Notification Letter (2)

APPENDIX C

draft advance e-mail From the contractor

Westat Letterhead

<State VR Agency Director>

On behalf of the US Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), Westat and InfoUse are conducting a study of the delivery of services through Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Grants Program. The purpose of this study is to (1) determine the methods and practices used by State VR agencies in delivering services to individuals with disabilities, including optimal patterns of delivery in serving specific populations; (2) determine how, and to what extent, State VR agencies work with partner agencies or programs to deliver services; and (3) examine program outcomes and their associated costs, including identifying cost effective practices for serving specific target populations.

RSA, with the assistance of Westat and InfoUse, has developed a web-based survey to address these areas. We will aggregate the results of the survey for a report that will provide RSA with a better understanding of the delivery of VR services.

Following OMB approval, the web-based survey will begin around October 2012. We are asking you at this time to identify someone from your agency to serve as the main point of contact for us regarding the survey. This person might be the respondent or coordinate with other staff to respond to the survey. Please provide the name and e-mail address of the point of contact so that we can provide him/her with information in advance of the survey about what data to assemble and how to access the survey website. We expect the survey to take approximately 60 minutes to complete (inclusive of time to gather information). Westat will be available to help with any questions you have regarding the content or completion of the survey.

Thank you for your time and your prompt attention to this request. Please send the point of contact information to me at the e-mail address given below with the following subject line heading, “VR agency contact.”

Robert Harmon

Senior Research Associate

Room RW 2573

1650 Research Blvd.

Rockville, MD 20850

[email protected]

Cc: Julya Doyle, Rehabilitation Services Administration