[Sora] Incentives for survey participation

Mon Nov 28 13:24:58 PST 2016

Good afternoon,

The Division of Child Support has used incentives to encourage our customers to participate most recently in two very different surveys over the last two years:

*        August 2016 - Child Support Awareness Month - We conducted a survey focused on asking those that utilize our services how we can better communicate with or provide information to them.  A summary of how that was done, including the friendly office-to-office competition, is included in the attached Word document. This information will used to assist us in developing resources and tools for our customers with the implementation of our new child support system, Origin.

*        2014-2015 - Parenting Time Opportunities for Children Grant Program - When a DCS parent attended a mediation using one of our contracted mediators, they had the option of consenting to an over-the-phone survey conducted by the grant's evaluation vendor. Once the vendor was able to make contact with the customer and complete the survey, the customer received a $10 gift card.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions, need additional information, or would like copies of the surveys we provided our customers.

Thank you,

Tonja Walls
Program Performance Analyst | Division of Child Support
Oregon Department of Justice
Child Support Program Administration
503.947.4310
oregonchildsupport.gov<http://www.oregonchildsupport.gov/>

From: Sora [mailto:sora-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of HELVIG Judy K
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2016 8:30 AM
To: State of Oregon Research Academy
Subject: Re: [Sora] Incentives for survey participation

Also at DHS, Child Welfare research is often done by external research partners.  DHS does require our research partners to offer Gift Cards instead of a Cash incentive to our clients.....because of the rule in place, or interpretation of the rule....

Thanks, Judy

Judy Helvig
Research Analyst
Office of Business Intelligence
Data Collection & Reporting Unit
500 Summer St SE, E72
Salem OR 97301
PH:  503-945-6571
FAX: 503-581-6198

NOTE: This e-mail may contain information, data or reports that are privileged and confidential and for Internal DHS use only.  If you received information in error, please destroy immediately and notify the sender.

From: Sora [mailto:sora-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Jerry Curry
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 5:02 PM
To: sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: [Sora] FW: Incentives for survey participation

From: BETTS Chris [mailto:Chris.BETTS at dhsoha.state.or.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2016 7:17 AM
To: Jerry Curry <JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us<mailto:JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us>>
Subject: RE: Incentives for survey participation

Jerry,
DHS has been performing surveys of program participants and providers for a long time.
We get good, periodic feedback data on program performance and customer experiences/satisfaction without offering incentives per se in most cases.
What we do is explain the purpose of the survey and what the benefit is before they take it. Then use that data to make improvements they can see.
Sometimes the improvements take a long time and other times they can be relatively speedy. It just depends on the topic and the program.

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Christopher Betts
Senior Project Manager
Oregon Department of Human services
Office of Business Intelligence
Survey Administration Services
503-945-6097 Desk
503-507-8140 Mobile
Chris.betts at dhsoha.state.or.us<mailto:Chris.betts at dhsoha.state.or.us>

[DHS Oregon Department of Human Services]<http://dhsdesign.hr.state.or.us/index.html>

Please let us know how we're doing! Feel free to provide feedback about our services using the following link:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2122236/DHS-Internal-Customer-Satisfaction-Survey (Select "Office of Business Intelligence" in the drop-down at the beginning of the survey)

From: Sora [mailto:sora-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Jerry Curry
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 3:58 PM
To: sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: [Sora] FW: Incentives for survey participation

From: Brandt Robin L [mailto:ROBIN.L.BRANDT at dhsoha.state.or.us]
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 3:35 PM
To: Jerry Curry <JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us<mailto:JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us>>; sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: RE: Incentives for survey participation

Hello SORA members,

The issue is, if you provide an incentive, it could be seen as a conflict of interest. That conflict could be perceived as paying a program participant to participate in a survey about services received and it could be seen as an incentive to say good things about the program. (Last time I looked at studies about survey respondents, the studies showed that most survey respondents are more likely to be happy about services anyway. It was more difficult to get respondents to report negative things - which unfortunately makes it difficult to understand how to better improve the program.) I don't have a citation for that information handy.

Previously I worked for a university in another state and consulted with the state Vocational Rehabilitation for many years to survey persons with disabilities closed from service to complete a satisfaction survey.

You note that state the OAM does not allow the purchase of "gifts" for participants. During my work elsewhere, Vocational Rehabilitation explored its ability to provide an incentive through the contract that my University program had. I recall that federal regulations forbid funds to purchase such items as well. I have attached a document about the federal regulations and you may want to refer to the e-CFRs that relate to the funding for your program: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=5ecdeae3e118ec61efacf9cc17af5cc0&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2tab_02.tpl  These federal funds are considered "grants" and our programs must adhere to federal regulations about money.

Please note that when I was investigating whether Vocational Rehabilitation participants could pursue employment related to the production, manufacture, distribution or sale of cannabis, federal authorities explained that it was not only federal funds could not be used (because marijuana is illegal in federal law). Any state match to the grant funding the program was considered federal funds too. So, I think it follows that any state government match monies cannot be used to provide incentives anyway.

If you have questions, this is the hierarchy of precedence at the federal level is as follows.

[cid:image002.png at 01D24977.68A22B80]
That's what I have to share. I hope it is useful and not too confusing.

Robin

From: Sora [mailto:sora-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Jerry Curry
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 2:52 PM
To: sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:sora at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: [Sora] FW: Incentives for survey participation

Hello SORA folks,

Please respond  to Cheng-Fai via the SORA list as this may be a question many of us are interested in.

From: LAI Cheng-Fei -CEdO [mailto:cheng-fei.lai at state.or.us]
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 2:05 PM
To: MCCOY Jan - ODE <jan.mccoy at state.or.us<mailto:jan.mccoy at state.or.us>>; Jerry Curry <JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us<mailto:JerryCurry at oslmail.osl.state.or.us>>; 'Chapman Natasha L' <natasha.l.chapman at state.or.us<mailto:natasha.l.chapman at state.or.us>>
Subject: Incentives for survey participation

Hello SORA colleagues
I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with incentivizing participants (e.g. school teachers/staff, parents, students, community members, etc.) to complete surveys in your studies?
I've been told that we can't as state agencies: "OAM 10.40.10 paragraph 115  notes items which may not be purchased with State funds and it specifically states gifts."

Any feedback/input/advise on this topic is greatly appreciated!

Cheng-Fei

Cheng-Fei Lai, Ph.D., Research Analyst
503-373-0067 | 775<mailto:email at state.or.us> Court Street NE, Salem, OR 97301 | cheng-fei.lai at state.or.us<mailto:cheng-fei.lai at state.or.us>
education.oregon.gov
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Jerry Curry
Reference Librarian
Oregon State Library
Salem, OR

jerry.w.curry at state.or.us<mailto:jerry.w.curry at state.or.us>
503-378-5008

Check out our databases & resources or
request a presentation to your work group.
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