25-DCYF-EL-006 Amendment 2.pdf

RFP 25-DCYF-EL-006 Amendment 2 Page 1 of 3

RFP NO. 25-DCYF-EL-006

Amendment 2

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) Amendment is to provide DCYF official responses to Bidders’ clarifying questions for Comprehensive Technical Assistance Services – Child Care Grants.

Below are the responses from DCYF to the questions received to the solicitation to date.

# Question received regarding solicitation Response from DCYF

1. I remember reading that proposals could be submitted statewide or regionally. Is that true?

DCYF will not be awarding regional contracts. All proposals submitted will be statewide.

2. How many contractors will DCYF be awarding for this RFP.

DCYF will be awarding one (1) contract for these services.

3. Do you know how many technical assistance (TA) requests are received annually?

This varies based on grant cycles and provider need. Last fiscal year, approximately 2,000 requests were received. TA is available to any provider who wishes to access it, within the 8,000+ provider population. Some providers request assistance just once, and others may request assistance many times over the life of their grant.

TA is offered in group settings as well as one-on-one meetings, phone calls, and emails.

4. Are the 8,000 grant applications received annually per grant type (Early Childhood Equity Grants, Child Care Complex Needs Funds Grants and Early Learning Facilities Grant) or a total for all grants?

The number of providers eligible to apply for the Early Childhood Equity Grant, Child Care Complex Needs Fund and the Early Learning Facilities (ELF) grant is approximately 8,000. Additionally, there is an unknown number of individuals who may be interested in establishing new facilities that could also be eligible. Eligibility also varies based on the criteria for each type of ELF grant and funding cycle.

This doesn’t mean that each grant will receive 8,000 applications, but it does mean that up to 8,000 providers could call to access technical assistance for each grant opportunity.

ELF GRANT SPECIFIC:

Criteria for eligible applicants for the Health and Safety Minor Renovations round can be found here.

https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/s/phkp9wg1x0akycjlxlrthacgw1azrmlu https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/s/phkp9wg1x0akycjlxlrthacgw1azrmlu

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Criteria for eligible applicants for Eligible Organizations can be found here.

Information about funding cycle dates and awardees including the number of awardees for each closed funding round can be found on the Department of Commerce website.

5. How many TA requests received require language assistance?

About 65-75% of TA requests received.

6. What percentage of clients need language assistance?

The estimated percentage of providers as a whole who speak a language other than English is about 35-40%. However, we estimate 65-75% of the providers who access TA need language assistance.

7. Working with the pre-licensing unit for the ELF Grant?

DCYF partners with the Department of Commerce to provide language assistance with ELF grant application and post award supports in addition to translating program documents. The pre-licensing unit at DCYF supports ELF grant TA pertaining to facility WAC requirements.

8. How many hours of TA is needed per client, on average?

On average, 2 hours per client. Some clients will need more time, and others may just have a simple question that takes a minute.

The length may vary depending on the providers’ needs; however, TA sessions generally are a minimum of 30 minutes for billing, and up to 90 minutes.

We anticipate that TA sessions will be approximately 60-90 minutes in length

9. How do we measure success in this contract?

We will be reviewing monthly data that’s sent to us that details: the type of technical assistance requested, the date of delivery, referral method, name of the technical assistance professional, contact time, number of contact attempts, interpretation provided, interpretation language and any additional notes shared with us by the selected contractor.

The overall satisfaction from providers who receive assistance (surveys), responsiveness to provider requests for assistance, increased compliance with grant terms and conditions, increased percentage of grant applications submitted that meet the minimum requirements for consideration will also be reviewed and considered as we look to measure the effectiveness of the technical support being provided.

https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/s/b0e5sqirze7j71byhcwjh4ik3ezspmug https://www.commerce.wa.gov/building-infrastructure/capital-facilities/early-learning-program/

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10. How many hours of interpretations do you estimate per client?

We cannot provide an estimate for this, as it heavily depends on the bidder’s staff. No interpretation is needed if the bidder’s staff speak the provider’s language.

11. I wonder if this request for proposal is open to non-profit organizations.

The RFP is open for all types of businesses (corporations, LLCs, LLPs, partnerships, non-profit organizations and governmental entities). DCYF welcomes proposals from non-profit organizations, as well as profit organizations.