Attachment 1 - Example Letter of Engagement

Washington, D.C. 20201 | www.acf.hhs.gov

*Date*

*Recipient*

*Address*

Dear *Recipient*:

My office would like to conduct a case study on how *Case Study Site* shares human services data across programs in ways intended to improve outcomes for children and families, and would very much appreciate your participation.

I am the Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). We recently contracted with Westat to develop several tools that will inform ACF, states, and localities about sharing human services data about children and their families in ways that appropriately protect the privacy and confidentiality of that information. This work includes case studies on several organizations that have already developed a data sharing ecosystem. We are particularly interested in the privacy and confidentiality challenges that arose when developing the interconnections and how each organization worked to resolve them (e.g., technological, legal, societal).

OPRE and Westat think *Case Study Site* would be a useful case study of an organization that merges data from multiple benefit programs for evaluation, policymaking, and/or research purposes. We would very much like to document and share that story with others, but of course, your participation is completely voluntary. If you agree to participate, Westat will ask to schedule interviews with key informants to collect information for the case study. We plan to publish the completed case study on our website and publicize it to states and localities who are interested in establishing their own data sharing projects.

If you have any questions about this project, you are welcome to contact my office (Aaron Goldstein at Aaron.Goldstein@acf.hhs.gov) or Westat (Mary Gabay at MaryGabay@westat.com or 301-294-2811).

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to your response. Sincerely,

Naomi Goldstein, Ph.D.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation