NeRAED Provider Survey - No responses

Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot

NeRAED Provider Survey

NeRAED Provider Survey - No responses

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Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act – Submission to OMB


Appendix 3: Provider 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 40 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, and thank you for your participation in this research study about the State of Nebraska’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the program in which your sponsoring organization provides reimbursements to you each month for many of the meals and snacks you provide to children in your day care setting.


McFarland and Associates has been selected to study the impacts of a special program in the CACFP called the “Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Determination Pilot”, which increases the number of rural areas in Nebraska where family day care providers are eligible for higher (tier I) reimbursement rates for meals and snacks served to participating children. An important part of the study is to better understand day care providers’ participation in the CACFP.


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 below are very important to the success of the pilot and the study, and we ask your cooperation in answering the following questions. Your contribution to this study is very important and will allow us to learn more about the effectiveness of the pilot.


Thank you, again, for your participation.


1. In what month and year did you first start providing day care services in your home? ______/______


(If you cannot remember the date, in what year did you start?) __________



2. 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?

___No. I have been providing day care regularly since I started. [Go to

Question 3]

___Yes.

Number of months I did something other than day care: ___

Number of years I did something other than day care: ___


3. Why did you become a day care provider? (Check all that apply.)

___ a. My own children were young and needed day care.

___ b. To ensure that my children received the type of day care I wanted for them.

___ c. To support my family.

___ d. To earn extra money.

___ e. To help out a friend or relative who needed day care for his or her kids.

___ f. Other (Please specify.) ________________________________________


4. What are your hours of operation? (Please use HH:MM format, like 7:30 a.m. If you have different hours throughout the week, please complete for your most common schedule.)


During the School Year: During the Summer:

Open: ___:__ a.m./p.m. Open: __:__ a.m./p.m.

Close: ___:__ a.m./p.m. Close: ___:__ a.m./p.m.

___ Open 24 hours ___Open 24 hours


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


6. 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? ___


7. Please check your education, training, or certification relevant to early childhood care: (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 (Please specify.) ____________________________________________


8. When did you start participating in the CACFP and working with your sponsor? ________ (Provide month, year.)


9. 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?

___ No. I have participated in the CACFP since I started with it. [Go to

Question 10]

___ Yes. Number of months or years I did NOT participate in the CACFP.

(Please indicate) ____ months _____ years


Why did you stop participating in the CACFP for a period of time? (Check all that apply.)

___a. Too much paperwork.

___b. Did not get along with my sponsor.

___c. Wanted more flexibility in the foods and snacks I was serving to the children.

___d. Too many errors in my monthly reimbursement amount.

___e. Other (Please specify.) ___________________________________


10. What do you see as the main advantages of participating in the CACFP? (Indicate the 3 most important advantages with a 1, 2, and 3.)


    1. Positive relations with sponsor agency

    2. Positive relations with consultant

    3. Useful feedback/evaluations

    4. Ability to provide more food to my kids at meals and snacks

    5. Ability to provide better food to my kids at meals and snacks

    6. Informative newsletters and information

    7. Sponsor and provider groups

    8. Financial reimbursement

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

    10. Training

    11. Other (Please specify.)______________________________________


11. What are the main disadvantages of participating in the CACFP? (Indicate the 3 most important disadvantages with a 1, 2, and 3.)

