Advance Package Letter

Attachment B.2 NSLTCP Frame Advance Package NCHS Letter

[NCHS letterhead] (NCHS Letter-Conventional RCCs)

Date

Name of State Representative

Name of Agency

Agency Address

Agency City, State, Zip

Dear <Name of State Representative>,

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is building a list of all state-regulated assisted living and similar residential care communities in the United States. NCHS will select a representative sample from this list to participate in the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers (NSLTCP).

We are asking for your help as we construct this list. A representative of RTI International will contact you soon to arrange an appointment for a short telephone call. During this call, we will verify your state’s current regulatory categories for residential care facilities and request an electronic listing (preferably in Excel format) of facilities in these regulatory categories, if one is not available on your state’s website. We expect the process to take on average 1.5 hours. Your participation is voluntary, but will assist greatly in helping further our nation’s understanding of assisted living and similar types of residential care communities.

For NSLTCP, the definition of a residential care community is one that is regulated by the state to provide room and board, regardless of payer source, with at least two meals a day, provide around-the-clock on-site supervision, and help with activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, eating, or dressing) or health related services, such as medication supervision; serves primarily an adult population; and has at least four licensed, certified, or regulated beds. Facilities licensed to exclusively serve an intellectually or developmentally disabled (IDD) population are newly included as of 2017. Facilities licensed to serve the mentally ill populations exclusively are excluded. Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities are excluded, unless they have a unit or wing meeting the above definition and residents can be separately enumerated.

Data collection is authorized under Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k). NCHS is required to keep your survey data confidential in accordance with Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)) and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, Title 5 of PL 107-347). Data collected will be used for statistical purposes only. In addition, NCHS complies with the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 & 151 note). See reverse for more information. Enclosed is an NCHS confidentiality brochure. If you have any further questions about confidentiality, call NCHS’ Confidentiality Officer at (888) 642-1459.

Thank you in advance for your help with this important endeavor.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Rothwell

Director, National Center for Health Statistics

If you would like to learn more about this study, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsltcp.htm.

FAQs

WHO WILL SEE MY INFORMATION?

We take your privacy very seriously. The information you give us is used for statistical research only. This means that your information will be combined with other people’s information in a way that protects everyone’s identity. As required by federal law, only those NCHS employees, our specially designated agents (such as RTI, International), and our full research partners who must use your personal information for a specific reason can see your list. Anyone else is allowed to use your data only after all information that could identify you has been removed.

Strict laws prevent us from releasing information that could identify your information to anyone else without your consent. A number of federal laws require that all information we collect be held in strict confidence: Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)), the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, Title 5 of Public Law 107-347), and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a). Every NCHS employee, contractor, research partner, and agent has taken an oath to keep your information private. Anyone who willfully discloses ANY identifiable information could get a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. In addition, NCHS complies with the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 & 151 note). This law requires the federal government to protect federal computer networks by using computer security programs to identify cybersecurity risks like hacking, internet attacks, and other security weaknesses. If information sent through government networks triggers a cyber threat indicator, the information may be intercepted and reviewed for cyber threats by computer network experts working for, or on behalf, of the government.

WHAT DOES MY INFORMATION HAVE TO DO WITH CYBERSECURITY?

The Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 allows software programs to scan information that is sent, stored on, or processed by government networks in order to protect the networks from hacking, denial of service attacks, and other security threats. If any information is suspicious, it may be reviewed for specific threats by computer network experts working for the government (or contractors or agents who have governmental authority to do so). Only information directly related to government network security is monitored. The Act further specifies that such information may only be used for the purpose of protecting information and information systems from cybersecurity risks.

[NCHS letterhead] (NCHS Letter-IDD Exclusive RCCs)

Date

Name of State Representative

Name of Agency

Agency Address

Agency City, State, Zip

Dear <Name of State Representative>,

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is building a list of all state-regulated residential care communities (e.g., group or community homes) that exclusively serve adults with intellectual or development disabilities (IDD) in the United States. NCHS will use this list to understand the prevalence and distribution of these communities, to inform possible inclusion in future waves of its National Study of Long-Term Care Providers (NSLTCP). NCHS currently includes other types of residential care communities in NSLTCP, including assisted living, but does not include providers that exclusively serve the IDD population.

We are asking for your help as we construct this list. A representative of RTI International will contact you soon to arrange an appointment for a short telephone call. During this call, we will verify your state’s current regulatory categories for residential care facilities and request an electronic listing (preferably in Excel format) of facilities in these regulatory categories, if one is not available on your state’s website. We expect the process to take on average 1.5 hours. Your participation is voluntary, but will assist greatly in helping further our nation’s understanding of assisted living and similar types of residential care communities.

For NSLTCP, the definition of a residential care community is one that is regulated by the state to provide room and board, regardless of payer source, with at least two meals a day, provide around-the-clock on-site supervision, and help with activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, eating, or dressing) or health related services, such as medication supervision; serves primarily an adult population; and has at least four licensed, certified, or regulated beds. Facilities licensed to exclusively serve an intellectually or developmentally disabled (IDD) population are newly included as of 2017. Facilities licensed to serve the mentally ill populations exclusively are excluded. Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities are excluded, unless they have a unit or wing meeting the above definition and residents can be separately enumerated.

Data collection is authorized under Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k). NCHS is required to keep your survey data confidential in accordance with Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)) and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, Title 5 of PL 107-347). Data collected will be used for statistical purposes only. In addition, NCHS complies with the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 & 151 note). See reverse for more information. Enclosed is an NCHS confidentiality brochure. If you have any further questions about confidentiality, call NCHS’ Confidentiality Officer at (888) 642-1459.

Thank you in advance for your help with this important endeavor.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Rothwell

Director, National Center for Health Statistics

If you would like to learn more about this study, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsltcp.htm.

FAQs

WHO WILL SEE MY INFORMATION?

We take your privacy very seriously. The information you give us is used for statistical research only. This means that your information will be combined with other people’s information in a way that protects everyone’s identity. As required by federal law, only those NCHS employees, our specially designated agents (such as RTI, International), and our full research partners who must use your personal information for a specific reason can see your list. Anyone else is allowed to use your data only after all information that could identify you has been removed.

Strict laws prevent us from releasing information that could identify your information to anyone else without your consent. A number of federal laws require that all information we collect be held in strict confidence: Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)), the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, Title 5 of Public Law 107-347), and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a). Every NCHS employee, contractor, research partner, and agent has taken an oath to keep your information private. Anyone who willfully discloses ANY identifiable information could get a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. In addition, NCHS complies with the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 & 151 note). This law requires the federal government to protect federal computer networks by using computer security programs to identify cybersecurity risks like hacking, internet attacks, and other security weaknesses. If information sent through government networks triggers a cyber threat indicator, the information may be intercepted and reviewed for cyber threats by computer network experts working for, or on behalf, of the government.

WHAT DOES MY INFORMATION HAVE TO DO WITH CYBERSECURITY?

The purpose of the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 & 151 note) is NOT to read your information. The Act allows software programs to scan information that is sent, stored on, or processed by government networks in order to protect the networks from hacking, denial of service attacks, and other security threats. If any information is suspicious, it may be reviewed for specific threats by computer network experts working for the government (or contractors or agents who have governmental authority to do so). Only information directly related to government network security is monitored. The Act requires any personal information that identifies you or your information to be removed from suspicious files before they are shared.

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