Appendix C Outreach Material

Please complete our 5-minute feedback survey and help us improve our services. Your responses will be reported anonymously and after completing the survey you will be taken to your original destination.

Links:

[Sure! Take me to the survey]

[I’m still looking. Ask me again later]

[No Thanks.]

Product Feedback Invitation

Dear [Name],

Our records indicate that you participated in a webinar with the Center for States called, [TITLE] on [DATE]. We hope that you found the webinar useful and relevant for your work. In your registration, you indicated that we could contact you in the future to get feedback about your experiences with the resources that were introduced during the webinar. We are asking for your feedback through a short survey. We are interested in hearing about your experience with the [PRODUCT TITLE] since the webinar, even if you have not or do not intend to use them. Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary, and the survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. Your feedback is critical to informing and improving our products and services to better meet your needs. As part of the evaluation effort, data will be securely and privately shared with Capacity Building Collaborative evaluators, with all feedback reported in aggregate with identifying information removed. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Please complete the on-line survey using the link below by [DATE]:

[Insert Survey Link]

Thank you!

Learning Experiences Satisfaction Survey (single)

Website Message

This assessment is designed to better understand your current knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the competencies of this module. Your results will not be shared with others and we will use these results to better understand your progress in training and to make improvements to our module. The following assessment should take you about 10–15 minutes.

Learning Experiences Satisfaction Survey (intensive)

Website Message

Webinars, Events, and In-Person Meetings Satisfaction Survey

Center for States Housekeeping Language Presented in Each Event with an Evaluation Survey

There will be an evaluation survey at the end of the event. Please take a moment to provide us with your feedback.

Center for States Web Links Pod in Adobe Language

Pod titled: We’d Love Your Feedback!

Link titled: Evaluation Survey

Center for States Adobe Room Closing Language

The host has ended this meeting. Thank you for attending.

Please take a moment to provide us with your feedback:

(Survey Link)

Center for States Webinar Invitation Email

Thank you for attending "{event-name}". We appreciate your participation and hope you found the event valuable.

Your feedback is important to us! If you haven't done so already, please take our survey about the webinar. It should only take a few minutes and will help us improve our webinars in the future!

Below is the link to take the survey: (survey link)

We hope you enjoyed the webinar.

Thank you,

Capacity Building Center for States

https://capacity.childwelfare.gov/states/

Center for States Webinar Reminder Email

Good Morning Everyone,

On (date of event) 2019 you participated in the (event name) with the Center for States. We would like to hear from you about your experience during this event. Please also feel free to share this survey with others who participated in the event.

The Center for States is committed to continuously improving the relevance and usefulness of events provided. Your comments will be incorporated into future activities planning and will help strengthen Center for States events to better meet your needs. Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary, and your responses will be reported anonymously. The survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

(survey link)

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Capacity Building Center for States Evaluation Lead at Christine.Leicht@icfi.com.

Center for States One-off Event Invitation Email

Hello,

Thank you for participating in [TITLE] on [Date of Event]. The Capacity Building Center for States is committed to continuously improving its services and would like to invite you to provide insight about your experiences with this [event type]. This survey is designed to allow you to share your thoughts on the quality and effectiveness of Center services. The Center evaluation team will combine your input with feedback from others who participated in this event and other events in an aggregated fashion, remove any identifying information and share the information with Center staff in order to improve service planning and provision for fiscal year [2019]. The Center evaluation team will also share aggregate findings with the Children's Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative's Cross-Center Evaluator.

The survey is expected to take approximately 5 minutes. Please click on the link below to begin.
[Click Here to Start the Survey]

Your response is appreciated by [Day of Week, Month, Day, Year]. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thank you in advance for sharing your opinions!

Sincerely,

The Center for States

Dannele Ferreras

Evaluation Team

CAPACITY BUILDING CENTER FOR STATES

Center for States One-off Event Reminder Email

Hello,

Thank you again for participating in the [TITLE] on [Date of Event]. If you have already completed the Center’s feedback survey, thank you for taking the time to help the Center for States better our service delivery.

If you have not had a chance to provide feedback yet, please do so by [COB tomorrow], [Day of Week, Month, Day, Year]. The survey is expected to take approximately 5 minutes. Please click on the link below to begin.

