16_2019 NSECE Household Respondent Contact Materials

16A. Household Screener Cover Letter: Initial contact 1 – First contact with sampled households. Includes the first mailing of the household self-administered mail screener. Because there is a high ineligibility rate among households, the initial contacts with this sample focus on identifying eligible households by encouraging all sampled households to respond to the initial screening questions either by mail or online. If eligible, households will be contacted to complete the main household questionnaire and/or home-based provider questionnaire.

Dear Resident,

We are writing to ask for your help with an important study about how we care for children in the United States, called the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). NORC at the University of Chicago is conducting this study on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). We are interested in learning about families and how they care for children, as well as individuals who regularly look after children under the age of 13 who are not their own – such as children of relatives or neighbors.

Please fill out the enclosed one-page questionnaire and mail it back to us in the enclosed postage paid envelope. Even if you do not have children, it is important for us to hear from you so that every type of household is represented. The questionnaire is also available online.

To access the short online questionnaire, please type the secure URL into any computer or mobile device’s web browser and enter the unique PIN and Password:

URL address: [https://XYZ/]

PIN: [WEBPIN] Password: [WEBPWD]

The results of this study will help inform how public money is spent to support the care and education of children in your area.

Your household was scientifically selected to take part in this study. It takes about six minutes to answer a few questions. You can stop the survey at any point or skip any question. Participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept private.

We have enclosed a small gift to thank you in advance for your cooperation with our study. If you have questions or need assistance, please call [PHONE] or email [EMAIL].

We need your help to make this study a success.

Sincerely,

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A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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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 information collection is 0970-0391 and the expiration date is MM/DD/YEAR. Please send comments regarding the time required for this survey or any other aspect of the described information collection to: [Name and address to be added].

16B. Household Screener Thank You/Reminder Postcard: Initial contact 2 - Sent to sampled households approximately one week after mailing of the initial household screener contact. If eligible, sampled households will be contacted to complete the main household questionnaire and/or home-based provider questionnaire.

Dear Resident,

Last week a questionnaire was mailed to your household asking you to answer a few questions to help us understand what options for early care and education services are available to families in your area. This study is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and your response will help government and local agencies better understand where more support is needed.

If someone at your address has already responded, thank you! If not, we ask you to take about six minutes to answer a few questions.

You can access the questions by typing the secure URL into the browser of any computer or mobile device and entering your PIN and Password:

Survey URL: https://url

PIN: [WEBPIN] Password: [WEBPWD]

If you have any questions, please contact us at [EMAIL] or [PHONE].

Thank you!

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Participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept private. 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 information collection is 0970-0391 and the expiration date is MM/DD/YEAR. Please send comments regarding the time required for this survey or any other aspect of the described information collection to: [Name and address to be added].

16C. First Household Screener Nonresponse Follow-up Mailing: Initial contact 3 - Sent to sampled households that have not yet completed the screener approximately two weeks after the mailing of household screener thank you/reminder postcard. This includes a second mailing of the household screener. If eligible, households will be contacted to complete the main household questionnaire and/or home-based provider questionnaire.

Dear Resident,

We previously sent a letter to your address asking a member of your household to complete the enclosed questionnaire. We have not yet received your response. We are writing again because we need your help. Your response will provide valuable information for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) to help improve support for the care and education of children in your community.

Please complete the enclosed questionnaire and mail it back in the included postage-paid envelope. Your household was scientifically selected to take part in this study. Even if you do not have any children, it is important for us to hear from you so that every type of household is represented. The questionnaire is also available online.

It takes about six minutes to answer a few questions. To begin, please type the secure URL into any computer or mobile device’s web browser and enter the unique PIN and Password:

URL address: [https://XYZ/]

PIN: [WEBPIN] Password: [WEBPWD]

NORC at the University of Chicago is conducting this study on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Participation is voluntary. Your responses will be kept private, and you can stop the survey at any point or skip any question.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call NORC at [PHONE] or email [EMAIL].

We need your help to make this study a success. We hope you will take part!

Thank you,

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A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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16D. Second Household Screener Nonresponse Follow-up Mailing: Sent to sampled households that have not yet completed the screener approximately three weeks after the first household screener nonresponse follow-up mailing. This includes a third, final mailing of the household screener. If eligible, households will be contacted to complete the main household questionnaire and/or home-based provider questionnaire.

Dear Resident,

I am writing to request that a member of your household complete the enclosed questionnaire. I have written twice previously, but unfortunately we have not received your response.

We have sent the questionnaire again because your response is so very important for the success of this study, the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). By answering a few questions you will provide valuable information to help us better understand families’ needs for early care and education services in your community. We cannot get this information anywhere else.

Please complete the questionnaire and mail it back in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. Even if you do not have any children, it is important for us to hear from you so that every type of household is represented. The questionnaire is also available online.

It takes about six minutes to answer a few questions. To begin, please type the secure URL into any computer or mobile device’s web browser and enter the unique PIN and Password:

URL address: [https://XYZ/]

PIN: [WEBPIN] Password: [WEBPWD]

NORC at the University of Chicago is conducting this study on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Your household was scientifically selected to take part in this study. You can stop the survey at any time or skip any question. Participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept private. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call NORC at [PHONE] or email [EMAIL].

