Attachment C - Email and Letter to Selected Centers

ATTACHMENT c.1

email to selected centers

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TO: [EMAIL]

FROM: [RECRUITER]

SUBJECT: Study on the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education

ATTACHMENT: Study FAQs, Study brochure

Dear [CENTER DIRECTOR]:

We are reaching out to you to seek your center’s participation in an important study. As you know, high quality early care and education (ECE) in childhood builds a strong foundation of emotional, social, language and cognitive skills that are key for future success in school. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) has partnered with Mathematica, an independent research organization, to conduct a study on how centers use their resources to maximize the quality of ECE. Participating centers will receive $500 for taking part in the study.

Your input will be extremely helpful in conducting this study and we hope your center will participate. For this study to be successful, it is critical to have the participation of a range of centers—such as big and small centers, and those that receive different types of support. When the study is complete, we hope the findings will help centers of all types make decisions about using resources to support quality. The findings will also help state and national administrators and policymakers understand how to best invest resources to promote the highest quality ECE.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an especially profound impact on the child care industry. Child care centers like yours have had to make many trade-offs in order to maintain health and safety requirements and continue to offer services to young children and their families. We hope the study will also help us understand how centers have fared through the COVID-19 pandemic and that the findings can inform the types of supports that could help centers like yours in the future.

Participation in the study is completely voluntary. We hope your center will participate. The purpose of the study is to help identify improvements in early childhood services; there are no risks from taking part in the study. The information in this study will be used only for research purposes and in ways that will not reveal who you are or identify your center. Federal or state laws may require us to show information to government officials (or sponsors) who are responsible for monitoring the safety of this study. Neither you nor your center will be identified in any publication from this study. If you have questions about ECE-ICHQ, please call Annalee Kelly, the survey director, toll-free, at XXX-XXX-XXXX or email us at EMAIL@mathematica-mpr.com.

We understand that you and your staff are very busy, so we will be flexible in scheduling data collection activities. We will conduct all data collection activities on the phone or on the web, without in-person visits. I have attached answers to frequently asked questions about the study and a study brochure. I would like to schedule a time to talk with you by phone about the study in greater detail and discuss your center’s participation.

If you can share some times you would be available to talk with me by phone that would be great. Otherwise, I will call you in the next few days to schedule a time.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with you soon. If you have any questions prior to our call, please contact me at [RECRUITER PHONE] or by email at [RECRUITER EMAIL].

Sincerely,

[RECRUITER NAME]

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: The referenced collection of information is voluntary. 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. The OMB control number for this collection is 0970-0499 and it expires 11/30/2022.

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ATTACHMENT c.2

LETTER TO SELECTED CENTERS

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[RECRUITER NAME]

ECE-ICHQ Recruiter

[DATE]

Dear [CENTER DIRECTOR]:

We are reaching out to you to seek your center’s participation in an important study. As you know, high quality early care and education (ECE) in childhood builds a strong foundation of emotional, social, language and cognitive skills that are key for future success in school. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) has partnered with Mathematica, an independent research organization, to conduct a study on how centers use their resources to maximize the quality of ECE. Participating centers will receive $500 for taking part in the study.

Your input will be extremely helpful in conducting this study and we hope your center will participate. For this study to be successful, it is critical to have the participation of a range of centers—such as big and small centers, and those that receive different types of support. When the study is complete, we hope the findings will help centers of all types make decisions about using resources to support quality. The findings will also help state and national administrators and policymakers understand how to best invest resources to promote the highest quality ECE.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an especially profound impact on the child care industry. Child care centers like yours have had to make many trade-offs in order to maintain health and safety requirements and continue to offer services to young children and their families. We hope the study will also help us understand how centers have fared through the COVID-19 pandemic and that the findings can inform the types of supports that could help centers like yours in the future.

Participation in the study is completely voluntary. We hope your center will participate. The purpose of the study is to help identify improvements in early childhood services; there are no risks from taking part in the study. The information in this study will be used only for research purposes and in ways that will not reveal who you are or identify your center. Federal or state laws may require us to show information to government officials (or sponsors) who are responsible for monitoring the safety of this study. Neither you nor your center will be identified in any publication from this study. If you have questions about ECE-ICHQ, please call Annalee Kelly, the survey director, toll-free, at XXX-XXX-XXXX or email us at EMAIL@mathematica-mpr.com.

We understand that you and your staff are very busy, so we will be flexible in scheduling data collection activities. We will conduct all data collection activities on the phone or on the web, without in-person visits. I have enclosed answers to frequently asked questions about the study and a study brochure. I would like to schedule a time to talk with you by phone about the study in greater detail and discuss your center’s participation.

If you can share some times you would be available to talk with me by phone that would be great. Otherwise, I will call you in the next few days to schedule a time.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking with you soon. If you have any questions prior to our call, please contact me at [RECRUITER PHONE] or by email at [RECRUITER EMAIL].

Sincerely,

[RECRUITER],

[RECRUITER TITLE]

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: The referenced collection of information is voluntary. 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. The OMB control number for this collection is 0970-0499 and it expires 11/30/2022.

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An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

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