APPENDIX A_Advance Emails

APPENDIX A

ADVANCE EMAILS

Advance Email for Followup Call to Executive Director - Self Nomination

Activity 2: FOLLOWUP CALL

Dear/Hello [EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR]:

We have received your nomination of [NOMINATED PROGRAM] for participation in the Chafee Strengthening Outcomes for Transition to Adulthood (Chafee SOTA) evaluation. Thank you for bringing your program to our attention! Chafee SOTA is an evaluation project to test promising practices, programs, services, and strategies serving young people (ages 14-26) transitioning from foster care to adulthood.

To evaluate the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, the Administration for Children & Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation is working with Westat and its partners (the Chafee SOTA Team) to obtain nominations of organizations or programs that help youth transitioning out of foster care -- and young adults formerly in care who transitioned in the recent past -- to achieve self-sufficiency. Our immediate goal is to identify established programs serving transitioning young people for evaluation in order to add knowledge to the field about how best to serve them.

I would like to set up a time to talk with you so the Chafee SOTA Team can learn more about [NOMINATED PROGRAM]. At that time, I’ll also tell you more about our selection process, what participation in the evaluation would mean if your program is selected, and answer any questions you might have. During our discussion, you can skip any question we ask for any reason.

If you would like to decline involvement in this process, please respond to this email with the word DECLINE in the subject line. We will not contact you again.

Ultimately, we will select programs for evaluation through a three-step selection process:

1. The Chafee SOTA Team will call the leadership of all nominated programs to learn more about the nominated program and to discuss participation in the SOTA project.

2. The Chafee SOTA Team will visit selected programs to conduct evaluability assessments.

3. The Chafee SOTA Team, in collaboration with ACF staff, will select programs to participate in a full evaluation.

Each of the final participating programs will be provided some financial assistance as well as technical assistance to support an evaluation of their program. The Chafee SOTA Team will work with program leadership and local youth and young adults to tailor an evaluation that makes the most sense for the targeted program or services, is respectful of their processes, and captures the essential components, challenges and successes of their particular program.

I’ll give you a call in the next few days so we can compare schedules and set up a time to talk. To help you prepare for our longer conversation, I am providing the questions I hope to cover/discuss. [NOTE: TOP LEVEL FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS (INSTRUMENT 2) WILL BE PASTED BELOW.]

Advance Email for Followup Call to Executive Director - Third Party Nomination

Activity 2: FOLLOWUP CALL

Dear/Hello [EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR]:

We are writing to let you know that [NOMINATED PROGRAM] was nominated/named for possible participation in the Chafee Strengthening Outcomes for Transition to Adulthood (Chafee SOTA) evaluation. This means a third party thinks we could learn something valuable from an evaluation of your program. Chafee SOTA is an evaluation project to test promising practices, programs, services, and strategies serving youth transitioning out of foster care and young adults formerly in care who transitioned in the recent past (ages 14-26).

To evaluate the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, the Administration for Children & Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation is working with Westat and its partners (the Chafee SOTA Team) to obtain nominations of organizations or programs that help youth transitioning out of foster care -- and young adults formerly in care who transitioned in the recent past -- to achieve self-sufficiency. Our immediate goal is to identify established programs serving transitioning youth for evaluation in order to add knowledge to the field about how best to serve them.

I would like to set up a time to talk with you so the Chafee SOTA Team can learn more about [NOMINATED PROGRAM]. At that time, I’ll also tell you more about our selection process, what participation in the evaluation would mean if your program is selected, and answer any questions you might have. During our discussion, you can skip any question we ask for any reason.

If you would like to decline involvement in this process, please respond to this email with the word DECLINE in the subject line. We will not contact you again.

Ultimately, we will select programs for evaluation through a three-step selection process:

1. The Chafee SOTA Team will call the leadership of all nominated programs to learn more about the nominated program and to discuss participation in the SOTA project.

2. The Chafee SOTA Team will visit selected programs to conduct evaluability assessments.

3. The Chafee SOTA Team, in collaboration with ACF staff, will select programs to participate in a full evaluation.

Each of the final participating programs will be provided some financial assistance as well as technical assistance to support an evaluation of their program. The Chafee SOTA Team will work with program leadership and local youth and young adults to tailor an evaluation that makes the most sense for the targeted program or services, is respectful of their processes, and captures the essential components, challenges and successes of their particular program.

I’ll give you a call within three business days so we can compare schedules and set up a time to talk. To help you prepare for our longer conversation, I am providing the questions I hope to cover/discuss. [NOTE: TOP LEVEL FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS (INSTRUMENT 2) WILL BE PASTED BELOW.]

Initial Contact Email for Partner Agency Directors

Activity 3: PARTNER AGENCY

Dear [PARTNER AGENCY DIRECTOR]:

My name is [SENDER NAME] and I work with [Westat, an independent research firm located in Rockville, MD / the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine University of Colorado]. We have been contracted by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to conduct an evaluation of Chafee programs serving youth in or transitioning out of foster care (called the Chafee Strengthening Outcomes for Transition to Adulthood [Chafee SOTA] Project). Chafee SOTA is an evaluation project to test promising practices, programs, services, and strategies serving young people (ages 14-26) transitioning from foster care.

[NOMINATED PROGRAM] has been nominated as one of the programs to consider in this evaluation and [PARTNER AGENCY] has been identified as a key collaborating agency.

We are interested in talking with you about how [PARTNER AGENCY] works with [NOMINATED PROGRAM] to serve young people transitioning from foster care.

I would like to set up a time to talk and tell you a little more about the study. The purpose is to determine the extent to which you and your staff might be able to be involved in an evaluation of [NOMINATED PROGRAM], as well as to gain your perspective on a few key components. At this time, we are not conducting an evaluation that will make conclusions about whether the [NOMINATED PROGRAM] is working or not working. We will focus on the program overall and will not ask for information on individual clients. During our discussion, you can skip any question we ask for any reason.

If you would like to decline involvement in this process, please respond to this email with the word DECLINE in the subject line. We will not contact you again.

Otherwise, I’ll give you a call within three business days so we can compare schedules and set up a time to talk.