Follow-up Non-response Letter

Attachment C – Follow-up Non-response Letter

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

3311 Toledo Road

Hyattsville, Maryland 20782

Dear _______________,

We are reaching out to you to ask you to participate in a very important research study regarding the provision of victim services within your hospital. We are hoping that we can schedule a 15 minute telephone interview with you.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) are jointly working on developing a list of hospital-based programs or services for victims of crime or abuse containing basic information on how our Nation’s hospitals are structured to serve victims of crime or abuse. The information requested from your hospital includes the contact information for programs and services, partnerships and staff within or supported by the hospital designated to providing services to victims of crime or abuse.

Participation in this research study is completely voluntary. Refusal to participate will involve no loss of benefits and participation can be discontinued at any time. Data collection for this project is authorized by Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act for NCHS and 34 U.S.C. § 10132 for BJS. The information you provide will be used for research purposes only and will be held in strict confidence in accordance with Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S. Code 242m(d)] for NCHS and 34 U.S.C. § 10231 for BJS. Please see reverse for more information. Please be assured that no data in this study will be collected directly from victims of crimes and/or patients. NCHS will be sharing your information collected with BJS who may recontact you for a future survey about hospitals offering victim services.

If you would like to participate in this research study or have any questions about it, please call XXX from XXX at (XXX) XXX-XXXX. We will be happy to schedule a telephone interview at the most convenient time for you. Please see reverse for questions we will be asking during the interview.

Thank you for your time and consideration in participating in this important data collection effort!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Madans, Ph.D.

Acting Director, National Center for Health Statistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

_________________________________________________________________________________

FAQ

1. HOW WILL THE DATA BE PROTECTED?

The information you provide will be used for research purposes only and will be held in strict confidence in accordance with Federal laws--Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S. Code 242m(d)] for NCHS and 34 U.S.C. § 10231 for BJS. Additionally, every NCHS employee, contractor, and research partner (BJS) who come into contact with the information you share during your interview must sign a sworn affidavit to keep your information private.

2. HOW WILL THE DATA BE STORED TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIALITY?

The confidentiality of responses is assured under Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act. NCHS has many procedures in place to prevent the disclosure of your data to others. Some of these procedures include data encryption, secure data networks, and many other security mechanisms following strict federal mandates. Computers are password protected and data are encrypted for added security. To learn more about NCHS confidentiality, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/policy/confidentiality.htm

3. HOW WILL THE DATA BE USED?

The data will be used to build a list of all the hospital-based programs and services specifically for victims of crime or abuse. The list would serve as the basis for developing a sampling frame of hospitals offering these programs and services and can be used by BJS to conduct future surveys about hospitals offering victim services and programs. Therefore, you may be recontacted, in the future. Data from this project will also be used to complement the NHCS sampling frame with information on programs and services for victims of crime within hospitals.

NSHVS Questions

• Respondent’s Position Title, Name and Contact info

* Eligibility Questions:

• Number of staffed inpatient beds

• Type of hospital (specialty)

• Emergency department

• Operate 24 hours a day

Question 1. Does your hospital have any programs or services that are available to patients or their family specifically because they are victims of crime or abuse? If yes, then provide contact information for each of the services or programs along with crime types for which services are provided.

Question 2. Does your hospital work with other agencies through partnerships, taskforces, or teams to provide services to victims of crime or abuse? If yes, then provide contact information for each of the partnerships, taskforces or teams along with crime types for which these are provided.

Question 3. In the next year, is your hospital planning to create any new programs or entities, hire new staff, or participate in any new inter-agency partnerships, taskforces, or teams designated to serve victims of crime or abuse?

Question 4. When providing victim services, does your hospital use any type of electronic system that maintains and/or track individual victim cases?