Head Start Family Voices Pilot Study

ATTACHMENT A1a

PROGRAM RECRUITMENT SCRIPT

Head Start Family Voices Pilot

Program Recruitment Script

Goals of the call:

1. Introduce yourself

2. Describe the purpose of the study

3. Provide an overview of the study activities

4. Administer the Program Recruitment Screener

5. Summarize next steps

A. INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is [name]. I am calling from Mathematica Policy Research in regards to the Head Start Family Voices study.

May I please speak with [program director]?

I am contacting you about potentially helping us with an important study aimed at better understanding the experiences and engagement of families participating in Head Start and Early Head Start. As we explained in the letter we sent you on [DATE], we are reaching out to you because your program participated in the [past mathematica study]. We are currently looking for Head Start and Early Head Start programs that are willing to participate in this new study—the Head Start Family Voices Pilot Study. Mathematica is conducting the study for the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You are under no obligation to participate in this new study, but we hope you will agree to help us.

I would like to briefly review the study purpose and activities and discuss your potential participation. This should take about 10 minutes. if not a good time, say: I understand you are busy. What is the best time to contact you to discuss the study? schedule a call-back day/time. thank the director.

B. STUDY PURPOSE

As I mentioned, the goal of this project is to help the Administration for Children and Families better understand the experiences and engagement of Head Start and Early Head Start families. As part of the study, we will develop and test a set of questionnaires that will provide an important resource for future data collection efforts aimed at better understanding family engagement—both from the perspective of families and the home visitors and family services staff who serve them.

C. OVERVIEW OF STUDY ACTIVITIES

S

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx. The time required to complete this collection of information is estimated to average 10 minutes, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information. This information collection is voluntary. If you have comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: Mathematica Policy Research, 1100 1st Street, NE, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20002, Attention: Nikki Aikens.

pecifically, we would like one of our trained interviewers to conduct one-on-one interviews with a few different people at your program—15 parents and 3 staff (which include a mix of home visitors and family services staff). We would like to conduct these interviews during [FILL SPRING MONTHS] of the 2012-2013 program year. Interviews will be completed either in person at your center or by phone, and will take approximately one hour to complete. During the interviews, parents and staff will be asked to share information about their experiences and engagement in the program. They will also be asked to complete a short questionnaire.

All of the information we collect will remain private and will be used only for research purposes. None of the information shared by participating programs, parents, and staff will be associated with individual programs. As a token of our appreciation, participating programs will receive a $200 gift card. Parents will receive a gift card valued at $20 for completing the interview, and $20 gift cards will be distributed to participating staff or donated to some program activity based on your center’s policies.

inquire about program policy for distributing gift cards to programs and staff: Does your program’s policies allow for the program and staff to receive gifts of appreciation for participation in research studies? [if no, ask: Can these be donated to some program activity or event?]

Do you have any questions about anything we have discussed so far?

Is your program willing to participate in the study?

if yes, continue to section d (administer program recruitment screener).

if need additional time to confirm participation, continue below.

if no, thank the program director for his/her time.

schedule call-back day/time to check-in about potential participation: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. When would be a good time for us to check in about your program’s potential participation in the study? [schedule day/time]. In the meantime, I will send you some additional information about the study to help you make a decision. Feel free to share this information with members of your board or other staff that you feel should participate in the decision-making. [depending on their preferred method of receipt, obtain mailing/email address or confirm if already on file]. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [provide phone number and/or email address].

thank the director, end call, and document discussion. if the program agrees during call-back, read script in section d and continue.

D. ADMINISTER PROGRAM RECRUITMENT SCREENER

Great! Now, I would like to take a few extra minutes to ask you some questions about the types of services offered by your program and the characteristics of the families that you serve. Because we have targets in terms of the numbers of different types of parents we would like to invite, we would like to collect this information to help us in our planning.

administer program recruitment screener. then continue to section e.

E. SUMMARIZE NEXT STEPS

Thank you for your time and willingness to help us with this important study. In the next few days, I will send [you/on-site coordinator] some additional information about the study that you can share with others at your program.

Based on the information you shared with us about your program, we will also prepare and send you the Participant Recruitment Plan. This plan will include specific information about the number and characteristics of staff and families from your program that we would like to invite to take part in the study. Participating staff will include home visitors and family services staff (which may include family service workers, family services managers, and family services coordinators). In terms of parent participants, we would like to make sure that we interview a mix of families with different types of needs—including teen mothers, single-parent families, families who live in transitional housing or may be homeless, parents who may have mental health problems, and parents who are Spanish-speaking. We also want to interview parents who receive home-based versus center-based services, and families who are involved in the program to varying degrees.

[mention only if program offers early head start services]: Finally, we are also interested in understanding the perspectives of mothers who may be enrolled in the program because they are pregnant.

[mention to all programs]: As [you/on-site coordinator] begin(s) to identify staff and families who are interested in participating in the study, information about the dates, times and locations at which interviews for each participant will be conducted can be added to the Participant Recruitment Plan.

Do you have any questions about anything we have discussed today? [address questions]. Thank you again for taking the time to speak with me, and I will be in touch soon.