[Click Here to Start the Survey]

The Capacity Building Center for States is committed to continuously improving its services and would like to invite you to provide insight about your experiences with this peer exchange. This survey is designed to allow you to share your thoughts on the quality and effectiveness of Center services. The Center evaluation team will combine your input with feedback from others who participated in this event and other events in an aggregated fashion, remove any identifying information and share the information with Center staff in order to improve service planning and provision for fiscal year [2019]. The Center evaluation team will also share aggregate findings with the Children's Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative's Cross-Center Evaluator.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thank you in advance for sharing your opinions!

Sincerely,

The Center for States

Dannele Ferreras

Evaluation Team

CAPACITY BUILDING CENTER FOR STATES

(571) 459-4089

dannele.ferreras@icf.com

capacity.childwelfare.gov

Center for Courts Invitation Email

Good Morning CIP Directors, Coordinators, and Staff

We would like to invite you to participate in the Universal and Constituency Services Survey. This is an opportunity for you to provide feedback to us on the Universal and Constituency Services that CBCC provides. Please share this link with others in your office to ensure that everyone who may have participated in a constituency group or meeting has an opportunity to respond. As you likely know from previous years, this survey can be kind of long. It depends on how many services you have engaged in with us in the last fiscal year (<<insert dates>>). I know that these surveys can be cumbersome, but your responses are critical for us to ensure we are meeting your needs. The good news is -- this is the last time you will be asked to complete this survey. It could take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes to complete depending on what you have participated in. Last year, the average time was less than 20 minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous and reported in the aggregate. Participation is completely voluntary.

Please take the time to complete this for us. It is a vital part of our CQI process and necessary for us to report to the Cross Center team for their evaluation of how our center is doing.

Feel free to outreach to me with any questions or concerns at aliciadsummers@gmail.com

THANK YOU in advance for your participation.

Center for Courts Reminder Email

Good Morning,

I appreciate all the responses we have received so far for the Universal and Constituency Survey. If you have already responded, please disregard this email. If you have not yet had a chance to respond, we would really appreciate your feedback on CBCC's Universal and Constituency Services. I know that responding to surveys takes time away from your busy schedule, but this is the last time I will ask for such a big chunk of your time. As we are in our final year of capacity building for CBCC, we are trying our best to finalize our evaluations of efforts. Your feedback is critical to this. So far, we only have a 38% response rate. Participation is voluntary but I would love to double that and hear from the majority of you. The survey does take between 15-45 minutes depending on what you have participated in, but the average is right under 20 minutes so far. All responses are anonymous and will be reported in aggregate.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey with the link below. The survey closes <<insert date>>. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at alicia.d.summers@gmail.com

Thank you!
Alicia

Center for States Information and Referral Survey

Invitation Email

When sending information back to the requestor, the librarian should include the following at the end of their email:

The Capacity Building Collaborative is committed to continuously improving the relevance and utility of services provided. Please take a few minutes to provide your feedback on the services you have received. Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary, and your responses will be reported anonymously. The survey should take about 2 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Capacity Building Center for States Evaluation Lead at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Click here to take the survey

Center for States Intensive Projects Survey

This survey is administered as part of the Cross-Center Evaluation’s Capacity survey (covered under a separate OMB Approval), and therefore uses the Capacity Survey Invitations and Reminders.

Initial Invitation Email

Subject Line: Please provide your opinion on [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [States/Courts/Tribes]

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

My name is James DeSantis, from James Bell Associates. I am the project director for the Children’s Bureau’s Cross-Center Evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative. I am writing because as a recipient of capacity building services from the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes], we ask that you complete a survey to give us your perspective about the services you received. Information you provide will be used to help us to understand the tasks that teams take on, and what teams might learn through their work with the Capacity Building Centers.

We know that participants have different levels of involvement in the [court/state/tribe]’s work with the Center, so we are interested in learning about your perceptions, based on your experience.

The survey consists of 3 sections and will take 20-30 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Dr. James DeSantis via email at desantis@jbassoc.com or toll-free via phone at 1-800-546-3230.

The survey will close on [Date], so please be sure to complete the survey before then!

Please click on the link below to begin the survey.

Click Here to Start the Survey

We thank you for your participation!

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

First Reminder Email

Subject Line: Deadline Approaching: Your opinion on [Jurisdiction’s] Experiences with the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes]

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

I am writing with a reminder regarding the survey invitation I sent on [Date of Invite Email]. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey, would you please do so now?

I understand you have many demands on your time; however you are in the best position to inform our understanding of tasks that teams take on, what teams might learn through their work with the Capacity Building Centers, and how these services are received. Obtaining your feedback is the best way we have to measure what’s working and what’s not.

This survey will close on [date] and takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

I’ve included my original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey.

Thank you in advance,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, as written above]

Second Reminder Email

Subject Line: Final Request: Your opinion on [Jurisdiction’s] Experiences with the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes]

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

This is a final request that you please complete a survey on your opinion of [Jurisdiction]’s experience with the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes]. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey would you please do so now?

I understand you have many demands on your time; however you are in the best position inform our understanding of tasks that teams take on, what teams might learn through their work with the Capacity Building Centers, and how these services are received. Obtaining your feedback is the best way we have to measure what’s working and what’s not.

This survey will close on [date] and takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

I’ve included our original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, as written above]

Center for States Constituency Groups Survey

Housekeeping Language

The Capacity Building Center for States is committed to continuously improving its services and would like to invite you to provide insight about your experiences with the [Title of Constituency Group] Constituency Group. The Center’s Evaluation team conducts an annual assessment of constituency group support and also provides constituency group members the opportunity to give feedback on a selection of products that might be of interest. The survey is designed to allow you to share your thoughts on the quality and effectiveness of Center services, provide suggestions for how the center can better support you, and give feedback on Center products. The evaluation team will combine your input with feedback from others, remove any identifying information and share the aggregate information with Center staff in order to improve service planning for fiscal year 2019. The Center evaluation team will also share de-identified data with the Children's Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative's Cross-Center Evaluator.

The Center would like to hear your feedback about the constituency group, a selection of center products and the support provided to you over the past year. The survey will be released the week of August 7^th with the sender “Center for States” at invites@mailer.surveygizmo.com. If you do not see the message, you may need to check your spam or junk folder.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions!

Sincerely,

[Constituency Group Lead Name]

Invitation Email

The Capacity Building Center for States is committed to continuously improving its services and would like to invite you to provide insight about your experiences with the [Constituency Group Name] Constituency Group. The Center’s Evaluation team conducts an annual assessment of constituency group support and also provides constituency group members the opportunity to give feedback on a selection of products that might be of interest. This survey is designed to allow you to share your thoughts on the quality and effectiveness of Center services, provide suggestions for how the center can better support you, and give feedback on Center products. The evaluation team will combine your input with feedback from others in an aggregated fashion, remove any identifying information and share the information with Center staff in order to improve service planning and provision for fiscal year 2019. The Center evaluation team will also share aggregate findings with the Children's Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative's Cross-Center Evaluator.

The Center would like to hear your feedback about the constituency group, a selection of center products and the support provided to you over the past year. Please share your perspective by completing a 10‒15 minute online survey (link available below).

Click Here to Start the Survey

Please submit your response by [Date]. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions!

Sincerely,

The Center for States

Reminder Email

Thanks so much to participants who have taken the time to provide their thoughts about the [Constituency Group Name] Constituency Groups.

If you have not yet participated in the Capacity Building Center for States' Constituency Group Survey, please take 15 minutes to share your perspective using the link below. While you may receive more than one survey link if you are in multiple constituency groups, you only need to complete the survey once. During the survey there is an opportunity to provide feedback about other groups you participate in. The survey will remain open until [Date].

Click Here to Start the Survey

The Center will use your feedback to inform planning for activities in the upcoming year. Your responses are private and will be reported in aggregate only, so no person or State is personally identified.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Sincerely,

The Center for States

Survey Extension Notification Email (if needed)

Thanks so much to participants who have taken the time to provide their thoughts about the [Constituency Group Name] Constituency Groups.

Click Here to Start the Survey

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Sincerely,

The Center for States

Center for States Brief Tailored Services Survey

Initial Invitation Email

Dear [NAME],

Our records indicate that in [MONTH YEAR], your agency completed a project through the Capacity Building Center for States related to [JURISDICTION]’s “[PROJECT TITLE].” We hope that you found the Center’s services useful and relevant for your work.

The Capacity Building Collaborative is committed to continuously improving the quality and effectiveness of services provided and we are asking for your participation in a feedback survey. Your participation in this survey is entirely voluntary, and the survey should only take about 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback will be used to improve services to better meet your needs and for Center for States and Capacity Building Collaborative evaluation purposes. As part of the evaluation effort, data will be securely and privately shared with Collaborative evaluators, however feedback will be reported in aggregate with identifying information removed.

