YIP Exit Survey Protocol: 2014-2015
In 2014, 72 different youth serving programs will receive Youth Intervention Program grants from OJP. YIP Programs vary in duration and intensity, and are diverse in their services offered. As such, a general exit survey has been designed to capture changes in youth risk and protective factors during participation in the programs. The exit survey is 18 questions and will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
The majority of the questions on the exit-survey were used between 2010 and 2013 with YIP grantees who were asked to give both a pre- and a post-survey to their participants. This iteration of the survey has kept questions where YIP programs have historically had an impact.
In the grant application, awardees agreed to participate in outcome evaluation as a condition of funding. Failure to participate may affect future funding awards.
! Past grantees should note that this exit survey is not the same as the previous YIP post-test. Be sure you are using the new exit survey link on page 4!
Exit Survey Overview
· All programs receiving state YIP funding through OJP are expected to administer an exit survey to youth when they complete a YIP program.
! Current Grantees: There will no longer be a pre-program survey requirement.
· The Youth Intervention Program Association (YIPA) will be responsible for maintaining the survey database and analyzing participant data. OJP will continue to capture program activities through quarterly reports submitted by grantees.
· The only programs exempt from exit survey administration are those that have a single contact with youth, as might occur if your program is a single class or has one day of service, or those serving exclusively/predominantly youth under the age of 12. If you feel your program should be exempt from survey participation for one of these two reasons, please contact YIPA as soon as possible.
! Current Grantees: Exemption from survey participation in the past does not mean you are exempt in 2014-2015. Please connect with YIPA.
· Programs can administer the survey in one of two ways: On the computer using the on-line Survey Monkey program[1] or using a paper survey. Each program can decide which survey administration best meets their needs/resources.
! Programs that elect to use a paper survey will be responsible for having a staff person enter the paper responses into the on-line survey website at a later time. Paper surveys are not to be sent to OJP or YIPA. The staff selected to enter youths’ survey responses on-line should not be a person who works directly with the youth to protect confidentiality.
Who should be Surveyed
· Based on the survey content and language, the minimum age to participate in the survey is 12 years old. If your program serves a mixture of youth over and under age 12, you can administer the survey to your youth population over age 12.
Youth Consent
· Youth must willingly agree to participate in the exit survey. Any youth can refuse to participate for any reason. There are to be no consequences imposed upon youth who do not wish to participate. Similarly, incentives to take the survey should not go beyond a small token of thanks, such as a piece of candy or an item of nominal value like program key chain or lanyard.
Parental Consent
· Because the survey has no unique identifiers parental consent is not needed. It is recommended that programs inform parents or guardians that their youth will be asked to take an exit survey when they complete the program. It is a good idea to have a paper copy of the survey available in case a parent wishes to see the content. If for any reason a parent is opposed to their child participating, the program should respect that decision.
Who not to survey
· Youth under age 12.
· Youth who do not wish to participate.
· Youth who have dropped out or been terminated from the program.
· Youth who have a single contact with the program.
Protecting Confidentiality
· Other than basic demographic data (age/race/gender) there is no identifying information on youth collected. The survey does ask youth about their chemical use, emotional health and contact with law enforcement, which is why confidentiality considerations must be respected. Staff should take care that youth are able to take the survey on a computer or on paper without it being viewed by peers or staff. Allow sufficient privacy for youth to answer honestly but remain available for if the youth has questions or needs help.
· For youth taking the survey on-line, their answers are submitted when they select “DONE” at the end. For paper surveys, staff who are not responsible for data entry should not view youth responses. Help to create a sense of security by allowing youth to fold, staple or seal their paper survey in an envelope.
· Youth responses to the exit-survey should never be used for consequences for youth; to hold youth accountable; or for case/transition planning. This is an outcome evaluation tool!
Random Sampling for Large Populations
· Generally, programs should try to survey as many youth who complete the program as possible. If you cannot keep up or the volume at any one time is too high, you may use a random sampling method. Use a method that creates a 50/50 chance a youth will be surveyed such as:
Flipping a coin: only heads or tails does the survey
Rolling a dice: only odd or only even do the survey
Pulling a playing card: only red or only black cards do the survey
! Please communicate to YIPA if you know or anticipate you will use a random sampling method.
