Contact Materials Grantee Survey

Appendix B.1

Grantee Contact Materials

B.1 Grantee Contact Materials

1. Advance Email from DOL

2. Email Invitation

3. Email Reminder 1

4. Email Reminder 2

5. Email Reminder 3

6. Reminder Call Script

7. Thank you Email

8. Partner Contact Information Template Email Request

9. Partner Survey Reminder Call Script

Advance Email from DOL

[DOL LETTERHEAD]

<DATE>

<NAME>

<STREET ADDRESS>

<CITY>, <STATE> <ZIP CODE>

Dear <FIRSTNAME> <LAST NAME>,

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is sponsoring an evaluation of the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI)] grant program. This evaluation is being jointly conducted by researchers from two independent research organizations: Westat and MDRC. You may recall speaking with a member of the research team in December 2016. As a reminder, the research team is studying all [TechHire/SWFI] grantees across the country and examining the strategies they use to help youth and young adults gain employment and advancement in H-1B industries and occupations.

All grantees are being asked to complete an online survey and telephone interview. The survey will ask questions about your grant program’s goals, partnerships, design, and outcomes. In addition, partner organizations on your grant will also be asked to complete an online survey and telephone interviews. Please encourage these organizations to participate in the online survey and telephone interviews.

As a recipient of a DOL grant, you agreed to participate in an evaluation of the [TechHire/SWFI] program. Since this survey is a very important part of the study, participation of all grantees is required. The information you provide will help inform the success of future job training programs and to help DOL prioritize future funding decisions.

In the next week or two, you will receive an email from the [TechHire/SWFI] research team that will provide a link to the web survey and other information about the study. The email will be from Westat with the subject line “Please Complete the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey”. Later, the research team will call your organization to schedule a telephone interview.

If you have any questions, the research team will be glad to answer them. Please call their survey support center at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email questions to [STUDY EMAIL]. The Westat survey support center will be staffed Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (EST). Thank you in advance for your assistance in completing this survey and providing important information for this research.

Sincerely,

Department of Labor representative signature

Email Invitation

Subject: Please Complete the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

Westat and MDRC have been contracted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, to conduct an evaluation of the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] grant program. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify best practices to help youth and young adults gain employment in and advance in H-1B industries and occupations. Westat and MDRC are independent research organizations.

You recently received an email from DOL asking you to participate in an online survey. The survey will take about 1 hour to complete. The survey will ask questions about your grant program’s goals, partnerships, design, and outcomes. We ask that you complete the survey in the next two weeks.

The survey of grantees is very important and will help us understand how grantees are implementing their programs across the country. It is important that your organization be represented in the survey so we can obtain complete and accurate information about grantees. The success of the study depends on your participation and will help inform the success of future job training programs and to help DOL prioritize future funding decisions.

As a requirement of your grant, you agreed to participate in the evaluation of the TechHire/SWFI program, and your response is extremely important to the success of the study. Your answers will be kept private and won’t be seen by anyone other than the research team. Your answers will be combined with answers from other grantees. The results will be aggregated and reported across grantees. Neither you nor your organization will be identified by anyone outside the study team.

To complete the survey online now, go to the following secure website:

<SURVEY LINK>

If you are having difficulty reaching the website, you can go to the survey website and manually enter your personal access code:

[STUDY SURVEY WEBSITE]

Access Code: <RESPONDENT ACCESS CODE>

If you have any questions about the study, please call our survey support center at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL]. The Westat survey support center will be staffed Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (EST). Thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Email Reminder 1

Subject: Reminder: Please Complete the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

Recently, we sent you an email asking you to participate in an online survey of [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] grantees. Information from that survey will help us identify best practices that help youth and young adults gain employment in and advance in H-1B industries and occupations. We are conducting this study on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Our records show that you have not yet completed the survey.

To complete the survey online now, go to the following secure website:

<SURVEY LINK>

If you are having difficulty reaching the website, you can go to the survey website and manually enter your personal access code:

[STUDY SURVEY WEBSITE]

Access Code: <RESPONDENT ACCESS CODE>

If you have any questions about the study, please call our survey support center at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL]. The Westat survey support center will be staffed Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (EST). Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Email Reminder 2

Subject: Second reminder: Please Complete the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

This is a reminder to log in and complete the [TechHire/SWFI] Grantee Survey. The web survey will take about 1 hour to complete. The survey will ask questions about your grant program’s goals, partnerships, design, and outcomes. Participation is required as a part of your grant, however, and your input is critical to identify best practices to help youth and young adults gain employment in and advance in H-1B industries and occupations.

