Recruitment of School Districts, Schools, ECEs, and Participants

Project LAUNCH ECE Recruitment Letter: LAUNCH Community

Dear «Salutation» «LastName»:

As you may know, NAME OF COMMUNITY currently receives funds from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. We have been working closely with NAME OF LOCAL PD to support their local Project LAUNCH evaluation, which includes examples of LAUNCH programs in the community.

Your center is invited to participate in the multi-site evaluation (MSE) of Project LAUNCH. The MSE will conduct surveys with parents and administrators – no data will be collected directly from children. Parents who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their participation. This study is being conducted by a non-profit organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, under contract to the Administration of Children and Family (ACF) and SAMHSA at HHS. The purpose of the MSE is to learn more about how Project LAUNCH programs impact the health and wellness of children in communities across the country. The collected data will be for evaluation purposes and results will be aggregated and not presented in a way where it can be linked to a specific school or individual.

We would like to request your center’s participation in this important study. Enclosed in this packet, you will find more detailed information about our plans to collect data as well as an informational flyer about the project. Ultimately, these data will help policymakers to make decisions about how to focus limited resources for programs targeting health and wellness of children.

We would like to set up a time to talk with you to discuss the process, answer any questions that you may have about the study, and learn how we can best work with schools in your district. Please contact Shannon TenBroeck, Research Scientist, at 1-415-315-2006 or tenbroeck-shannon@norc.org to set up a time to talk. If we do not hear from you within two weeks of having sent this letter, we will contact you by phone.

We very much appreciate your support and participation in this important study, your commitment to healthy children and families. We look forward to working with you to learn more about how Project LAUNCH impacts children and families.

Sincerely,

Kristina Hanson Lowell, PhD Shannon TenBroeck, MA

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team

Vice President, Health Care Research Scientist, Public Health

NORC at the University of Chicago NORC at the University of Chicago

Enclosures (X)

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH ECE Recruitment Letter: Comparison Community

Dear «Salutation» «LastName»:

We are writing to invite early childhood education centers within NAME OF SCHOOL DISTRICT/COMMUNITY to participate in a study of the multi-site evaluation of Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. We are studying communities that receive LAUNCH funding, as well as communities like yours that do not receive this funding, to help us learn more about services for children and families as well as child and family outcomes in communities across the country. This study is being conducted by a non-profit organization, NORC at the University of Chicago, under contract to the Administration of Children and Family (ACF) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

We would like to request your center’s participation in this important study. Enclosed in this packet, you will find more detailed information about our plans to collect data as well as an informational flyer about the project. We will conduct surveys with parents and administrators – no data will be collected directly from children. Parents who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their participation. The collected data will be for evaluation purposes and results will be aggregated and not presented in a way where it can be linked to a specific school or individual. Ultimately, these data will help policymakers to make decisions about how to focus limited resources for programs targeting health and wellness of children.

We would like to set up a time to talk with a representative of your center discuss the process, and answer any questions that you may have about the study. Please contact Shannon TenBroeck, Research Scientist, at 1-415-315-2006 or tenbroeck-shannon@norc.org to set up a time to talk. If we do not hear from you within two weeks of having sent this letter, we will contact you by phone.

We very much appreciate your support and participation in this important study, as well as your commitment to healthy children and families. We look forward to working with you to learn more about the impact of early childhood programs on children and families, and how we can identify what works best to help children across the country.

Sincerely,

Kristina Hanson Lowell, PhD Shannon TenBroeck, MA

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation Team

Vice President, Health Care Research Scientist, Public Health

NORC at the University of Chicago NORC at the University of Chicago

Enclosures (X)

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH Fact Sheet: Surveys to be Collected (for ECEs)

Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation (MSE) Data Collection Approach

This sheet provides information on the data collection activities that will be conducted in ECEs participating in the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation. We look forward to talking with you in more depth about these activities and answering any questions you may have.