We would appreciate your response to the survey below by [DAY OF WEEK, MONTH, DATE]:
[Survey Link]

If you have any questions, you can Christine Leicht, Capacity Building Center for States Evaluation Lead at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thank you so much for your time and feedback!

Sincerely,

Dannele Ferreras

Evaluation Team

CAPACITY BUILDING CENTER FOR STATES

capacity.childwelfare.gov
(571) 459-4089

dannele.ferreras@icf.com

capacity.childwelfare.gov

Reminder Email

Hello [NAME],

On behalf of the Center for States, thank you again for your role in [JURISDICTION]’s project “[PROJECT TITLE].” If you have already completed the Center’s feedback survey, thank you for taking the time to help the Center for States better our service delivery.

If you have not had a chance to provide feedback yet, please do so by this [DAY OF WEEK, MONTH, DATE]. The survey is expected to take approximately 5 minutes. Please click on the link below to begin.

[Survey Link]

The Capacity Building Center for States is committed to continuously improving its services and would like to invite you to provide insight about your experiences. This survey is designed to allow you to share your thoughts on the quality and effectiveness of Center services. The Center evaluation team will combine your input with feedback from others who participated in this event and other events in an aggregated fashion, remove any identifying information and share the information with Center staff in order to improve service planning and provision for fiscal year 2019. The Center evaluation team will also share aggregate findings with the Children's Bureau and the Capacity Building Collaborative's Cross-Center Evaluator.

If you have any questions, please contact Christine Leicht, Center for States Evaluation Team Lead, at Christine.Leicht@icf.com.

Thank you in advance for sharing your opinions!

Sincerely,

Dannele Ferreras

Evaluation Team

CAPACITY BUILDING CENTER FOR STATES

capacity.childwelfare.gov

(571) 459-4089

dannele.ferreras@icf.com

capacity.childwelfare.gov

CIP Annual Meeting Survey

Invitation Email

We would like your opinion on the Children's Bureau's State Team Planning Meeting that was held <<insert date> in <<insert location>>. Your opinion is important to us and will be used to inform enhancements to future meetings. Response to the survey is completely voluntary. This survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. All responses are anonymous and reported in an aggregate manner.

If you have questions, you can contact the Capacity Building Center for Courts' Lead Evaluator, Alicia Summers at aliciadsummers@gmail.com.

Assessment and Capacity Building Work Plan Satisfaction Survey

Initial Invitation Email

Subject Line: Please provide your opinion on [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [Center]

Body message:

Dear [contact("first name")],

My name is James DeSantis, from James Bell Associates. I am the project director for the Children’s Bureau’s Cross-Center Evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative. I am writing because we would like your feedback regarding [jurisdiction]’s recent experiences with the [assessment and work planning] services you participated in with the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes].

Your participation is critical to the evaluation and learning about your experience will provide needed information about the effectiveness of services. The information you share will identify activities that are working well and areas where improvements would be helpful. The survey is estimated to take approximately 10 minutes to complete and survey responses will be kept private.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Dr. James DeSantis via email at desantis@jbassoc.com or toll-free via phone at 1-800-546-3230.

The survey will close on [Date], so please be sure to complete the survey before then!

Please click on the link below to provide your perceptions about the [assessment and work planning] process with the [Center].
Click Here to Start the Survey

We thank you for your participation!

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

First Reminder Email

Subject Line: Deadline Approaching: Provide your opinion on [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [Center]

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

You were contacted on [Date of Invite email] regarding a survey soliciting your opinion of [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [Center]. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey, would you please do so now?

I understand you have many demands on your time; however, you are in the best position to tell us how the Center for [States/Courts/Tribes] [assessment and work planning] services are working and received. Obtaining your feedback is the best way we have to measure what’s working and what’s not.

This survey will close on [date] and only takes 10 minutes to complete.

I’ve included our original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey. I hope you will be able to assist us by completing the survey.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, As written above]

Second Reminder Email

Subject Line: Final Request: Provide your opinion on [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [Center]

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

This is a final request that you please complete a survey on your opinion of [Jurisdiction]’s experience with [Center]. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey, would you please do so now?

This survey will close on [date] and only takes 10 minutes to complete.

