Bridge to Employment (BTE) Program Policies

Effective date: April 2023

The following information pertains to BTE program participation, evaluation, photo consent and release, and parental/guardian acknowledgments. This information should be reviewed by all BTE program participants, as well as parents or legal guardians for those who are minors.

For details on website data collection and use, please read our Privacy Policy.

BTE Program Participation & Evaluation Activities

Introduction:  As part of the Bridge to Employment (BTE) program, FHI 360 will be conducting activities to determine the effectiveness of the program, identify ways to improve program services, and learn about how the program supports students to improve their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Manufacturing, and Design (STEM2D) and healthcare careers and build their college and career readiness skills. Parents/guardians are asked to acknowledge their child’s participation in evaluation activities associated with the BTE program.

Procedure:  Evaluation activities will be conducted annually and involve: 1) surveys (for BTE participants and a comparison group of students), 2) academic information, including the collection of courses enrolled, grades, and attendance (for BTE participants and comparison group students), and 3) focus groups (for BTE participants). The survey will take around 20 minutes to complete, and focus groups will last one hour. As part of these activities, students will be asked about their experiences and their future educational / career plans. BTE participants will also be asked to provide suggestions for how the program could be improved. Participation is completely voluntary and there is no penalty if BTE participants or comparison group students do not take part. Refusal will not affect participation in the BTE program. At the start of focus groups, BTE participants will be asked if they want to be in the group discussion; if not, that is fine. Participants can also decide not to answer specific questions and/or stop participating at any time, for any reason in the discussion.  Students do not have to provide a reason for not answering questions or for deciding to stop participating.

Participant selection: All BTE participants will be asked to participate in the student surveys. Program participants identified as student who might provide useful comments and feedback about his/her experiences will be asked to participate in the focus group. The comparison group students were randomly selected by the secondary school partner.

Possible Risks and Benefits: There is a small chance that one or more of the discussion questions might make your child feel uncomfortable.  If this occurs, your child should feel free to not answer that question. Although we will protect what your child says to us, there is always a chance someone may find out what they have said in the group discussion since they are with other students. There is no direct benefit to your child in participating, however, his/her comments will help understand how well BTE is working for students and ways the programs might be improved.

Confidentiality: Data from the surveys will be used only for group level reports. Student identifiable data will not be provided to the evaluators. All data related to evaluation will be destroyed per the data sharing agreement with your child’s school/school district. The focus group will be held in your child’s school in a private place where others cannot hear what the group members are saying. Evaluation staff will run the discussion, and handwritten notes will be taken. These notes will not be shared with anyone outside of the evaluation team and will only be used to develop reports.  The notes will be destroyed once the reports have been finalized.

We will not include your child’s name, or any other students’ names, in any written evaluation notes taken during the discussion or in any evaluation reports.  Reports about the discussion groups will be written by combining all of the students’ responses, from all of the groups.

To protect the privacy of group members we will ask group members not talk about who was in the group or what was said with others who were not in the group. Since we cannot stop group members from telling others what was said — others outside the group may learn something about your child or other group members.   

Rights of Participants: This has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of FHI 360.  If you have any questions about how your child is being treated by the study or their rights as a participant you may contact the Protection of Human Subjects Committee, located at 359 Blackwell Street, Suite 200, Durham, NC 27701, by phone, 1-919-405-1445, or e-mail: PHSC@fhi360.org

Compensation: There will be no compensation for your child’s participation in evaluation activities.

Contact for Questions:  If you have any questions about this evaluation, you may contact Dr. Pamela Carter, who works at FHI 360 and is the primary evaluator for Bridge to Employment.

Giving of Consent: By signing the Parental Acknowledgement form, parents acknowledge reading this consent, understand what is being requested of their child as a participant in evaluation activities, and freely consent for their child to participate in evaluation activities.

BTE Photo Consent & Release Policy

By signing the Photo Consent & Release form, parents/guardians grant Johnson & Johnson, FHI 360, and BTE partners, its successors, assigns, licensees, and affiliated entities (collectively “J&J”) the absolute and irrevocable right and permission to use, create, reproduce, distribute, transmit, adapt, create derivative works of, publicly perform, publicly display, publish, license, sell, and otherwise use and permit others to use in any manner, my child’s name, biographical and occupational description, testimonial, picture, image, appearance, likeness, voice, video, signature, and other personal characteristics and information, and all materials created by or on behalf of J&J and FHI 360 that incorporate any of the foregoing (collectively, the “Authorized Material”), in whole, or in part, composite or distorted in character or form, without restriction as to changes, on an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, paid-in-full, royalty-free basis throughout the world and in all forms, formats, and media, including, but not limited to, television, radio, print, social media, internet websites, and any and all other forms of media, which now or hereafter may exist, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising, training, publicity, and promotion of J&J and FHI 360 and their businesses, products, and services.  Further, parents/guardians hereby assign to J&J and FHI 360 any and all of my child’s worldwide right, title, and interest in and to the Authorized Material and intellectual property rights therein, and authorize J&J and FHI 360 to attribute any statements and/or testimonials contained in the Authorized Material that are true expressions of my child’s personal experiences and beliefs.

Parents/guardians hereby waive any and all rights to review or approve J&J and FHI 360’s use of the Authorized Material and agree that J&J and FHI 360 may exploit, edit, or otherwise modify the Authorized Material, and combine the Authorized Material with materials furnished or created by others, without my further review or approval.  Parents/guardians agree that they shall have no claim to additional compensation or benefit and no claim (including, without limitation, claims based upon invasion of privacy, defamation, moral rights, or right of publicity) arising out of any use or any blurring, distortion, alteration, optical illusion or use in composite form, whether or not intentional, of the use of the Authorized Material.

Parents/guardians hereby release J&J and FHI 360 from any claim that might otherwise have as a result of any such use, sale, display, performance, adaptation, transmission, or publication, and acknowledge that J&J and FHI 360 have no obligation to use the Authorized Material or exercise any of the rights granted herein.

This Release is binding on and inures to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assignees. This Release is governed by the laws of New Jersey, without giving effect to New Jersey’s conflict of laws rules to the extent those rules would require applying another jurisdiction’s laws.  Any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Release must be commenced in, and parents/guardians hereby consent to, the exclusive jurisdiction of, the federal and state courts located in New Jersey. If a court of competent jurisdiction holds unenforceable any provision of this Release, (i) that provision is to be construed either by modifying it to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable (if permitted by law) or disregarding it (if not), and (ii) all other provisions of this Release are to remain in effect as written. parents/guardians have read and understand the contents of this Release prior to its execution and have voluntarily signed this Release.

Parents/guardians hereby represent that they are of legal age and have every right to contract on their child’s behalf in their own name without violating any other commitment. Parents/ guardians state further that they have read, or have had read to them, the above authorization and release, prior to its execution, and that they duly understand the contents thereof.