Data Collection Activities

We plan to collect each of the types of information below once a year for two years. These activities will include the following surveys:

• Parent Survey: A short (30 minute) written survey of parents/guardians of young children (ages 0-8 years). The survey will cover children’s health, social-emotional health, parent-child relationships, parent well-being, home environment, and parental social support. We hope to have 15 parents of children in each participating center fill out the survey. Parents who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their participation.
  
  

• School Survey: The ECE Director will complete a brief survey regarding children who have been suspended or expelled from their center.

Data Use and Security

The data collected from your site will be used for Project LAUNCH evaluation purposes only, and findings will be aggregated—unable to be linked to a specific center or person.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX.

Project LAUNCH Program Information for Recruitment Packet

Project LAUNCH Parent Information Flyer for ECEs

Project LAUNCH ECE Recruitment Script

INITIAL CONTACT SCRIPT

COMPARISON COMMUNITY Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373. May I please speak to [ECE Director Name]?

If initial contact has any questions about the study, refer to study FAQs, but aim to be transferred to the ECE Director as soon as possible.

[TO COMPARISON COMMUNITY ECE Director]

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

You should have recently received an email explaining the study and asking for your cooperation. Do you recall receiving an email?

If the email was not received, confirm email address and offer to email another copy of the advance letter to ECE director.

To start, I’d like to tell you a little bit about the study. Project LAUNCH is a federally sponsored program promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development. Project LAUNCH is designed to have a community-wide impact by enhancing the way early childhood systems work together, integrating child behavioral health services with other health services, and implementing evidence-based programs. As part of this evaluation, we are reaching out to communities that participate in the Project LAUNCH program as well some that do not for purposes of comparison.

You may have heard that [insert community name here] was selected as one of the communities to participate in this study. In each selected community, we are recruiting four early childhood education centers to participate in surveys with parents and administrators. It is important to note that, for our study, no information will be collected directly from children nor will any children be identified by name as part of this research. Would this be a good time to explore if your center would be interested in participating in this evaluation?

If yes, proceed to Main Script.

If no, Is there a different time to call that would work better?

If yes, update calendar with call back date/time. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, Is there someone else from your center who would be an appropriate person to discuss participating in this evaluation?

If yes, prompt them to provide contact information; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

LAUNCH COMMUNITY Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

May I please speak to [ECE Director Name]?

If initial contact has any questions about the study, refer to study FAQs, but aim to be transferred to the principal as soon as possible.

[TO LAUNCH COMMUNITY ECE DIRECTOR]

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling from the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted under contract to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373.

As you may know, your community currently receives funds for Project LAUNCH, a federally sponsored program that promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development..

You should have recently received an email explaining the study and asking for your cooperation. Do you recall receiving an email?

If the email was not received, confirm email address and offer to email another copy of the advance letter to ECE director.

We have been working closely with [NAME OF LOCAL Project LAUNCH Young Child Wellness Coordinator] to support their local Project LAUNCH evaluation, which includes [insert examples of LAUNCH programs in the community or county].

You may have heard that [insert community name here] was selected as one of the communities to participate in this study. In each selected community, we are recruiting four early childhood education centers to participate in surveys with parents and administrators. It is important to note that for our study, no information will be collected directly from children nor will any children be identified by name as part of this research. Would this be a good time to explore if your center would be interested in participating in this evaluation?

If yes, proceed to Main Script.

If no, Is there a different time to call that would work better?

If yes, update calendar with call back date/time. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, Is there someone else from your center who would be an appropriate person to discuss participating in this evaluation?

If yes, prompt them to provide contact information; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

FOLLOW-UP CONTACT SCRIPT

Hi, this is [insert name]. Thank you again for agreeing discuss with me your center’s participation in the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH. Proceed to Main Script.

MAIN SCRIPT

I’d like to begin by talking briefly about the data collection efforts that would be required if your center elects to participate in the study. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. First, we would need you to appoint an Early Childhood Education Center Coordinator to serve as a point person. This individual would be responsible for helping our team recruit parents to complete surveys, compile lists of interested parent respondents, and help us identify potential respondents for a survey about expulsion and suspension rates. To mitigate burden, we will offer the Early Childhood Education Center Coordinator a $100 gift card for his/her assistance in this very important evaluation.