  1. Challenging relations with sponsor agency

  2. Challenging relations with consultant

  3. Lack of communication with agency or consultant

  4. Difficulty making contact with agency or consultant

  5. Not enough feedback/constructive help

  6. Too much feedback/criticism

  7. Too much paperwork

  8. Too many regulations and requirements

  9. Other (Please specify.)_________________________________________


12. Have you had any contact with the State of Nebraska’s CACFP office or staff in the past 2 years?

___ No [Go to Question 13]

___ Yes (Circle all that apply.)

a. Site visits

b. Training

c. Advice

d. Informational phone calls or e-mails

e. Other (Please specify.)__________________________________


13. How many children did you take care of in October of the past 3 years?



# of boys

# of girls

October 2004



October 2005



October 2006





14. How many children of each age range did you take care of during the following time frames?



During the School Year


Infants Birth through 11 months

Toddlers 1 year through 2 years

3 years through 5 years

School-age children 6 years through 12 years

Teenagers 13 years and older

October 2004






October 2005






October 2006









During the Summer


Infants Birth through 11 months

Toddlers 1 year through 2 years

3 years through 5 years

School-age children 6 years through 12 years

Teenagers 13 years and older

2004






2005






2006













15. Do any special-needs, migrant, or bilingual children currently attend your day care home?

___ No [Go to Question 16]

___ Yes


If yes, insert number in each category. (If any children can fit into more than one category, please count those children in each box.)


# Special Needs

# Migrant

# Bilingual





16. I am currently caring for _____ (insert #) children.

a. I would like to care for _____ children.


17. Are you currently operating at your full licensing capacity (caring for the maximum number of children)?

___ Yes

___ No


18. Did you have a waiting list of parents seeking day care for their infants or children at any time during the past 3 years?

___ No [Go to Question 19]

___Yes

a. At any time during the past year?

___ No [Go to Question 19]

___ Yes


If yes, do you have a waiting list now?

___ No

___Yes – How many infants are waiting? ____

How many children are waiting? ____


19. What do you think are the 3 most important reasons that families select your day care program? (Number 1, 2 and 3 for the most important reasons.)


___ a. They don’t want their children going to a large day care center.

___ b. Most of the parents are personal friends.

___ c. Most of my families live nearby.

___ d. Referrals from other families.

___ e. The safe, healthy environment I provide.

___ f. The activities I provide.

___ g. The meals I provide.

___ h. The hours I am open.

___ i. I provide transportation.

___ j. They like that I stress educational activities.

___ k. There are no other family day care providers nearby.

___ l. There are no day care centers nearby.

___ m. My costs are reasonable.

___ n. Other (Please specify.)_______________________



20. What is the average distance the children attending your family day care home travel to get there?

  1. Less than 1 mile

  2. 1 – 5 miles

  3. 5 – 10 miles

  4. More than 10 miles

  5. Don’t know


21. How far out of their normal commute do parents travel to bring their children to your family day care home?

  1. Less than 1 mile

  2. 1 – 5 miles

  3. 5 – 10 miles

  4. More than 10 miles

  5. Don’t know


22. Do you provide transportation services for any of your kids?

___ No [Go to Question 23]

___Yes, I: (Check all that apply.)

  1. Pick up in the morning.

  2. Drop off at school.

  3. Pick up at school.

  4. Drop off in the evening.

  5. Other (Please specify.)____________________________________


23. Please check your day care activities on a typical day, by time of day as indicated in the table below. (Check all that apply.)


Activity

Before Breakfast

After Breakfast

After Lunch

After Dinner

At Any Time

1 Greet and settle children in






2 Song/prayer






3 Snack






4 Nap






5 Quiet time






6 Story telling






7 Read to children






8 Watch TV






9 Games and toys






10 Free play indoors






11 Free play outdoors






12 Other outdoor play






13 Planned activity






14 Other








24. Please check any special activities or events that you offered in the past 3 years.


Calendar Year

2004

2005

2006

Birthday Parties




Christmas Celebration




Easter Celebration




Halloween Party




Hanukah Celebration




Thanksgiving Celebration




Other






25. Did you take any field trips in the past 3 years (for example: to the zoo, the library, the park)? ___No ___Yes


If yes, about how many in:

2004 ___

2005 ___

2006 ___


26. Which meals do you serve at this time of year? (Check all that apply.)

___a. Breakfast

___b. Morning Snack

___c. Lunch

___d. Afternoon Snack

___e. Dinner

___f. Other (Please specify.) ______________________________________________


27. Please indicate whether you have made any of the operating changes noted below since the beginning of the pilot in October 2005. (Complete all that apply.)


      1. No, my day care has not changed since October 2005. [Go to Question 28]

      2. Mark here ___ and go to Question 28 if you have been operating your day care for fewer than 3 months.

      3. Yes, there are changes:



A. Food:

The amounts or types of food I served changed. How? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Activities:

I have added or stopped doing the following activities.