Please participate; this is your chance to help support the care and education of children in your area.

Thank you,

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A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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16E. Household Screener Nonresponse Advance Letter: Contact letter sent to sampled households that did not respond to the initial mail/web household screener mailings.

Dear Resident,

We have written several times to ask for your help with a national study about how we care for children in the United States, but we have not received a response from anyone in your household.

We want to hear from you whether you have children or not. It is important for us to hear from every household selected to get a complete picture of the need for and availability of early care and education for young children in your area. Your household was scientifically selected to take part in this study and cannot be replaced.

It only takes about six minutes to answer a few questions and your responses will be kept private. Participation is voluntary, and you can skip any questions or end the survey at any time. To begin, please type the secure URL into any computer or mobile device’s web browser and enter the unique PIN and Password:

URL address: [https://XYZ/]

PIN: [WEBPIN] Password: [WEBPWD]

Because this survey is so important, a professional interviewer will be contacting you soon to answer any questions you might have and assist you in completing the survey. You can stop the survey at any time or skip any question. You can also call [PHONE] or email [EMAIL].

We hope that you will choose to take part in this important survey, which is being conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

We need your help to make this study a success. We look forward to receiving your answers.

Thank you,

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A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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16F. Household Advance Letter: Letter sent to eligible households that will be worked by telephone or in person.

Dear [FNAME LNAME],

Recently, your household responded to a few questions for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). Please accept our sincere thanks for your response. A professional NORC interviewer will be contacting you in the future to ask some additional questions.

NORC at the University of Chicago is conducting this study on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are looking to speak to parents who have children at home, as well as people who regularly look after children who are not their own. The NSECE was last conducted in 2012 when we heard from over 11,000 households with young children about their various needs and choices for child care services. This study has helped policy makers and local agencies better understand families’ needs for affordable and flexible early care and education options that work within their budget and schedule constraints. We are now collecting new information that can help inform improvements to policies for these families and local early care and education services.

The survey will take about an hour and your responses will be kept private. Your household was scientifically selected to take part in this study. It is important for us to hear from every household selected to get a complete picture of the need for and availability of early care and education for young children in your area. Participation is voluntary, and you can skip any questions or end the survey at any time. To thank you for your participation, we will send you $20 for completing the survey.

If you would like more information about this study or have any questions, please call NORC at [PHONE] or email [EMAIL].

We need your help to make this study a success.

Thank you,

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A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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16G. Household Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): To be included on the back of respondent letters.

What is the NSECE?

The National Survey of Early Care and Education is the only study aimed at better understanding the relationship between families’ needs for early care and education and what child care services are available to them. The study was first conducted in 2012, and seven years later we are collecting new information to learn how recent changes in programs and policies have affected families across the country.

Who is NORC at the University of Chicago?

NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC) is conducting this study. NORC is an independent, non-partisan research institution that helps federal agencies, decision-makers, and nonprofits make better decisions through data and analysis. For more information about us, please visit www.norc.org.

How long does the survey take?

The survey takes about an hour to complete.

Why was I selected for this survey?

Your household was scientifically selected from all of the household addresses in the U.S. to participate in this study. It is important for us to hear from every selected household to get a complete picture of the availability and use of early care and education in your area. You represent many other households like yours across the nation and cannot be replaced.

Your participation will help the nation’s policy makers and local agencies get a clearer picture of families’ needs for child care and how to better support working families that rely on these services.

Questions this study will help to answer:

How do parents balance work and school with child care?
What types of early care and education do parents most need? Is this care available in their area? Is it affordable?
How do parents at different income levels pay for their children’s care? What kind of help do they need?
Which families use care provided by family, friends, and neighbors most often and why?

How do I know my information will be kept safe and private?

All NORC staff, including interviewers, must sign a pledge to protect your information. If this pledge is broken an employee can lose his/her job and face legal action. Answers that could identify you in any way are separated from your other responses. Survey findings are put into summary reports that contain no names or other identifying information. Your name or any other identifying information will never be released to the public. Participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept private.

How do you protect my answers?

Your answers are used for research purposes only. All information that you provide will be kept private to the fullest extent provided by the law. If you have questions about your rights as a study participant, you may call the NORC Institutional Review Board Administrator at 1-877-309-0542.

How do I know this is legitimate?

Visit us online at http://nsece.norc.org. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has approved this survey (0970-0391). Without this number we could not conduct this survey.

If you have any other questions, call us toll-free at [PHONE] or email us at [EMAIL].

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Participation is voluntary. 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 information collection is 0970-0391 and the expiration date is MM/DD/YEAR. Please send comments regarding the time required for this survey or any other aspect of the described information collection to: [Name and address to be added].

16H. Household Brochure Text: As needed – Available for any sampled households to provide a general study overview, explain benefits of participation, answer questions, and serve as a refusal conversion tool.

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Why was I selected for this survey?

Your household was scientifically selected from all of the household addresses in the U.S. to participate in this study. It is important for us to hear from every selected household to get a complete picture of the availability and use of early care and education (ECE) in your area. You represent many other households like yours across the nation and cannot be replaced.

