State child welfare records: data file submission - MIHOPE-K

Hello,

 

My name is [MIHOPE staff full name] and I’m a [title] at MDRC. I’m writing regarding our current child welfare [insert state-specific document(s), e.g. “DUA”] for MIHOPE (Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation). MIHOPE is a legislatively mandated, large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of home visiting programs funded by MIECHV (the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program). State [insert data source] data play a vital role in investigating the specific aspects of maternal and child well-being that may benefit from home visiting, and how those effects vary for different groups of families and home visiting approaches. We are excited to be extending our study to analyze the long-term impact of home visitation interventions and therefore hope to extend our data sharing collaboration.

 

In the past Lori Burrell, from our partner John Hopkins University, has worked with you but I will be communicating with you from this point forward. [Insert state-specific DUA information] As we move forward with our project extension, MIHOPE-Long Term, I wanted to check in to confirm we can continue our collaboration through 2022. The details of the data request will remain similar, though we are happy to be flexible regarding the timing and frequency of data pulls.

 

My colleague [name] (CC’d here) and I are available to discuss this further at a meeting or answer any questions regarding the extension through email, as you prefer.

 

Thank you! We look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

 

 

About MIHOPE-LT (Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation- Long Term)

As background, the federal government contracted with MDRC and its partners, including Johns Hopkins University, to conduct this national evaluation of home visiting programs focused on pregnant women or mothers with infants. MIHOPE is serving two critical purposes: informing the federal government about the effectiveness of the federally-funded Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) in its first few years of operation, and providing information to help states develop and strengthen home visiting programs in the future. The evaluation uses a random assignment design to estimate the effects of home visiting programs across a wide range of outcomes, such as child maltreatment and child welfare service involvement. This is occurring in your state and others around the country. In using this randomized design, MIHOPE will provide valuable information on how these programs can improve the lives of parents and children. To conduct this evaluation, women who are eligible for the home visiting services sign a consent form, provide some personal identifying information, and then are randomly assigned to receive either a) home visiting services or b) information about other services in the community. Both groups are part of the study, which means that we will collect follow up data on an extensive set of parent and child outcomes. The long term extension of MIHOPE allows us to trace children through kindergarten and perhaps beyond. More information can be found at:

https://www.mdrc.org/project/mother-and-infant-home-visiting-program-evaluation-mihope#overview

 

Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE)

www.mdrc.org

Home visiting programs operate around the country to prevent child maltreatment, improve maternal and child health outcomes, and increase school readiness.

 

The described collection of information is voluntary and will be used to learn how home visiting programs benefit families. 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 control number for this collection is 0970-0402 and it expires on XX/XX/XXXX.