We are graduate students from the UNC School of Public Health. A requirement of our graduate program is that we partner with a community in North Carolina to conduct a community diagnosis. This means that we are working with agencies in Durham to identify its strengths, weaknesses, and future directions. We are interested in the community of Durham, but especially the homeless. The information we gather will be summarized and shared with the community. In addition, we will present our results to the community at a forum that will be held in the spring.
- The purpose of speaking with you today is to find out about your thoughts and experiences from having worked with the residential and homeless members of Durham. We are interested in your opinions. There are no right or wrong answers. If there are any questions you do not wish to answer, please let us (me) know. You may stop the interview at any time.
- Time: This interview should last 60-90 minutes.
Confidentiality
- Your comments will remain confidential. We will be reporting summaries of the comments made by community members but will not identify who said what, nor will we identify the names of the individuals we interview.
- We would like to take notes and tape record this interview. Your input is important and we want to make sure that we accurately record what you tell us. Feel free to not respond to any question we ask, or hit the "Stop" button on the tape recorder at any time. After we are finished using the tapes for this class, the cassettes will be recycled or destroyed. Is this okay with you?
Ground Rules
- Right to refuse: If at any time while we are talking you do not want to answer a question, you do not feel comfortable, or you would like to end the interview, please feel free to let me/us know.

Do you have any questions about anything I've said so far?

Services
- Tell us about your agency. What services do you provide? Probe: Source of funding, how many clients do you serve
- How would you describe the people who utilize your services? Probe: geographical information, SES, ethnicity etc.
- How do you define homelessness?
- What criteria must people meet in order to be eligible for your services?
- How do you inform the people in your service area about your services?
- What barriers do people face when trying to access your agencies' services? Why? Are there groups that tend to be difficult for your agency to reach? Probe: geographic, transportation, cultural, language
- What other agencies provide services to the residents of the communities you serve? What kinds of services do they provide? How successful are they?
The Community
- How do you feel Durham's history influences the homeless in Durham?
- How do the different cultural and ethnic groups interact? Probe: tensions, open conflict, resentment
- What is the current economic situation in Durham? How do you think this affects the homeless community? Probe: unemployment, opportunities for low-skill employment
- What would you say are the strengths of the communities that you serve?
- What do you think are the greatest needs of the homeless in your community?
- What is the local government doing to address homelessness?
- What are private citizens or citizen groups doing to address homelessness?
- What kinds of community projects have been attempted to address those needs in Durham? How successful were they? Why? (Refer back to question on agency providers under services)
- If you were going to try to do some type of community health project in Durham, who from the community would you try to involve? Why? Probe: groups or committees with useful skills and knowledge, key community leaders
- Is there anything else that you can tell us about the homeless community?
Documents
- Does your agency have any written information that would be helpful for us to read?
Referrals
- Who else would you recommend that we talk to about the needs and assets of Durham?
- May we use your name as a reference when contacting these persons?
- Please note that we will inform any persons to whom you refer us that they are under no obligation to participate in the study.
Community Forum
- Do you have recommendations for the:
  - Place
  - Day of the week
  - Time of day
  - Format
  - Who to invite (community members, service providers, homeless)
  - How to publicize
  - Who should serve on the planning group

We would like to send you information on our community forum in the spring. Could we have your address for this purpose?

Thank you again for your participation!

Homeless Community Member Interview Guide

Opening
- Thank you for taking the time to meet with me/us. We recognize that your time is valuable and we appreciate your participation.
- We are graduate students from the UNC School of Public Health. A requirement of our graduate program is that we partner with a community in North Carolina to conduct a community diagnosis. This means that we are working with agencies in Durham to identify its strengths, weaknesses, and future directions. We are interested in the community of Durham, but especially the homeless. The information we gather will be summarized and shared with the community. In addition, we will present our results to the community at a forum that will be held in the spring.
- The purpose of speaking with you today is to find out about your thoughts and experiences from having worked with the residential and homeless members of Durham. We are interested in your opinions. There are no right or wrong answers. If there are any questions you do not wish to answer, please let us (me) know. You may stop the interview at any time.
- Time: This interview should last 60-90 minutes.
Confidentiality
- Your comments will remain confidential. We will be reporting summaries of the comments made by community members but will not identify who said what, nor will we identify the names of the individuals we interview.
- We would like to take notes and tape record this interview. Your input is important and we want to make sure that we accurately record what you tell us. Feel free to not respond to any question we ask, or hit the "Stop" button on the tape recorder at any time. After we are finished using the tapes for this class, the cassettes will be recycled or destroyed. Is this okay with you?
Ground Rules
- Right to refuse: If at any time while we are talking you do not want to answer a question, you do not feel comfortable, or you would like to end the interview, please feel free to let me/us know.

Do you have any questions about anything I've said so far?

Geography

What area is home? What does home mean to you?
Length of time in area.…
What is your primary means of transportation? Probe: How do you go shopping, shelter soup kitchen
Think of 4 people closest to you…what is their relationship to you, and do they live nearby?

Causes of homelessness

What do you think are some of the causes of homelessness?
If you feel comfortable talking about this…how about in your case (causes of becoming homeless)
Probes: How long homeless?
How many times?
Where have you lived? Living conditions, location….

Community Life

What are the main ways you and your friends make money?
Probe: Other ways you support yourself and your family
What employment opportunities do you think are available to you?
What are the differences in employment opportunities for people who are homeless compared to people who currently live in a home?
What do you and your friends do for fun? (Recreation)
What role does religion play in your life?
How do you feel the different racial groups get along in the community? (If the racial groups aren't obvious in answer - ask!)

Strong Points / Assets

Who do you turn to when you need someone to talk to? When you need advice? Or information?
Probe for clarification on who? Describe relationship/role etc.
How does word get around about good shelters, kitchen and health care,
Probe: rumors, good information, useful?

Problems and Needs

What are the special needs (major issues) of __________ in the homeless community? Women? Men? Children? Elders?
How healthy do you think homeless people are?
Probes: chronic illness,
Mental health (depression),
STD,
Drugs and alcohol
Violence and injury
Can you tell me about certain times in which service agencies met or did not meet your needs? How about other official agencies?
Probe: Tell us about how your experiences have been at the shelters. (safety, hospitality)

Problem-Solving/ Decision Making

How do people in the homeless community solve problems, make decisions?
Probe: Services and businesses used and not used by homeless.
Describe what communities you are a part of.
Probe: Do you feel you are a part of the larger Durham City community?

Changes over time

Since you have been homeless, how have conditions changed? OR How have conditions changed for homeless people over the last few years?
Probe: Services (types), attitudes, access to services
What changes do you hope to see in the next few years…for your personally? …for your community?

Closing

Is there anything that I have not asked about that you'd like us to know?

Referrals

If you were going to organize your community to address homelessness, what solutions might you propose?
Who else do you recommend that we talk to?
Would you be willing to introduce us?

Forum

"We plan to have a forum in late March where homeless people, service providers, and other people in the area can get together to share ideas. We'll be letting people know what we've learned about the community."

What do you think would be a good place for us to meet?
What time of day/day would be good to meet?
Would you be willing to help invite people you know or help organize?
How can we get in touch with you?
What kind of event would people come to?
Who should we invite to attend?
How should we get the word out about the forum? (Please tell you friends)

Thank you very much for your participation!

Interview Guide for People Currently with Homes

Opening

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. We recognize that your time is valuable and we really appreciate your participation.
As you know, we are graduate students from the UNC School of Public Health, and a requirement of our program is that we partner with a community in North Carolina to conduct a community diagnosis. In this vein, Durham Health Partners requested a student group - of which … and I are members - to work with other agencies and community members to identify Durham's strengths, weaknesses, and future directions related to the topic of homelessness. The information we gather will be summarized and shared with the community, both in the form of a written document and through a community forum that will be held this spring.
The purpose of speaking with you today is to find out about your thoughts and experiences related to the topic of homelessness in Durham. We are interested in your opinions. There are no right or wrong answers. If there are any questions you do not wish to answer, please let us know. You may stop the interview at any time.
This interview should last no more than 60 minutes.

Confidentiality

Your comments will remain confidential. We will be reporting summaries of the comments made by community members but will not identify who said what, nor will we identify the names of the individuals we interview.
We would like to take notes and tape record this interview. Your input is very important to us, and we want to make sure that we accurately record what you tell us. Please feel free to not respond to any question we ask or to ask us to stop the tape recorder at any time. After we are finished using the tapes for this class, the cassettes will be erased or destroyed. Is this okay with you?
Do you have any questions about anything I've said so far?
Okay, then I'll now proceed with the interview questions.

Questions

General/Intro

How long have you lived in Durham?
How would you describe the community(ies) which you are part of?
(Probe: groups of people you feel a strong connection to?)
How would you describe your neighborhood?
How long have you lived in your neighborhood?
Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? OR What is the level of safety in your neighborhood?
(Probe: What factors contribute to the level of safety?)
How has your neighborhood changed over the time you have lived there?
How does the current economy affect your neighborhood?
(Probe: unemployment, describe range of employment opportunities?)