When to Administer the exit survey
· The exit survey should be administered when a child completes your program or as you are taking steps towards program discharge. Better to do the survey a little early than miss the opportunity for an exit-survey altogether.
· If your program is “open ended” and has no specific duration, we ask that an exit-survey be given no later than 6 months after starting your program. You may give the survey earlier based on your average length of participation. The goal is to survey youth before they leave but after a sufficient length of participation to capture program effect.
When to Begin Using The Exit Survey
· The new exit survey will be ready for access on February 1st, 2014.
· The current 2013 survey websites will be deactivated around February 1st, 2014. Because the content of the new survey is different, post-surveys completed in January cannot be transferred to the new survey tool.
Unique Program Identifier
· Regardless of whether youth take the survey on the computer or on paper, youth will be asked to enter a program code that corresponds to your program name. The code is a number or a number and a letter. YIPA has a list of the program numbers that will be sent to all programs. Without this code YIPA cannot tell which programs submitted which surveys, nor can your data be relayed back to your program.
! If you had a YIP Survey code in the past, your number may have changed! We did our best to allow programs to keep the number they had before, but some mergers and program name changes resulted in code changes. Check the list carefully!
· Below is a screen-shot of the page where the code is entered. Youth will select their program code from a drop-down list.
Getting Program Data Back to Individual Programs
· Individual programs cannot access individual survey responses by youth.
· Twice each year, YIPA will analyze survey data submitted. Your program will receive data back provided 30 or more exit surveys have been entered into the Survey Monkey database. Thirty is the minimum number needed to protect confidentiality and to calculate valid percentages. The data will be sent to you in a pdf document.
· Data will be sent to programs in July (surveys submitted January through June) and again the following January (surveys submitted over the entire calendar year). Programs will also receive a copy of survey data for all YIP program participants combined.
· If you have fewer than 30 surveys you will not be given data back but your surveys will be included in the analysis of total YIP surveys submitted.
Computer Survey Link
· On any computer with internet, select the following link and it will start an exit survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YIP_EXIT_SURVEY
· Youth must take the survey all the way to the end or their answers may not be saved.
· Do not start and stop mid-survey.
! Consider adding this link to the “Favorites” menu on computers regularly used by youth. This will make for quick and easy access when it is time to use the survey.
· You can also put a link to the survey site right on your desktop (instructions below):
1. Go to the Survey Monkey link.
2. Click and hold on this little green monkey head icon
3. Drag it onto your
desktop and drop.
It will make a shortcut to the Survey Monkey link on the desktop that youth can click on to go right to the survey.
Paper Administration
· A staff who does not work with the youth should access the same Survey Monkey link named above and enter youths’ responses as they appear on the paper copy.
· Paper surveys do not have the fail-safes of computer surveys. Youth may answer questions with more than one answer or do unconventional things like crossing out an answer they wish to change. This leaves staff in a position of having to interpret youth responses at the time of data entry.
! Generally, if a youth left any questions blank, or if the intent of any youth’s response is not clear because they marked more than one answer, the staff should select “I do not wish to answer.”
· Once a staff has entered a youth’s paper response into the on-line survey site, the paper copy of the survey should be destroyed. Use of a shredder or confidential recycling is preferred. There is no reason to keep a copy of the paper survey.
Staff Training
· Any staff can test-drive the survey by going to the Survey Monkey link.
! On question number 2, which asks for the program code, go all the way to the bottom and select “Test/Train.” These responses can be excluded from outcome analysis.
· Testing the survey will help staff be familiar with the content and be able to help youth if needed.
Questions/Contacts
· If you have questions about administering the exit survey, please contact:
Paul Meunier, YIPA Director of Services
763.434.4190 or 1.888.945.9472 (toll free)
www.mnyipa.org
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[1] Survey Monkey is an easy to use survey tool that allows users to create custom surveys and access links.