Your participation will help the nation’s policy-makers and local agencies get a clearer picture of families’ need for child care and how to better support working families that rely on these services.

Will my responses be private?

Anything you tell us will be used only for statistical purposes; identities of individuals and programs will not be disclosed except as required by law. All project staff who handle the information collected for the study must sign a privacy agreement that provides for criminal and civil penalties if privacy is breached.

The NSECE has also obtained a federal Certificate of Confidentiality from the Department of Health and Human Services in order to further protect your privacy. With this Certificate, NORC cannot be forced (for example by court order or subpoena) to disclose information that may identify you in any federal, state, local, civil, criminal, legislative, administrative, or other proceedings.

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How can I participate?

Participating in the NSECE is easy. NORC interviewers will work with your schedule to find a convenient time to reach you in person or by phone. Contact us at [EMAIL] or at [PHONE] and we can help you set up an appointment.

Questions about NSECE?

[PHONE]

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[IMAGE]

[Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families LOGO]

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What is the NSECE?

The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) is sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families, and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.

The NSECE was last conducted in 2012 when we heard from over 11,000 households with young children across the United States about their needs and choices for child care services and from more than 2,000 caregivers who looked after young children in a home setting. This much-needed information helped policy makers and government agencies get a more complete picture of both families’ need for affordable, flexible child care, as well as understand what child care services were available to them. We are now collecting new information to inform policies and programs that support both families in need of early care and education for their children and the individuals who provide these important services.

What is ACF?

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers Head Start and the Child Care and Development Fund (child care subsidies) programs, and sponsors early care and education (ECE) research. ACF works to help children in low-income families access high-quality care and helps coordinate efforts across Head Start, child care, pre-K, home visiting, and other early childhood development programs throughout the Federal Government. The NSECE will assist ACF in its overall mission to improve the availability of high-quality ECE programs.

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Why is the NSECE so important?
With responses from more than 11,000 households with young children, the 2012 NSECE helped policy makers and government and local agencies better understand how parents managed complex work and family schedules with child care arrangements, and whether households with young children had access to high quality and affordable child care.

We know that nearby family, friends, and neighbors also play a critical role in helping families meet their child care needs, so we are interviewing them as well to get a complete picture of who is looking after children and how parents manage to fill in gaps in care.

Since 2012 new laws and programs have been introduced to better support families’ and caregivers’ needs and help improve the quality of care provided. These changes make it a critical time to collect updated information so we can examine the changing child care needs of families with young children and the caregivers who support them.

Who are you surveying?

So that we can measure how well families’ child care needs match the early care and education resources available to them, the NSECE will be interviewing both households and caregivers in selected communities. Within households, the study will collect information from:

Families with children. Parents or guardians of children under age 13 will be interviewed to learn more about their early care and education use and needs. The survey will take about an hour. Questions will cover:

Child care usage and schedule
Parental employment and school schedule
What parents look for as they search for care
Types of care parents prefer to use
How parents pay for their children’s care

Individuals who regularly look after others’ children under age 13 in a home-based setting. This group includes:

Individuals like grandparents, other relatives, neighbors, or baby-sitters, who may not consider themselves as child care providers. This survey will take about 20 minutes.
Regulated, licensed, or registered home-based providers. This survey will take about 40 minutes.

Questions will cover:

Number of children individuals look after and how often
Reasons why they look after children
Activities they do with children in their care
Support and other resources for providers
General attitudes toward caring for children

To round out the picture in each community, the NSECE will also interview center-based providers, schools, and other programs as well as staff who work in these classrooms.

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Why should I participate?

By collecting information from both parents and caregivers in selected areas across the nation, the NSECE will be able to describe community by community how well the supply of child care and early education meets the needs of families. This description can help national, state, and local governments, as well as other organizations to identify gaps and areas where families and providers may be mismatched. Some questions the NSECE will address are:

How do parents balance work and school with child care?
How do parents choose providers, people, or organizations to care for their children? What decisions do parents make as they seek this care?
What types of early care and education do parents most need? Is this care available in their area? Is it affordable?
How do parents at different income levels pay for their children’s care? What kind of help do they need?
Which families use care provided by family, friends, and neighbors most often and why?
How can we better support these types of caregivers and offer opportunities to help them improve the care they offer children?

16I. Household Thank You Contact: Post participation - Sent to respondents after completion of the household survey to thank them for participation and provide the incentive.

Dear [FNAME LNAME],

Thank you for taking part in the National Survey of Early Care and Education. Your responses will help us better understand families’ needs for early care and education services in your community.

In appreciation for your time and effort spent answering our questions, we would like to offer you $20.

If you have any additional questions, you may contact us at [PHONE] or [EMAIL].

Thank you again for your help with this important research.

Sincerely,

A. Rupa Datta, Ph.D.

2019 NSECE Project Director

NORC at the University of Chicago

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16_2019 NSECE Household Respondent Contact Materials

16_2019 NSECE Household Respondent Contact Materials.docx

National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE): The Household, Provider, and Workforce Surveys

16_2019 NSECE Household Respondent Contact Materials

OMB: 0970-0391

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