Neighborhood and Homelessness

How do you define "homeless"?
In Durham, what do you think are the major causes of homelessness?
How do you think the current economy affects the homeless?
What is the cultural and ethnic make-up of your neighborhood?
How do these groups interact?
How does homelessness impact your neighborhood?
How would you describe the people who are homeless in your neighborhood?
How do you think other non-homeless residents of your neighborhood feel about the homeless?
In what ways do you interact with the homeless in your neighborhood?
What services exist in your neighborhood to help the homeless?
(Probe: how effective are they?)
What do you feel the city should be doing to address homelessness?
I understand there is currently a movement (we should check to see if this ordinance already passed) among some residents of Durham to pass stricter panhandling laws. How do you feel about this?
What do you think are the greatest needs of the homeless in your neighborhood?
What ideas do you have for addressing those needs?
If you were going to organize your neighborhood to address the issue of homelessness, what solutions might you propose?
Is there anything else you can tell us about homelessness in Durham?
What would you like to see changed through the revitalization of downtown Durham?

Referrals

Who else would you recommend that we talk to about those issues?
May we use your name as a reference when contacting these persons?
Please note that we will inform any persons to whom you refer us that they are under no obligation to participate in the study.

Community Forum

We plan to have a forum in late March where homeless people, service providers, and other people in the area can get together to share ideas. This will be an opportunity for the community to engage in a dialogue and discuss many of the issues we have raised today.

Do you have recommendations for the:

Place
Day of the week
Time of day
Format
Who to invite (community members, service providers, homeless)
How to publicize
Who should serve on the planning group (Is this something you would like to participate in?)
(Notetaker), is there anything that you would like to add?

Thank you so much for your participation!

Homeless Community Member Focus Group Interview Guide

Introduction:

Hello, my name is ________________and I'm going to be leading our group discussion today. This is ___________________, who will be taking notes and assisting me during our discussion. We'll be here about 60 minutes so that we can talk about your experiences. We are graduate students from the UNC School of Public Health. A requirement of our graduate program is that we partner with a community in North Carolina to identify its strengths, weaknesses, and future directions. We have decided to work with the community in East and Central Durham, and are especially interested in hearing what the homeless have to say about the community. The information we gather will be summarized and shared with all members of the community. In addition, we will present our results to the community at a forum that will be held in late March.

Consent:

The purpose of speaking with you today is to find out about your thoughts and experiences. If there are any questions you do not wish to answer, please let us (me) know. You may stop the discussion at any time.
Your comments will remain confidential. We will be reporting summaries of the comments made by community members but will not identify who said what, nor will we identify the names of the individuals we interview.
We would like to take notes and tape record this interview. Your input is important and we want to make sure that we accurately record what you tell us. Feel free to not respond to any question we ask, or hit the "Stop" button on the tape recorder at any time. After we are finished using the tapes for this class, the cassettes will be recycled or destroyed. Is this okay with you?

Groundrules:

We've got a lot to cover, so we will all need to do a few things to get our jobs done:

Talk one at a time and in a voice at least as loud as mine.
I hope to hear from every one of you during the discussion even though each person does not have to answer every question.
Feel free to respond to what has been said by talking to me or any other member of the group. And, that works best when we avoid side conversations and talk one at a time.
There are no right or wrong answers, just different opinions. I am looking for different points of view. So, just say what's on your mind.
We have a lot to cover, so you may all be interrupted at some point so that we can keep moving and avoid running out of time.
We value your opinions, both positive and negative, and I hope you choose to express them during the discussion.
Everything said is confidential and will not be repeated by any member of our group to someone outside of the group.

Do you have any questions about anything I've said so far?

Intro question(s)
Just going around the room, could everyone say where they're from…

Interview Guide Body

Could you tell us about your homelessness experience…
Probe: What do you think are some of the causes of homelessness around here?
Tell me about the group or groups of people that you feel a part of?
Probe: Friendship groups, religious organizations, family groups… Tell me about the different groups in the homeless community in Durham
How do you and other people in the homeless community solve problems or make decisions?
Probe: If you want to get something done, who do you go to or how do you go about it?
Tell me what you think about the services available to homeless people
Probe: How do you hear about good shelters, food, and health care? Why do some services have good reputations and some bad? Tell me about specific times in which your needs were met/not met.
Since you have been homeless, how have things changed?
Probe: Types of services, attitudes, availability of services

Forum Questions

What kind of event would people come to?

** We're also interested in talking to homeless people who choose not to use available services. If any of you know homeless people who do not regularly use services (like the shelters or kitchens), and you are willing to introduce one or two of us, please talk to me after we finish this discussion.