NeRAED Matrix: Research Questions

Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot

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Appendix 2: NeRAED Matrix: Research Questions

Research Objective 1

Describe the process by which the State of Nebraska and sponsoring organizations implemented the Rural Area Eligibility Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Determination for Family Day Care Homes (FDCHs) Pilot, including (a) identification of schools and geographic areas eligible under the 40-percent threshold but not the 50-percent threshold; (b) communication of new threshold limits to sponsors and FDCHs in rural areas; (c) assignment of tier I status¹ to FDCHs; and (d) monitoring of program operations and tier I and tier II reimbursements.

Research Objective 1	Sub-set A	Sub-set B	Sub-set C	Sub-set D
Can you walk us through the process of identifying the additional day care homes as a 40% site and then setting up the program?	X
Do you think you will add any more 40% providers next before the end of the pilot year? How many? How will you determine them?	X		X
Are you aware of the new eligibility criteria for the CACFP Pilot that were implemented in October 2005 and will end on October 1, 2007? If yes, how did you learn about the new eligibility criteria for the CACFP Pilot?		X
Did you receive training about the CACFP Pilot?		X
What information did you receive?		X
How was this information provided?		X
Do you know if you are in an area that qualifies for larger meal payments to providers as a result of the pilot?		X
Have you had any contact with the State of Nebraska’s CACFP office or staff in the past 2 years?				X
Describe any formal training you routinely receive from the State? For the NeRAED Pilot?		X
How did you learn about the Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot? Who told you? Was it a formal or informal communication? Did you ever receive a formal communication from the NDE bout the pilot? If so, when was the first formal communication?		X
What information was conveyed to you about the NeRAED Pilot? How was the information conveyed?		X
Did you take any other special actions as a result of NeRAED?		X		X
Did you communicate the change in reimbursement levels to tier II providers in the newly formed 40% areas?		X
How did you communicate the change in reimbursement levels to your providers?		X
Did you have to do any reprogramming of their information systems in order to compute the correct reimbursement rates?				X
Did you update their provider files with an indicator of the new criterion?				X
Did you do any outreach to try to encourage new FDCHs in the CACFP?				X
In general, what services are provided to the Family Day Care Homes?				X
Can you tell me how you monitor the NeRAED provider sites? Do your monitoring activities differ in the 40% and 50% threshold sites? How do they differ? Why?				X
Do the pilot sites have routine reporting requirements? If so, can you describe the requirements? What type of information is collected?				X
Describe the process by which you implemented the NeRAED Pilot? What significant events occurred? Focus on the month it went into effect at the sponsor level. What was the interaction between sponsor and provider?			X	X
Administrative data from NDE	X	X	X	X

Research Objective 2

Determine the numbers, types (e.g., tier status), and sizes of FDCHs offering meals through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in rural areas of Nebraska, and compare to at least 2 years of monthly historical data. Compare FDCHs selected under the 40-percent eligibility criterion with corresponding entities under the 50-percent criterion.

Research Objective 2	Quantitative descriptions of FDCHs	Comparison data for selection of homes
I am currently caring for _____ (insert #) children	X
How many children did you take care of in October of the past 3 years?	X
Are you currently operating at your full licensing capacity (caring for the maximum number of children)?	X
Are you a licensed or license-exempt provider?	X
Please check your education, training, or certification relevant to early childhood care	X
Administrative data from NDE	X	X
Administrative data from sponsors	X	X

Research Objective 3

Determine the numbers and characteristics of children served, by age, gender, and other factors. Compare the types of children served under the 40-percent and 50-percent thresholds, and assess the types of new children attracted to the CACFP under the 40-percent criterion.

Research Objective 3	Characteristics of children in FDCHs	Comparison data for children (40% and 50%)
How many children did you take care of in October of the past 3 years?	X
How many children of each age range did you take care of during each year?	X
Do any special-needs, migrant, or bilingual children currently attend your day care home?	X	X
I am currently caring for _____ (insert #) children	X
Are you currently operating at your full licensing capacity (caring for the maximum number of children)?	X
What is the average distance the children attending your family day care home travel to get there?
How far out of their normal commute do parents travel to bring their children to your family day care home?
Administrative data from sponsors		X

Research Objective 4

Describe the geographic locations of participating FDCHs, including county, zip code location, relative distance of provider from nearest urban center, or other major activity centers such as schools, sports and recreation centers, shopping centers, etc. Compare geographic locations and concentrations of tier I family and group day care homes under the 40-percent and 50-percent thresholds.

Research Objective 4	Geographic locations	Urban concentration centers	Comparison data for geographic locations and concentrations.
Geomapping based on addresses		X	X
Administrative data sponsors	X
Administrative data from NDE	X

Research Objective 5

Describe the types of services (meals and activities) provided for children at tier I FDCHs. Compare services provided at FDCHs under the 40-percent and 50-percent thresholds.

Research Objective 5	Types of services (meals and activities)	Comparison of activities for 40% and 50%
Please check your day care activities on a typical day, by time of day as indicated in the table below.	X	X
Please check any special activities or events that you offered in the past 3 years.	X	X
Did you take any field trips in the past 3 years?	X	X
Which meals do you serve at this time of year?	X	X
What are your hours of operation? During the School Year: During the Summer:
Please tell us if your day care has changed during the past year.		X
Food: The amounts or types of food I served in the past year have changed. How?		X
Activities:		X
Hours of Operation or Costs: I changed my hours of operation in the past year or I changed the number of staff in the past year		X
Do you provide transportation services for any of your kids?

Research Objective 6

Estimate the impact of the pilot on the number, types, and sizes of FDCHs participating in the CACFP in designated rural areas of the State of Nebraska.

Research Objective 6	Characteristics of new Tier I participants	Entry/exit rates	Changes in FDCH operations	Changes in character-istics of children	Other
When did you start participating in the CACFP and working with your sponsor? (Provide month, year.)	X	X
What do you see as the main advantages of participating in the CACFP?					X
What are the main disadvantages of participating in the CACFP?					X
How many children did you take care of in October of the past 3 years?				X
Please tell us if your day care has changed during the past year. Food: The amounts or types of food I served in the past year have changed. How? Activities: Hours of Operation or Costs: I changed my hours of operation in the past year or I changed the number of staff in the past year.			X
Did changing the criterion increase the number of family day care homes? (sponsor)		X
Are you a licensed or license-exempt provider?	X
With the type of license or exemption that you have, what is the maximum number of children you can care for at the same time?	X
How did you respond to changes during the pilot? (sponsor)					X
After the pilot ends at the beginning of October 2007, reimbursements for some providers are likely to be reduced to their levels before the pilot. If your CACFP reimbursements are lowered beginning this fall, will you continue to participate in the meal program?
Will you continue to provide day care?		X
Why are you leaving the CACFP?		X
Administrative data from sponsor		X
Administrative data from NDE		X

Demographic information

	Characteristics of sponsors	Characteristics of providers
In what month and year did you first start providing day care services in your home?		X
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?		X
Why did you become a day care provider?		X
Are you a licensed or license-exempt provider?		X
Please check your education, training, or certification relevant to early childhood care		X
What type of organization are you?	X
How long have you been a CACFP sponsor?	X
Were you already a CACFP sponsor before you became a NeRAED sponsor?	X

1 Tier I and tier II are categories that define the level of reimbursement providers receive for meals. Tier I providers receive substantially higher reimbursement rates for each meal and snack.

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