Attachment E: Phase 3 Recruitment

Attachment E Phase 3 Recruitment8

HS DSC Study

Attachment E Phase 3 Recruitment Materials

Table 1 List of Phase 3 Recruitment Materials

Email Invitation to DSCs from Study Team
Follow-up Email to DSCs from Study Team
Follow-up Phone Recruitment from Study Team
Follow-up Phone Recruitment FAQ

INITIAL EMAIL INVITE FROM DSC STUDY TEAM

Dear [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME],

Thank you for taking the time to complete the online survey of EHS/HS DSCs for Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start. At the conclusion of the survey, you indicated you were willing to participate in an interview to help us learn more about the DSC role and the services you provide to children with disabilities and their families.

Your participation in this interview will provide important details about key aspects of the DSC role and processes. Your responses will help HS improve understanding and supports for disability services. Your responses will not be shared with your supervisor and will not be used for monitoring purposes. ACF funding for your program will not be affected by your responses.

The phone interview should last about 45 minutes.

If you are willing to participate, please let us know, and we will schedule a time for the interview over the next several weeks. If you do not feel you would be a good fit for this interview or are unable to participate, we also would appreciate if you could let us know.

If you have any questions, please contact the NORC research team at HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org.

Thank you for your help with this important research!

Sincerely,

Michael López, Ph.D. Shannon TenBroeck, MA

Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The described 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 number for the described information collection is xxxx-xxxx and the expiration date is MM/DD/YYYY. If you have questions about this data collection, please contact HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org.

FOLLOW UP EMAIL TO DSC FROM STUDY TEAM

Dear [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME],

Hoping to hear from you! Here is a reminder about the invitation to participate in a phone interview for the Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start.

You indicated your willingness to talk to us as you completed the DSC Study Survey. The interviews will give a unique opportunity to share more details about the services you provide to children with disabilities and their families. The interview should last about 45 minutes. We hope we will get to hear your perspective!

If you are willing to participate, please let us know, and we will schedule a time for the interview at your convenience over the next several weeks. Your responses will not be shared with your supervisor and will not be used for monitoring purposes. ACF funding for your program will not be affected by your responses.

We do hope you will decide to contribute further to this important study. If you do not feel you would be a good fit for this interview or are unable to participate, we also would appreciate if you could let us know.

If you have any questions, please contact the NORC research team at HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org.

Thank you for your help with this important research!

Sincerely,

Michael López, Ph.D. Shannon TenBroeck, MA

Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The described 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 number for the described information collection is xxxx-xxxx and the expiration date is MM/DD/YYYY. If you have questions about this data collection, please contact HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org.

FOLLOW UP PHONE RECRUITMENT

Hello [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME].

My name is [Name] and I am calling from NORC at the University of Chicago to follow-up with you about the invitation to participate in a phone interview for the Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start. As a reminder, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has contracted with NORC to conduct this study.

You indicated your willingness to talk to us as you completed the survey of DSCs. The interviews will give a unique opportunity to share more details about the services you provide to children with disabilities and their families.

If you agree to participate, the phone interview should last no longer than 45 minutes. While your participation is voluntary, we do hope you will decide to contribute to this important study.

Are you interested in participating?

[If yes]: Great. We have availability for the following times: [provide 3 dates/times that the interview team is available]. Do any of these times work for you?

[If no]: That’s alright. Thank you for letting us know.

[If unsure]: It is okay if you are unsure. If you decide you are willing to participate, please let us know, and we will schedule a time for the interview at your convenience over the next several weeks.

Thank you for your time. Good-bye.

FOLLOW UP PHONE RECRUITMENT FAQ

Title of Project: The Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start, 2019-2024

Principal Investigator(s): Michael López and Shannon TenBroeck

Why are we doing this study? This study will provide a national picture of the Disability Services Coordinators (DSC) workforce for Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS), including American Indian/Alaska Native (Region XI) and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) (Region XII) grantees and/or delegate agencies. This study will improve Head Start’s understanding of how programs implement disability services for children and families.

Who is funding this study? The Study of Disability Services Coordinators and Inclusion in Head Start 2019-2024 is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The study is being conducted by NORC at The University of Chicago, their partners at SRI International, and their consultant, Amanda Schwartz.

Privacy: We will protect privacy of your identifiable data to the extent allowed by law. We cannot guarantee complete privacy for data that is sent over the Internet. To minimize risks to loss of privacy, we use a secure system to collect these data. Once the data is collected, we will remove all identifying information and replace it with a study ID. Only the researchers involved in the study will know that someone from your agency participated in the study. In any written reports of the data, your responses will be combined with others and reported together so that individual information is not identifiable. If quotes are used in any reports, they will not be connected to an individual or grantee/delegate agency. If you would like to withdraw from the study, please notify the research team at HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org to request that we destroy all of your data and exclude your responses from the study results. We will honor your request unless the data has already been aggregated, at which point we will no longer be able to separate person-level data. The NORC Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Office for Human Subjects Research Protections in the Department of Health and Human Services may review records related to this research study.

The de-identified data from this study, including survey responses and interview notes, will be maintained for use in future research projects by other researchers. The data will be linked at the program-level to administrative data such as the Program Information Report (PIR) and national reports of disability policies.

You must be 18 years of age or older to take part in this research study.

Benefits: The study will provide a national understanding of how HS provides disability services. HS is a national early childhood leader, and the variety of ways that HS programs implement the Head Start Program Performance Standards for disability services will inform practice, policy, guidance and technical assistance. Your participation in this study will also help HS to improve disability services and to design supports for programs to enhance their disability coordination programming.

Risks: There are no risks in participating in this research beyond those experienced in everyday life.    

Right to Ask Questions: If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about the study, please contact the research team at HeadStartDSCStudy@norc.org. If you have questions about your rights as a research volunteer, please call the NORC Institutional Review Board toll free at 1-866-309-0542.

Phase 1 – Survey of EHS/HS Directors

How do I participate? As part of this study, we are asking all grantee or delegate agency directors to complete a brief 25-minute web-based survey that will provide us with information about your program. If you are unable to complete the survey online, you can request to complete it by phone.

Your responses to this survey will provide important information about:

• Names and contact information for your program’s DSC(s);

• Details about your program; and

• Your perspective on disability services and inclusion in your program.

How long will it take? It will take about 25 minutes to complete the online survey. The survey allows you to stop and save your responses at any time and return to them later for completion.

Phase 2 – Survey of EHS/HS DSCs

How do I participate? As part of this study, we will ask all DSCs within EHS and HS programs to complete a 45-minute online survey. If you are unable to complete the survey online, you can request to complete it by phone. You are able to confer with other staff to improve the accuracy of your answers, if needed.

Your participation will help the study capture current practices, strengths, and challenges related to disability services in EHS and HS programs.

Your responses to this survey will provide important information about:

• The characteristics and responsibilities of DSCs;

• The processes and approaches to partnering with agencies and community partners to offer services to children with disabilities and their families;

• Collaboration with families of children with disabilities; and

• Challenges to inclusion and providing disability services, support, and education to children, families, and staff.

How long will it take? It will take about 45 minutes to complete the online survey. The survey allows you to stop and save your responses at any time and return to them later for completion.

Phase 3 – DSC Interviews

How long will it take? The interview will take about 45 minutes.

How do I participate? If you are willing to participate, please let us know, and we will schedule a time for the interview over the next several weeks. Your participation in this interview will provide important details about key aspects of the DSC role and processes. Your responses will help HS improve understanding and supports for disability services.