FFVP-CFD_Appendix_C6a_Email_StudyIntro_Stakeholder.(2015-03-31)

Evaluation of the Canned, Frozen, or Dried Fruits and Vegetables Pilot Project in the FFVP

Appendix C.6a Letter/Email – Study Introduction, Schedule Interview – Stakeholders

OMB Control No: 0584-0598

Expiration date: 9/30/2017

Letter¹/email for State CN Directors, SFA Directors, and School Staff

Dear <RespondentFirstName> <RespondentLastName>,

Your <State/school/school district> is participating in a study of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in selected elementary schools across the country funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. The program provides free fruit and vegetables as snacks to children during the school day. Your <school/district> has given Mathematica Policy Research permission to conduct this study, and we are asking you to participate in a one-hour phone interview about your <State’s/school’s/district’s> fruit and vegetable snack program. We will ask questions about your role in and impressions of the program, including the recent incorporation of canned, frozen, and dried fruits and vegetables.

We take confidentiality and security of data very seriously. Information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. Mathematica has strict procedures to store data securely and ensure your confidentiality. We will remove personal identifiers (such as your name) before analyzing interview response data. Your <school/school district> will not be identified in association with your comments in any report based on our analysis.

Participation in this interview is voluntary and you can stop participating at any time. If you do not want to take part in the interview, it will not affect your employment circumstances in any way. However, this is an important study; we value your experiences with the fruit and vegetable program and would like to use them to help strengthen the program.

If you agree to participate in this phone interview, please contact me, <interviewer name >, by email at <interviewer email>or by telephone at <interviewer phone number> so we can schedule a time convenient for you. ([IF SCHOOL/DISTRICT] You will receive a $50 gift card as a thank you for your time, as long as your school district permits.)

If you have any questions about the study or its purpose, you may contact me or the study’s project director, Ronette Briefel at (202) 484-4835 or via email at Rbriefel@mathematica-mpr.com. Thank you in advance for your help with this important study.

Sincerely,

<Interviewer signature>

<Interviewer name>

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0598. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

1 Letters will be on Mathematica letterhead.

C.6a.1