Appendix F: Email Templates to LIAs Requesting Survey Participation

APPENDIX F: EMAIL TEMPLATE TO LIAs REQUESTING SURVEY PARTICIPATION OMB Control No.: XXX

Expiration Date: XXX

Initial Email to LIA Staff Member

Dear [LIA Contact Name]:

[INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH IF SENDING TO A STATE AND TERRITORY MIECHV LIA]

I’m writing to introduce you to the Family Level Assessment and State of Home Visiting (FLASH-V) project. The FLASH-V project is being conducted by James Bell Associates in partnership with MDRC for the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration. Through the project, we hope to learn more about the processes Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funded home visiting programs use to recruit and enroll families.

[INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH IF SENDING TO A TRIBAL GRANTEE]

I’m writing to introduce you to the Family Level Assessment and State of Home Visiting (FLASH-V) project. The FLASH-V project is being conducted by James Bell Associates in partnership with MDRC for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Through the project, we hope to learn more about the processes Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funded home visiting programs use to recruit and enroll families. We recently hosted the [insert title of informational webinar] to introduce MIECHV Leads to the study. We also shared how we hope to engage MIECHV home visiting programs to this study. If you were unable to participate in the webinar, a recording of the webinar can be found here [insert link].

[INCLUDE REMAINING TEXT FOR ALL EMAIL RECIPIENTS]

Specifically, we hope to understand home visiting programs’ recruitment and enrollment processes to fill open slots, challenges they may have experienced, and ways programs may have successfully overcome these challenges. We are inviting all home visiting programs that receive state, territory, or Tribal MIECHV funding to participate in a national survey so that we can better understand family recruitment and enrollment. In addition, we will invite a subset of the programs to participate in a semi-structured telephone interview following completion of the survey. We expect project findings may be used to strengthen future outreach strategies and help identify potential solutions to challenges in reaching enrollment capacity. Each program’s participation is important – your unique perspectives and hearing from as many programs as possible will help ensure that the results are relevant.

We are writing to invite you to participate in this important national survey. Participation in the survey is voluntary, and each survey will be web-based and can be completed in about 30 minutes. We are asking that the survey is completed by a staff member in your home visiting program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment or enrollment of families. If you feel you are not the best person to complete the survey, please share the survey link with someone in your program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment, and enrollment of families.

We are including a link to the survey. Please click on the link and complete the survey by [insert date]: [insert unique survey link].

A brief description of the project is attached to this email for more information. The questions and answers below also provide more details about the project. If you have any additional questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at [insert phone number] or [insert email address].

Q: What is the purpose of the study?

A: The research questions we hope to answer are:

• What are current approaches used by MIECHV funded programs to identifying, reaching, and recruiting potential eligible families? What opportunities exist to increase the number of identified potential eligible families?

• What is the current landscape for programs in terms of capacity? What accomplishments and challenges have programs experienced in maintaining caseloads, including those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• What types of community organizations currently refer families to home visiting? How do programs communicate and work with community referral partners? How can MIECHV funded programs work with community referral partners to strengthen the flow of incoming referrals and improve rates of successful enrollment?

Q: Is participation required?

A: No. All home visiting programs receiving state, territory, or Tribal MIECHV funding are invited to participate, but participation is voluntary. Responses are kept private, there is no penalty for not participating, and the federal government will not know whether or not your program and staff choose to participate.

Q: Why is participation important?

A: This is a critical opportunity to build knowledge about ways home visiting programs may strengthen future outreach strategies and identify potential solutions to challenges in reaching enrollment capacity. The results may also be used to support future technical assistance to programs, home visiting’s continuous quality improvement (CQI) work, and future evaluation efforts. Each home visiting program’s participation is important – your perspectives cannot be replaced and hearing from as many programs as possible will help ensure that the results are relevant.

Q: What does participation involve?

A: We are asking that the staff member at your program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment, or enrollment of families participate in a web-based survey that will take approximately 30 minutes each to complete. A subset of programs who completed a survey will be invited to participate in one telephone interview lasting about 45 minutes and to share copies of recruitment materials and referral forms.

Q: What do we ask participants?

A: Participants will be asked questions related to caseload capacity, including COVID-19 impacts on capacity, factors that influence recruitment and enrollment, strategies for identifying and enrolling families, and working with community referral partners.

Q: Will my responses be kept private?

A: Yes. All data are kept private and your answers will not be shared with other agencies. Only the project team will have access to this information. Data from your program will be combined with other programs’ data and summarized in a published final report and research briefs.

Thank you for your time and consideration of our research effort.

Best Regards,

[insert name and title here]

FOLLOW-UP EMAIL TO LIAs REQUESTING SURVEY COMPLETION [Option 1]

[study team to reply to original message so as not to restate information about our project and put request front and center]

Dear [LIA Contact Name]:

I’m writing to follow-up on an email I sent you below regarding the FLASH-V project. We would like to invite your home visiting program to participate in a federally-funded national survey on strategies used to recruit and enroll families into home visiting programs. This is a critical opportunity to build knowledge about ways home visiting programs may strengthen future outreach strategies and identify potential solutions to challenges in reaching enrollment capacity. We value your program’s participation – your perspectives cannot be replaced and hearing from as many programs as possible will help ensure that the results are relevant.

We are asking that your program complete a 30-minute survey to provide information about how you identify, recruit, and enroll families. The survey should be completed by a staff member in your program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment, or enrollment of families. If you feel you are not the best person to complete the survey, please share the survey link with someone in your program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment, and enrollment of families.

We are including a link to the survey. Please click on the link and complete the survey by [insert date]: [insert unique survey link].

Following participation in the survey, some programs will be invited to participate in a 45-minute telephone interview and asked to share copies of recruitment materials and referral forms.

All home visiting programs receiving state, territory, or Tribal MIECHV funding are invited to participate and participation is voluntary. Responses are kept private, there is no penalty for not participating, and the federal government will not know whether your program chooses to participate.

We encourage your program to participate so we can include your responses in our results.

If you have any questions about the FLASH-V project, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance with this project,

Best Regards,

[Team member name and contact information]

FOLLOW-UP EMAIL TO LIAs REQUESTING SURVEY COMPLETION [Option 2]

[study team to reply to email chain so as not to restate information about our project and put request front and center]

Dear [LIA Contact Name]:

I wanted to reach out to you again regarding the FLASH-V project. As I mentioned in my previous emails, we are inviting you to participate in a national survey on strategies used to recruit and enroll families into home visiting programs. We are asking that you or another staff member in your home visiting program who has responsibility for outreach, recruitment, or enrollment of families complete the survey using the link below.

Please click on the link to complete the survey: [insert unique survey link].

Your time completing the survey is much appreciated and the findings from this study will contribute to future planning in the home visiting field.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you,

[Team member name and contact information]

THANK YOU EMAIL TO LIAs THAT COMPLETED A SURVEY

[Send within 1 week of survey completion]

Dear [LIA Contact Name]:

Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey for the FLASH-V project. The information you provided will add to the knowledge in the home visiting field. We expect project findings may be used to strengthen future outreach strategies and help identify potential solutions to challenges in reaching enrollment capacity.

We may reach out to you to participate in a 45-minute telephone interview and ask that you share copies of recruitment materials and referral forms. You will receive an email from us within [insert time frame] if you are selected for the interview.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you for your time and assistance, it is much appreciated.

[Team member name and contact information]