Family Child Care and COVID 19

* 1. You are being invited to participate in a research study on the challenges family child care providers in the state are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is being conducted by Dr. Patricia Hrusa Williams and Dr. Donna Karno from the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF).  You are invited to participate in this study because you are affiliated with a family child care program.

The purpose of this research study is to understand how the pandemic has affected family child care providers' program operations and work as child care providers, both the challenges they have faced and their needs for support. If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey/questionnaire. This survey/questionnaire asks about the characteristics of your family child care program and the challenges you have faced with since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. It will take you approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey.

You may not directly benefit from this research; however, you may find the questions interesting to consider. Your participation in the study will enrich our understanding of how COVID-19 has affected the family child care community and their needs for support. 

 We believe there are no known risks associated with this research study; however, as with any online related activity, the risk of a breach of confidentiality is always possible. To the best of our ability your answers to questions asked as part of this study will remain confidential.  We will minimize any risks by not collecting identifying information such as your e-mail address when your response is submitted and storing the data collected in a password-protected computer file. If any survey responses are used in presentations or journal articles, the data will be reported in aggregate and pseudonyms will be used. Data will also be destroyed after 3 years.

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time.  You are free to skip any question that you choose.

If you have questions about this project or if you have a research-related problem, you may contact the researcher, Dr. Patricia Hrusa Williams at (207)778-7109 or patricia.h.williams@maine.edu.You may also contact Dr. Karol Maybury, Chair of UMF’s Institutional Research Board (IRB) at karol.maybury@maine.edu.

By clicking “I agree” below you are indicating that you are at least 18 years old, have read and understood this consent form, and agree to participate in this research study.  Please print a copy of this page for your records.