Revised Attachment C_Proposed_Advance Letter Baseline_010512-sent to FNS Jan 17

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Food and

Nutrition

Service

3101 Park

Center Drive

Alexandria, VA

22302-1500

Remember: You can complete the survey now or schedule a convenient time by calling

1-877-370-6603. Don’t forget to provide your survey ID!

[DATE]

Proposed Advance Letter - Spring

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

Dear [NAME]:

Recently, you received a letter from your school district telling you about an exciting new summer food program called [SITE PROGRAM NAME]. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is paying to test this new program in nine States. Families in the program will get an EBT card. The card is worth about $60 for each school-aged child for each summer month. It can be used to get food for the children at local stores. [FOR 2011 SITES: This is the continuation of the program your school district participated in last year.]

That letter from [DISTRICT] explained that there are more eligible children in your area than can get the card. It asked if you would be willing to be in a lottery to have a chance to get it. It also asked if you would be willing to be part of a research study to see how the program is working even if you were not picked to get the benefit. The research study is authorized by Congress. Its purpose is to help the government make the child nutrition programs better for school-age children.

We are sending you this letter because you have been picked to be part of this research study. We are contacting some of the families who will get the card and some who will not get it. If you have not already, you will soon receive another letter telling you whether [FOR SITES THAT NOTIFY CONTROL: or not] you were picked to get the card.]

As part of the study, USDA is working with Abt Associates Inc. and Mathematica Policy Research to conduct a telephone survey. An interviewer will be calling you within the next few days to ask you to participate in a short telephone survey. The interview will take about 25 minutes and you will receive a $25 VISA gift card as a thank you once the interview is completed. Your participation is voluntary, but we hope you will choose to participate. All information collected during the survey will be kept private, as required by law. If you decide not to participate, it will not affect any government assistance you may be receiving. If you would like to complete the survey now, or want to schedule a convenient time for the telephone interview, please call 1-877-370-6603. You will be asked to provide your survey ID # [12345678].

We thank you in advance for your cooperation and helping make this important study a success!

Sincerely,

Hoke Wilson

Evaluation Team Lead

Summer Food for Children Demonstrations

Office of Research and Evaluation

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER