Appendix A - Outreach email template

Appendix A

Outreach Email Template

CW-SEED Outreach Email Template

To: Child welfare agency leadership or data leaders

Subject: Informational call about the Child Welfare Study to Enhance Equity with Data (CW-SEED) case studies

Dear [Site liaison First Name Last Name],

We are reaching out to you as a part of the Child Welfare Study to Enhance Equity with Data (CW-SEED) project. The CW-SEED project aims to understand how and to what extent data are used to explore equity in service delivery and child and family outcomes, to identify barriers or problematic data practices, and to explore efforts by child welfare agencies and their partners to use data to reduce barriers across the continuum of child welfare services. The project will examine practices across the data life cycle related to data planning, collection, access, and analysis; use of statistical tools and algorithms; and data reporting and dissemination.

Mathematica and its partners—the Center for the Study of Social Policy and the University of North Carolina School of Social Work—are conducting this project under contract with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

We are contacting you because we have learned that [name of state or local agency/jurisdiction] is [planning or implementing] data practices that can advance equity in child welfare. By data practice, we are referring to practices such engaging communities with firsthand experience in the child welfare system in the planning, collection, and interpretation of data; establishing administrative data linkages or data sharing across service systems; identifying or measuring disparities in delivery and outcomes; using valid, reliable, and culturally appropriate measures, for example. Specifically, [add a sentence with specific detail about data practice]. We would like to have a call to gather preliminary information about your data practice and how it is being used to understand and advance equity. This information will help the CW-SEED project team consider what data practices could potentially be featured in a future case study.

As a next step, I would like to schedule a call with you and other relevant members of your staff to share more information about the CW-SEED project, answer your questions, and learn more about your data practices. I have listed some times when I am available below. If none of these times works, please suggest alternatives or direct me to someone on your team who can help with scheduling. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at 312-585-3340 or jspielfogel@mathematica-mpr.com or the study’s project director Elizabeth Weigensberg at EWeigensberg@mathematica-mpr.com.

[Proposed dates and times for scheduling telephone call]

We appreciate your consideration of this request. Please reach out to us with any questions.

Sincerely,

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 the described information collections is 0970-0356.

Jill Spielfogel