Introduction Letter and Postcard

Dear Mr./Ms. ----------,

Refugees like you are forced to flee your homelands to bravely begin new lives in American society. Once you are in the United States, it is important that you be supported in your journey to adapt to a new community and society. Now more than ever, we need your help in understanding your experiences adjusting to life in the U.S.

You have been selected to participate in a voluntary study about how refugees adapt to life in the United States. It is funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement and being conducted by the Urban Institute and a research organization called SSRS. A trained interviewer from SSRS will be calling you in a few weeks to conduct a telephone survey in [primary language], English or another language in which you may be more comfortable, such as [language2 or language3]. The interviewer will ask some questions about you and your family: your education, work, community, and access to help and healthcare.

The interview will take up to 48 minutes, but it may be shorter. We are providing you $2 to show appreciation for considering participation in this study. Afterwards, we will also send you a $25 gift card as a token of appreciation for participating. You will continue to receive social services and benefits regardless of your decision to participate in the study.

In order to be able to reach you, we want to make sure we have your correct telephone number. This is the number that we have on file: xxx-xxx-xxxx.

If this is no longer correct or you prefer us to contact you at another number, please let us know. You can:

• 

  If you would be more comfortable speaking with someone in [language2], call xxx-xxx-xxxx or for [language3], call xxx-xxx-xxxx.

  Send back the enclosed contact card with your correct information using the postage-paid envelope

• Email us at [email protected], OR

• Call us at [xxx-xxx-xxxx]. An interviewer who speaks [primary language] will answer the phone, and you can either provide a number where you can be reached at a convenient time, or just do the survey while you are on the phone.

Thank you for considering participating in this important study. Your perspective will help us understand what refugees like you are going through, and will help inform how the refugee resettlement system can be improved.

Sincerely,

Hamutal Bernstein, Study Director

Urban Institute

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 0970-0033 and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX.

Thank you for your interest in participating in our study about how refugees adapt to life in the United States. Your contact information will be kept private and will only be used to contact you for this study.

1. If the phone number we have for you on the letter is not the best number to reach you, please provide your best phone number in the boxes below. This could be a landline home phone or a cell phone.

2. Is there any other number where we can reach you? If so, please write the number in the box below.

3. What is your preferred language for the interview? ______________