NeRAED Provider & Dropout Surveys

Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act – Submission to OMB

Appendix 4: Dropout Survey

Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination (NeRAED) Project

“According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are 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-XXXX.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 20 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information.  This collection of information expires XX/XX/XXXX.” 

Hello, Mr./Ms. ______. My name is _______________ and I am calling from McFarland and Associates, in the Washington D.C. area. We have been selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the impacts of the Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot, a special program of the CACFP. As a former provider with the CACFP, I would like to ask you a few questions about your experiences with CACFP and home day care. The questions should about 20 minutes. Is this a good time for you?

If Yes - Thank you and begin.

If No – What would be a good time to call you back?

This is a research study and not an audit or review of your day care home, your CACFP sponsor or the CACFP itself. The only information that will be reported is grouped information combined from many different providers. All information that we collect will be confidential, and no individual names or other identifying information will be reported. Results from individual surveys will not be reported to your sponsor, the State of Nebraska, the Federal government, or anybody else.

Your answers to the questions are very important to the success of the pilot and the study and will allow us to learn more about the effectiveness of the pilot.

Before we begin, do you have any questions?

For those who have completed the provider survey, ask Questions 1, 2, and 3 only, then skip to “Ending” following Question 16.

1. a. Why are you leaving the CACFP? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b. Are there any other reasons?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. Are you continuing to provide day care in your home?

___ Yes (If yes, go to Question 3.)

___ No

A. If no, why not? (Read and circle all that apply.)

1. Plan to retire.

2. Going into other type of work.

3. Participant children aging out.

4. I no longer want to do the administrative work necessary.

5. I cannot increase my rates without losing my parents.

6. I would be losing money.

7. Other (Please specify.)________________________________________

3. Are there any circumstances under which you would consider coming back to the CACFP?

If yes:

What are those circumstances?

_______________________________________________________________________

If no, skip to “Ending” following Question 16 for those who have already completed a provider questionnaire.

4. In what month and year did you first start providing day care services in your home? _______

Prompt: If they cannot remember the exact date: In what year did you start? ____________

5. After you started as a home day care provider, was there ever a time that you left this line of work to do something other than day care?

If no, I have been providing day care regularly since I started, go to Question 6.

If yes:

Number of months or years you did something other than day care: ___________

6. Why did you become a day care provider? ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. Are you a licensed or license-exempt provider? ___Licensed ___Exempt

8. With the type of license or exemption that you have, what is the maximum number of children you are allowed to care for at the same time? ___

9. What kind of education, training, or certification relating to early childhood care have you had? (Check all that apply.)

___ a. Child care certificate

___ b. Sponsor training

___ c. Nutrition classes

___ d. College courses

___ e. Associate or bachelor’s degree

___ f. Post-graduate degree

___ g. Other ________________________________________________________________

10. When did you start participating in the CACFP and working with your sponsor?

________ (Month, year)

11. After you initially started participating in the CACFP, was there ever a time that you did NOT participate in the CACFP even though you were still providing day care?

If no, I have participated in the CACFP since I started with it, go to Question 12.

If yes:

a. How long was it that you did NOT participate in the CACFP? Indicate number of months or years. _______

b. What were the reasons that you stopped participating in the CACFP for a period of time? __________________________________________________________________

Prompt if needed:

___a. Was there too much paperwork?

___b. Were there any difficulties getting along with your sponsor?

___c. Did you want more flexibility in the foods and snacks you were serving to the children?

___d. Were there too many errors in your monthly reimbursement amount?

___e. Were there any other reasons? _______________________________________

12. What did you see as the main advantages of participating in the CACFP? I will read you a list of possible things that you may feel were advantages of being in the program. As I read them, please think about which were the most important advantages for you. I will then read the list again and ask you to tell me which three were the most important for you.

Rank respondents’ answers with 1, 2, and 3.

___a. The positive relations with my sponsor agency

___b. The positive relations with my consultant

___c. Useful feedback/evaluations

___d. The ability to provide more food to my kids at meals and snacks

___e. The ability to provide better food to my kids at meals and snacks

___f. Informative newsletters and information

___g. Sponsor and provider groups

___h. Financial reimbursement

___i. Help finding parents who need day care for their children

___j. Training

___k. Any other advantages? ______________________________________

13. What did you think were the main disadvantages of participating in the CACFP? Prompt in the same way as above and indicate the three most important disadvantages with a 1, 2, and 3, as above.

___a. Challenging relations with the sponsor agency

___b. Challenging relations with the consultant

___c. A lack of communication with the agency or consultant

___d. Difficulty making contact with the agency or consultant

___e. Not enough feedback or constructive help

___f. Too much feedback or criticism

___g. Too much paperwork

___h. Too many regulations and requirements

___i. Anything else?_______________________________________________________

14. Did your day care change at all since October 2005?

a. If no, my day care did not change since October 2005, go to Question 15.

b. If yes, there were changes, ask for responses in each of the following categories, A through E:

A. Food:

Did the amounts or types of food you served change? How? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

B. Activities:

Did you add or stop any activities since October 2005?

Started doing: ____________________________________________________________

Stopped doing: __________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

C. Hours of Operation or Costs:

Did you change your hours of operation? If yes:

From: ____________

To: ______________

Did you change the number of staff? If yes:

_____ Added staff

_____ Decreased staff

D. Monitoring and Reporting Activities

Since October 2005, did you spend about the same amount of time running your day care and doing paperwork? If yes, go to Question E.

If no:

Did you spend

___ less time running your day care and doing paperwork or

___ more time running your day care and doing paperwork?

E. Were there any other changes in your day care since October 2005?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

15. In your opinion, what can the State do to increase the number of family day care homes participating in the CACFP in your area? Could they:

___a. Send out information to all potentially eligible households?

___b. Advertise in local media?

___c. Recruit via sponsors?

___d. Recruit via schools/churches/community groups?

___e. Do nothing, because there are enough family day care homes in your area already?

___f. Do something else?_________________________________________

16. In your opinion, what can sponsors do to increase the number of family day care homes participating in the CACFP in your area? Could they:

___a. Send out information to all potentially eligible households?

___b. Advertise in local media?

___c. Recruit via providers?

___d. Recruit via schools/churches/community groups?

___e. Increase the number of children that day care providers are allowed to care for?

___f. Do something else?_____________________________________________

Ending: Again, Mr./Ms. ___________, I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today about the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program. Your responses have been a great help in finding out information about providers’ experiences with this program. Have a good day. Goodbye.

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Dropout Survey