I’ve included our original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey. I hope you will be able to assist us by completing the survey.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, As written above]

Leadership Interview – States and Territories

Administration for Children and Families Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

On behalf of the Children’s Bureau (CB) in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Administration for Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I am writing to invite you to participate in an important evaluation of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of three Centers – the Center for States, the Center for Tribes and the Center for Courts. The Capacity Building Collaborative provides free resources, training, technical assistance, and consultation to state, territorial, and tribal child welfare systems and Court Improvement Programs in order to support their efforts to build organizational capacity and improve practice.

In September 2015, CB awarded a contract to James Bell Associates (JBA) and ICF International to independently evaluate the services provided by the Collaborative. Findings from this multi-year, cross-center evaluation will provide CB and the Centers with valuable information about the factors and conditions that may contribute to improved organizational capacity and about the quality, utilization, and effectiveness of services.

In the coming weeks, JBA will send out letters to all state child welfare agency directors and to directors in select tribes, territories, and Court Improvement Programs that have received services that were tailored to the unique needs of their systems. JBA’s letter will provide greater detail about the cross-center evaluation, and it will request your participation in a one-hour phone interview. You are invited and encouraged but not required to participate in this interview and you can skip questions or sections if you choose. You can also designate someone to respond to the interview questions on your behalf. Whether or not you participate will not affect your organization’s eligibility for capacity building services from the Collaborative in the future. If you choose to participate, an interview will be scheduled at your convenience. The interview will include questions about your system’s efforts to build capacity and implement changes in practice, factors that have facilitated or inhibited change initiatives, whether assistance was provided by members of the Capacity Building Collaborative, and the impact this assistance has had on your organization. Your privacy is very important to us. Information will be aggregated across child welfare agencies and Court Improvement Programs and responses will not be associated with individual respondents. We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation.

Sincerely,

Jane Morgan

Director, Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building

Children’s Bureau

James Bell Associates Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

Recently, a letter was mailed to you from Jane Morgan, Director of the Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building in the Children’s Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families, regarding an evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of the Center for States, Center for Tribes, and Center for Courts. James Bell Associates (JBA) and ICF International are conducting this independent evaluation. The cross-center evaluation examines the role of the Collaborative in helping states, territories, tribes, and Court Improvement Programs to build capacity and implement changes in practice that are intended to improve child and family outcomes.

One component of this national evaluation involves telephone interviews with child welfare and Court Improvement Program directors from states, territories, and tribes. The interviews are intended to gather valuable information that will help CB and Centers understand factors that facilitate or inhibit agency and court improvement initiatives; whether assistance was received from Centers in the Collaborative; and the impact this assistance may have had on improvement efforts. If you are unavailable to participate, we encourage you to designate someone to participate in the interview on your behalf. Interviews will occur two times over the course of the evaluation in 2016 and 2018.

In the coming weeks, a member of the JBA cross-center evaluation team will contact you by e-mail to arrange a telephone interview at your convenience. The interview is expected to last approximately 60 minutes. A copy of the interview questions will be provided to you in advance so that you can review the questions. Our past experience has found that similar interviews may require the input of additional staff in order to answer all of the questions. In the event that additional staff are needed to respond to the interview questions, you may wish to have them participate during the interview or seek input from them in advance.

Also, your privacy is very important to us. Information that is shared with us during the interview will be aggregated across state child welfare agencies, tribal child welfare agencies, and court improvement programs and will not be associated with individual respondents. Participation in this interview is not required and questions or sections can be skipped, if desired. Participation in these interviews will have no impact on the ability of your agency to receive capacity building services from the Centers in the Collaborative.

If you have any questions about the interview, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at desantis@jbassoc.com or toll-free by telephone at 800-546-3230. We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation and look forward to speaking with you in the near future.

Sincerely,

James DeSantis, Ph.D.

Project Director

James Bell Associates

Initial Scheduling Email for New Directors

Dear Director [last name],

James Bell Associates (JBA) is conducting an independent evaluation of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative, the federally funded partnership that is comprised of three Centers – the Center for States, the Center for Tribes and the Center for Courts. The evaluation focuses on the work of the Capacity Building Centers and their role in helping States, Tribes, and Court Improvement Programs to build capacity of their systems. One component of this national evaluation involves telephone interviews with State child welfare directors. The interviews are intended to gather valuable information that will help us better understand child welfare systems’ efforts to build capacity and implement changes in practice, factors that have facilitated or inhibited change initiatives, whether assistance was provided by members of the Capacity Building Collaborative, and the impact this assistance has had on the organizations.

We conducted the first round of the interviews with child welfare directors in late 2016. Prior to the first round, [name of State director that 2016 CB letter was addressed to] of [State’s CW agency name] received an invitation from Jane Morgan, the Director of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Division of the Children's Bureau, and a follow-up letter from JBA about a week later. I am attaching here a copy of the Children's Bureau letter as well as a copy of the JBA letter for your review.

In 2016 we interviewed [name of person interviewed and agency name]. We are presently preparing for the second and final round of these interviews. We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation. If you are unavailable to participate, you are encouraged to designate someone to participate in the interview on your behalf.

The telephone interview is expected to last approximately one hour. A copy of the interview questions will be provided to you in advance so that you can review the questions.

We are currently scheduling the phone interviews for [months]. Please call [JBA Staff phone number] or email [JBA Staff email address] me as to what dates/times would be convenient for you. I will also follow up with you in the near future.

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Initial Scheduling Email for Continuing Directors

Dear [Agency Director]:

This is [JBA Staff name] from James Bell Associates (JBA) working on the evaluation of the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Centers. This evaluation addresses the role of the Capacity Building Centers in helping States, Tribes, and Court Improvement Programs (CIPs) to enhance the capacity of their child welfare systems. One important component of this national evaluation involves two rounds of telephone interviews with State child welfare directors. You participated in the previous round of these interviews in 2016. Prior to that first round, you should also have received an invitation from Jane Morgan, the Director of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Division of the Children's Bureau, and a follow-up letter from JBA. I am attaching here a copy of the Children's Bureau letter as well as a copy of the JBA letter for your review.

We are now preparing for the second and final round of the interviews and hope that you are again able to participate. The telephone interview is expected to last about an hour. We will send you a copy of the interview questions in advance so that you can review the questions before the call.

I hope you can participate. What dates and times might be convenient for you for the phone interview, during [January or February]?

You can reach me via email [JBA Staff email address] or phone [JBA Staff number].

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Interview Confirmation Email

Dear [Agency/CIP/Tribe Director]:

Thank you for your willingness to participate in the interview and provide your opinions of and share your experiences with the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Centers. Your interview has been scheduled for [DATE & TIME]. Please find attached two documents to have on hand for the interview: 1) the questions that I will be discussing with you; and 2) a summary of the key capacity building services that we have a record of your [agency/CIP/tribe] having participated in.

In order for us to have an accurate account of the interview, we would like to record it. The recording will then be destroyed as soon as we transcribe the recording and we will remove all identifying information from the transcript. Information that you provide will be combined with answers from other respondents and will not be associated with your [agency/CIP/tribe] or you as an individual respondent.

Again, I thank you for your time and I look forward to speaking with you on [DATE & TIME]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the interview, please do not hesitate to email me [JBA Staff email address] or phone me at [JBA Staff phone number].

Thank you,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Leadership Interview – CIPs

Administration for Children and Families Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

On behalf of the Children’s Bureau (CB) in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Administration for Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I am writing to invite you to participate in an important evaluation of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of three Centers – the Center for States, the Center for Tribes and the Center for Courts. The Capacity Building Collaborative provides free resources, training, technical assistance, and consultation to Court Improvement Programs and to state, territorial, and tribal child welfare systems in order to support their efforts to build organizational capacity and improve practice.

In the coming weeks, JBA will send out letters to all state child welfare agency directors and to directors in select tribes, territories, and Court Improvement Programs that have received services that were tailored to the unique needs of their systems. JBA’s letter will provide greater detail about the cross-center evaluation, and it will request your participation in a one-hour phone interview. You are invited and encouraged but not required to participate in this interview and you can skip questions or sections if you choose. You can also designate someone to respond to the interview questions on your behalf. Whether or not you participate will not affect your organization’s eligibility for capacity building services from the Collaborative in the future. If you choose to participate, an interview will be scheduled at your convenience. The interview will include questions about your program’s efforts to build capacity and implement changes in practice, factors that have facilitated or inhibited change initiatives, whether assistance was provided by members of the Capacity Building Collaborative, and the impact this assistance has had on your program. Your privacy is very important to us. Information will be aggregated across Court Improvement Programs and child welfare agencies and responses will not be associated with individual respondents. We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation.

Sincerely,

Jane Morgan

Director, Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building

Children’s Bureau

James Bell Associates Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

Recently, a letter was mailed to you from Jane Morgan, Director of the Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building in the Children’s Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families, regarding an evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of the Center for Courts, Center for States, and Center for Tribes. James Bell Associates (JBA) and ICF International are conducting this independent evaluation. The cross-center evaluation examines the role of the Collaborative in helping states, territories, tribes, and Court Improvement Programs to build capacity and implement changes in practice that are intended to improve child and family outcomes.

Also, your privacy is very important to us. Information that is shared with us during the interview will be aggregated across state child welfare agencies, tribal child welfare agencies, and court improvement programs and will not be associated with individual respondents. Participation in this interview is not required and questions or sections can be skipped, if desired. Participation in these interviews will have no impact on the ability of your program to receive capacity building services from the Centers in the Collaborative.

Sincerely,

James DeSantis, Ph.D.

Project Director

James Bell Associates

Initial Scheduling Email for New Directors

Dear [CIP Director]:

James Bell Associates (JBA) is conducting an independent evaluation of the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Centers. This evaluation addresses the role of the Capacity Building Centers in helping States, Tribes, and Court Improvement Programs (CIPs) to enhance the capacity of their child welfare systems. The Leadership Interview is an important component of the evaluation.

One component of this national evaluation involves telephone interviews with CIP directors. The interviews are intended to gather valuable information that will help us better understand the factors that influence your decisions to use the services of the CB’s Capacity Building Center and your experiences with the services you have received from the Capacity Building Center for Courts.

During the last few weeks you should have received an invitation to participate in these interviews from Jane Morgan, the Director of Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building at the Children's Bureau, and a follow-up letter from JBA about a week later. I am attaching here a copy of the Children's Bureau letter as well as a copy of the JBA letter.

We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation. If you are unavailable to participate, I would encourage you to designate someone to participate in the interview on your behalf.

The telephone interview is expected to last approximately one hour. We will send you the interview questions in advance so that you can review the questions before the call.

We are currently scheduling the phone interviews for [January and February]. I will send you a follow-up email in the near future regarding scheduling a date/time that would work for you. In the meantime, feel free to email [JBA Staff email address] or call me [JBA Staff phone number].

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Initial Scheduling Email for Continuing Directors

Dear [Director]:

You participated in the previous round of these interviews in 2016. Prior to that first round, you should also have received an invitation from Jane Morgan, the Director of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Division of the Children's Bureau, and a follow-up letter from JBA. I am attaching here a copy of the Children's Bureau letter as well as a copy of the JBA letter for your review.

We are now preparing for the second and final round of the interviews and hope that you are again able to participate. The telephone interview is expected to last about one hour. We will send you a copy of the interview questions in advance so that you can review the questions before the call.

I hope you can participate. What dates and times might be convenient for you for the phone interview, during [January or February]?

You can reach me via email [JBA Staff email address] or phone [JBA Staff number].

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Interview Confirmation Email

Dear [Agency/CIP/Tribe Director]:

Thank you,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Leadership Interview – Tribes

Administration for Children and Families Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

On behalf of the Children’s Bureau (CB) in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Administration for Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I am writing to invite you to participate in an important evaluation of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of three Centers – the Center for Tribes, the Center for States and the Center for Courts. The Capacity Building Collaborative provides free resources, training, technical assistance, and consultation to tribal, state, and territorial child welfare systems and Court Improvement Programs in order to support their efforts to build organizational capacity and improve practice.

In the coming weeks, JBA will send out letters to all state child welfare agency directors and to directors in select tribes, territories, and Court Improvement Programs that have received services that were tailored to the unique needs of their systems. JBA’s letter will provide greater detail about the cross-center evaluation, and it will request your participation in a 75-minute telephone interview. You are invited and encouraged but not required to participate in this interview and you can skip questions or sections if you choose. You can also designate someone to respond to the interview questions on your behalf. Whether or not you participate will not affect your tribe’s eligibility for capacity building services from the Collaborative in the future. If you choose to participate, an interview will be scheduled at your convenience. The interview will include questions about your system’s efforts to build capacity and implement changes in practice, factors that have facilitated or inhibited change initiatives, and the impact assistance from the Collaborative has had on your organization. Your privacy is very important to us. Information will be aggregated across tribal child welfare agencies and responses will not be associated with individual respondents. We hope that you are able to participate in this important evaluation.

Sincerely,

Jane Morgan

Director, Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building

Children’s Bureau

James Bell Associates Letters to Directors

[Director Name]

[Agency Name]

[Agency Address]

Dear Director [Name],

Recently, a letter was mailed to you from Jane Morgan, Director of the Division of Child Welfare Capacity Building in the Children’s Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families, regarding an evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative, a new federally funded partnership that is comprised of the Center for Tribes, Center for States, and Center for Courts. James Bell Associates (JBA) and ICF International are conducting this independent evaluation. The cross-center evaluation examines the role of the Collaborative in helping states, territories, tribes, and Court Improvement Programs to build capacity and implement changes in practice that are intended to improve child and family outcomes.

In the coming weeks, a member of the JBA cross-center evaluation team will contact you by e-mail to arrange a telephone interview at your convenience. The interview is expected to last approximately 75 minutes. A copy of the interview questions will be provided to you in advance so that you can review the questions. Our past experience has found that similar interviews may require the input of additional staff in order to answer all of the questions. In the event that additional staff are needed to respond to the interview questions, you may wish to have them participate during the interview or seek input from them in advance.

Sincerely,

James DeSantis, Ph.D.

Project Director

James Bell Associates

Initial Scheduling Email for New Directors

Dear [Director]:

One component of this national evaluation involves telephone interviews with [Tribal child welfare directors/CIP directors]. The interviews are intended to gather valuable information that will help us better understand the factors that influence your decisions to use the services of the CB’s Capacity Building Center and your experiences with the services you have received from the Capacity Building Center for Tribes.

The telephone interview is expected to last approximately 90 minutes. We will send you the interview questions in advance so that you can review the questions before the call.

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Initial Scheduling Email for Continuing Directors

Dear [Agency/CIP Director]:

We are now preparing for the second and final round of the interviews and hope that you are again able to participate. The telephone interview is expected to last about 90 minutes. We will send you a copy of the interview questions in advance so that you can review the questions before the call.

I hope you can participate. What dates and times might be convenient for you for the phone interview, during [January or February]?

You can reach me via email [JBA Staff email address] or phone [JBA Staff number].

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Interview Confirmation Email

Dear [Agency/CIP/Tribe Director]:

Thank you,

[JBA Staff Signature]

Annual Collaboration Survey

Initial Invitation Email

Subject Line: Please provide your opinion on Center Collaboration

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

My name is James DeSantis, from James Bell Associates. I am the project director for the Children’s Bureau’s Cross-Center Evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative (the Collaborative). I am writing because your feedback is needed on a survey being conducted for the Evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative. As a key member of the Collaborative, we would like to obtain your perceptions of the quality and extent of collaboration within and across the Centers. We understand that members have different levels of experience and involvement in collaboration with others in their Center and with other Centers, but we are still interested in learning about your perceptions based on your experience.

The survey is estimated to take 10-15 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Dr. James DeSantis via email at desantis@jbassoc.com or toll-free via phone at 1-800-546-3230.

The survey will close on October 1^st, so please be sure to complete the survey before then!

Please click on the link below to begin the survey.

Click Here to Start the Survey

We thank you for your participation!

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

First Reminder Email

Subject Line: Deadline Approaching: Your opinion on Center Collaboration

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

I am writing with a reminder regarding the survey invitation I sent on September 10^th. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey, would you please do so now?

I understand you have many demands on your time; however, you are in the best position to inform our understanding of the quality and extent of collaboration within and across the Centers.

This survey will close on October 1^st and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

I’ve included my original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey.

Thank you in advance,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, as written above]

Second Reminder Email

Subject Line: Final Request: Your opinion on Center Collaboration

Body message:

Dear [First Name],

This is a final request that you please complete a survey on your opinion of collaboration within and across centers. Perhaps you haven’t yet had a chance to complete the survey would you please do so now?

I understand you have many demands on your time; however, you are in the best position to inform our understanding of the quality and extent of collaboration within and across the Centers.

This survey will close on October 1^st and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

I’ve included our original email with your survey link below or you can Click Here to Start the Survey.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Dr. James DeSantis
James Bell Associates

[Original Message, as written above]

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Appendix C Outreach Material