I started doing: ___________________________________________________________

I stopped doing: __________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



C. Hours of Operation or Costs:

I changed my hours of operation.

From:

To:


I changed the number of staff.

____Yes

____ No

If yes, _____ I added staff

_____ I decreased staff


D. Monitoring and Reporting Activities

Since October 2005, I spent about the same amount of time running my day care and doing paperwork:

___Yes [Go to Question E]

___ No

If no, I spent

___ less time running my day care and doing paperwork.

___ more time running my day care and doing paperwork.

E. Please write in any other operating changes you have made since October 2005.

___________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________



28. Do you know of day care providers who could not find a CACFP sponsor to work with them?

___ No [Go to Question 29]

___ Yes

If yes, in what town or county were they located __________________________ and when did this occur?_____________________


If you know, please indicate why they could not find a sponsor. ____________________



29. 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?

___ No [Go to Question 32]

___ If “yes, I am aware that the pilot increases the number of rural areas where providers can qualify for higher (tier I) reimbursements for meals and snacks,” how did you learn about these new eligibility criteria for the CACFP pilot? (Please check all that apply)

  1. From my sponsor

  2. From the State

  3. I wasn’t aware of these new eligibility criteria. I was thinking of something else.

  4. Other (Please specify.) ___________________________________________




30. What information did you receive? (Check all that apply.)

___a. The meal reimbursement levels would change.

___b. There was a change in the status of the schools.

___c. There was new information about menu requirements.

___d. There were other changes in regulations.

___e. There were other changes. (Please specify.) _______________________________


31. How was this information provided? (Check all that apply.)

___a. Call from sponsor informing me about the pilot

___b. Letter or e-mail from sponsor

___c. Letter from State Department of Education

___d. Sponsor newsletter

___e. Local newspaper article

___f. Provider group

___g. Sponsor group

___h. Other (Please specify.) _______________________________________


32. Do you know if you are in an area that qualifies for the higher or tier I rates?

  1. No, I don’t know.

  2. Yes, I know that I am.

  3. Yes, I know that I am not.


33. Did you receive training about the CACFP pilot?

___ No [Go to Question 34]

___ Yes

If yes, what kind of training did you receive? ____________________________


________________________________________________________________________



34. Do you have suggestions for better informing providers about the pilot?

___ No [Go to Question 35]

___ Yes (Check all that apply.)

  1. Send out mailings to inform all providers.

  2. Telephone all providers.

  3. Visit all providers.

  4. Other (Please specify.) ____________________________________


35. In your opinion, what can the State do to increase the number of family day care homes participating in the CACFP in your area? (Circle all that apply.)

  1. Send out information to all potentially eligible households.

  2. Advertise in local media.

  3. Recruit via sponsors.

  4. Recruit via schools/churches/community groups.

  5. Nothing. There are enough family day care homes in my area already.

  6. Other (Please specify.)___________________________________________




36. In your opinion, what can sponsors do to increase the number of family day care homes participating in the CACFP in your area? (Circle all that apply.)

  1. Send out information to all potentially eligible households.

  2. Advertise in local media.

  3. Recruit via providers.

  4. Recruit via schools/churches/community groups.

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

  6. Other _______________________________________________________



37. 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, do you plan to continue offering day care services to children?

  1. Yes [Go to Question 38]

  2. Don’t know [Go to Question 38]

  3. No

If no, why not? (Circle all that apply then skip to Ending.)

  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.)________________________________________



38. If you do continue to provide day care, will you continue to participate in the CACFP as well?

  1. Yes

  2. Don’t know

  3. No

If no or don’t know, why? (Circle all that apply.)

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

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

  3. I would be losing money.

  4. Other (Please specify.)________________________________________




Ending: Thank you, again, for your time and consideration.


42

Provider Survey

File Typeapplication/msword
File TitleAppendix 3: Provider Survey
Authornetteluser
Last Modified ByAdministrator
File Modified2007-05-10
File Created2007-05-10

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