Climate Survey (Informed Consent Notice to Parents)

[Spam]

Hi teammates. Those of you who have dependent cadets may be getting this notice to your email of record, regarding the Climate Survey.

A few years ago I was upset by some material sent to cadets without parental notice, and I went off. Well, I want to give equal time and praise here for the folks at National HQ and on the National volunteer teams who decided to do this the right way, with a proper notice to parents. Anyone who has ever been through a Human Use board for science experiments should appreciate that this is a Best Practice, and is absolutely the right way to do notification and disclosure. 

The very fact that this professional approach is being taken here will in itself be a factor in my responses to the survey; 
great job, Cadet Program professionals and staff!

V/r
Spam

"Dear Parent
STATEMENT TO PARENTS OF CADETS

We are asking permission for your child to take part in a survey collecting information and opinions about leadership skills across the Civil Air Patrol. This information is provided so that you can decide if you want your child to take part in the study.
 
Please read the information carefully. You can email the project officer using the email at the end of this statement to ask any questions you have about the research. When all your questions have been answered, you can decide if you want your child to take part in the study.


WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY?
The Civil Air Patrol National Staff would like to understand where we are strong or not so strong in areas of leadership. This will help us to design our leadership training and mentoring program to do a better job of equipping our leaders for success.

 

WHAT WILL THE SURVEY REQUIRE OF MY CHILD?

Your child will be receiving an email with a message from the National Commander stating the Climate Survey will be available on the under the "News" feed area on the home page of the CAP password protected web site at https://www.capnhq.gov. The survey will take less than 30 minutes to complete. The survey is voluntary and confidential.

 

Confidential means that you and the Civil Air Patrol cannot identify your child's answers once they have been submitted. Voluntary means that your child can decide not to do the survey. Your child can also skip questions that make him/her feel uncomfortable. No information from the survey or about your child's participation will be kept in any of your child's CAP records.

 

The survey asks your child about their attitudes and opinions. It asks about the leadership in their Civil Air Patrol unit. You are free to observe your child take this survey, and view the questions it contains, and to review those questions before you decide your child may participate.

 

HOW WILL YOU PROTECT MY CHILD'S PRIVACY?

All answers that your child gives will be kept private. There are no questions collecting personal information, and no questions are expected to generate responses that require direct follow-up.

 

WHAT IS THE CIVIL AIR PATROL COMMAND CLIMATE SURVEY?

This survey is being conducted to support recruiting and retention be ensuring we know how our leaders are performing with regard to the topics of mission focus, communication, fairness, timeliness, teamwork, diversity, awards, flexibility, safety, productivity, team spirit, management skills, treatment of new members, ethics, recruiting, and the use of appropriate discipline.

 

ARE THERE ANY RISKS? WILL STUDENTS EXPERIENCE ANY STRESS OR DISCOMFORT?

The survey will be administered online via a third-party survey platform. Every effort has been made to make the questions easy to understand and neutral to prevent stress, discomfort, or the feeling of invasiveness. Also, your child may decline to answer any question he/she does not want to answer.

 

ARE THERE ALTERNATIVES TO TAKING PART IN THIS STUDY?

Cadets who do not take part in the survey will not be disciplined in any way, and your child's leaders will not know who participated. Cadets will not be singled out because they did not take part.

 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THE STUDY?

Although there may not be any direct benefits, your child may benefit indirectly by knowing he/she has made a contribution that will help others in the future.

 

OTHER INFORMATION

All the information your child gives as part of this study will be kept strictly confidential. Your child's survey will only be identifiable from a unique ID number assigned by the survey platform. The Civil Air Patrol will not have this information. His/her name will not appear on the completed survey. Information collected will not become part of your child's records. No one at the Civil Air Patrol will see your child's responses. The results of this project will be only reported in ways that do not identify individual participants.

 

FUNDING

This study is being conducted by Civil Air Patrol volunteers, with some support from the professional staff at the national headquarters. No federal-sourced funding has been used to develop this survey or analyze the information collected. Information collected will be treated as appropriate for internal data collected by a nonprofit corporation. We expect overall reporting data to be shared widely but cannot specify when or how this may be done at this time. No information that could be used to identify your child will be released to these researchers. There would be no way for anyone else to know who was in the study or to know any information that might identify who is in the study. Participation in the study is completely voluntary. If you or your child decides not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time, there will be no penalties or consequences. You are encouraged to print and keep a copy of this statement for your records.

 

WHO CAN I ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SURVEY?

If you have any questions about this study, you may contact the Civil Air Patrol Senior Program Manager for Health Services at <redacted>@cap.gov."

[baronet68]

Kudos to the team that put this together.

[Brit_in_CAP]

Good job!