To complete the survey online now, go to the following secure website:

<SURVEY LINK>

If you are having difficulty reaching the website, you can go to the survey website and manually enter your personal access code:

[STUDY SURVEY WEBSITE]

Access Code: <RESPONDENT ACCESS CODE>

If you have any questions about the study, please call us at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL]. The Westat survey support center will be staffed Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (EST). Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Email Reminder 3

Subject: Last chance to complete the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

This is the final week to complete the [TechHire/SWFI] Grantee Survey. Our records indicate that you have not yet completed the survey.

The participation of all grantees is mandatory, and critical to the success of this study. The information you provide will help inform the success of future job training programs and to help DOL prioritize future funding decisions.

To complete the survey online now, go to the following secure website:

<SURVEY LINK>

If you are having difficulty reaching the website, you can go to the survey website and manually enter your personal access code:

[STUDY SURVEY WEBSITE]

Access Code: <RESPONDENT ACCESS CODE>

If you have any questions about the study, please call us at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL]. Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Reminder Call Script

Hello my name is <INSERT NAME> and I am calling from Westat to remind you to complete the web-based survey of [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] grantees. This survey is part of a study funded by the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. The survey will ask questions about your grant program’s goals, partnerships, design, and outcomes.

The link to complete the survey, as well as your unique passcode, can be found in the body of the email sent on [date of most recent email]. If it would be more convenient, we would be happy to resend the email.

The survey will take approximately 1 hour to complete. If you are unsure of how to answer a question, please consult with other members of your team, and give the best answer you can rather than leaving it blank. Your responses are essential to the success of this study.

Participation in this survey is mandatory. Your responses will be kept private and used only for research purposes. They will be combined with the responses of other grantees and no individual names will be reported.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB number for this collection is 0970-XXXX and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

If you have any questions about the study, please call us at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL].

[IF GRANTEE EXPRESSES CONCERNS ABOUT COMPLETING THE SURVEY: If you would prefer, we can complete the survey with you by telephone, either now or at a time more convenient for you.]

Thank you for your time and participation.

Thank You Email

Subject: Thank You for Completing the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Grantee Survey

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

On behalf of the study team and the U.S. Department of Labor, I want to thank you for participating in the survey. Your responses will help us identify best practices to help youth and young adults gain employment in and advance in H-1B industries and occupations. A member of the study team will contact you later to schedule a telephone interview.

If you have any questions about the study, please call us at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL]. The Westat survey support center will be staffed Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (EST). Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Partner Contact Information Template Email Request

Subject: Partner Contact Information for the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] Evaluation

Dear <FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME>,

Westat and MDRC are conducting the evaluation of the [TechHire/SWFI] grant program. We understand the critical role your partners play in the administration of your program. We would like them to complete a survey on their perspective of your partnership, their role in the project, the sustainability of partnerships, and the employability and performance of program participants.

In order for us to contact your partners to complete this survey on behalf of the Department of Labor, Westat and MDRC have constructed an Excel file (attached to this email). The file contains the partners you mentioned in your grant application. We would like you to review the list and provide the names of any partners that are not included. For each partner, we would like you to list the name of a contact to complete the survey and that contact’s email address and phone number. We would like you to list the contact information for the person with the most knowledge of your partnership. We would also like you to indicate how involved the partner is in the grant. This email will be kept private.

Once you complete this form, we would like you to upload this to Westat’s secure FTP website. We will be sending you a follow-up email with the website address for the FTP.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this data request. We can be reached toll-free at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or by email at [STUDY EMAIL].

Sincerely,

Joseph Gasper, Ph.D.

Westat Project Director

Partner Survey Reminder Request Call Script

Hello, my name is <INSERT NAME> and I am calling from Westat to request your help contacting partners to encourage high levels of participation of your partners in completing the [TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative] partner survey. This survey is part of the study Department of Labor funded study in which you previously agreed to participate.

This web-survey will ask your partners important questions about their role in the program, and is a valuable part of the overall study. Their participation is essential in order to understand which strategies improve employment in and advancement in H-1B industries and occupations. While some of your partners have responded to the initial survey, the following partners have not:

[LIST OF NON-RESPONDING PARTNERS]

These partners have already received multiple emails prompting them to fill out the survey online. It would really help if they received a short email or call from you to remind them of the importance of this survey. The survey will take them approximately 30 minutes to complete. We appreciate your help and support in ensuring that all selected partners complete the survey. The information is critical to developing a better understanding of TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative models. It provides essential information about your partners, their partnership with your organization, and the employability and performance of program participants. Any information acquired during this survey will be kept private.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at [STUDY PHONE NUMBER] or email us at [STUDY EMAIL].

Thank you for your time and participation.