First, we would attempt to recruit approximately 15 parents from your center to participate in a web survey that we estimate will take 30 minutes to complete. The survey is designed to collect information about children’s health, social-emotional health, parent-child relationships, parental well-being, home environment, and parental social support, and we request that parents complete the survey once annually for two years. Parents who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their participation. The second data collection element is a survey to be completed by a center staff member knowledgeable about center suspension and expulsion rates, which we anticipate will take no longer than one hour to complete. We ask that the respondent of this survey completes this survey once annually for two years. Again, we would like to stress that no information will be collected directly from children for this study.

Do you have any questions at this point? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Now, I would like to discuss incentives that will be offered to those who participate in the study as we appreciate how busy your staff and parents are. As previously mentioned, the Early Childhood Education Center Coordinator, who will assist us in our efforts and serve as our point person, will receive a $100 online gift card each year. All materials used to publicize and recruit for the study will be provided by the study team, and we will work with you to minimize the burden on and disturbances to your center, staff, and parents. In addition, parents who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card as a thank you for their participation.

Do you have any questions about the study or the incentives that will be offered? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Would your center be interested in participating in the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH?

If yes, Can you walk me through the next steps in terms of securing the necessary approvals to collect data at your center?

If yes, record this information, obtaining email addresses and phone numbers of those you should contact next.

If no, prompt them to provide contact information of someone who can discuss next steps; thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If no, I understand. Would you mind sharing your concerns with me? Attempt to avert refusal using Study FAQs or giving principal more time to consider. If aversion is unsuccessful, record refusal reason, thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

If undecided, Please feel free to contact me at [contact number] if I can provide you with any additional information about the study. If I do not hear from you within a week, I will call back to follow up with you regarding the decision. Thank them for their time, and conclude the call.

Thank you. As we mentioned, we also request that you designate a member of your staff to serve as a point person and assist us in our efforts. Can you please provide the name and phone number of the staff member you would like to appoint as Early Childhood Education Center Coordinator for this study? We will follow up with this individual to provide them with more information about the study and their role.

If yes, record this information.

If the ECE Director needs additional time to designate the Early Childhood Education

Center Coordinator, ask them when they would like you to call back for a decision.

Record this information for follow up.

This is all that I was hoping to discuss with you today. Do you have any questions for me? Refer to study FAQs to respond to questions.

Thank you for your time today. We know that you and your staff are extremely busy and we’ll try to put the least burden possible on you. We very much look forward to your contribution to the Multi-Site Evaluation of Project LAUNCH! Thank you again.

Project LAUNCH ECE Coordinator Recruitment Script

Hello my name is ____________, and I am calling about the Project LAUNCH Multi-Site Evaluation, which is being conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB number: 0970-0373; Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX. OMB approval for this data request was received ___ under OMB number 0970-0373. The study is about healthy development and wellness in children from birth through 8 years old. I am contacting you because your center has agreed to participate in this study, and your center’s director has designated you as the best person to fulfill the very important role of the Early Childcare Education Center Coordinator, who will assist the study team’s efforts.

For this study, the Coordinator helps to recruit parents to fill out a survey and helps us identify potential respondents for a survey about expulsion and suspension rates. Activities associated with your role include helping us determine the best approach for recruiting parents in your center, relaying information between the study team and parents, distributing study-provided materials to parents, reaching out to parents at school-related events to recruit them for the study, and obtaining parent and school administrator contact information.

To thank you for your assistance in this important study, we will send you a link to an online gift card for $100.

Are you willing to serve as the Early Childcare Education Center Coordinator?

If yes, Thank you for agreeing to participate. Can you please provide me with an email address we can use to send you materials and instructions you will need for your role? Record email address.

If no, thank them for their time and end the call. Call the principal and ask them to appoint another staff member as the ECE Coordinator.

Thank you so much for agreeing to serve in this very important role. As previously mentioned, we will follow up with you to provide instructions on how to proceed, but if you have any questions in the interim, please do not hesitate to call me at [your contact number]. Thank you again!