FY2024 COORDINATED FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (CFCE) APPLICATION (RFR) #237

D E P A RT M E N T O F E A R L Y E D UC A T I O N A N D

C A RE GRA N T A P P L I CA T I O N

PROCUREMENT INFORMATION

FY2024 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement

Issue Date April 10, 2023

Grant Application RFR Number RFR #: 237 (fund code)

COMMBUYS Bid Number

BD-23-1037-1CEN0-CENTR-87047

Procurement Contact Person Michele Smith

Telephone Number 617-988-7835

Fax Number EEC.eFax.Boston@mass.gov

E-Mail Address EECSubmission@mass.gov mailto:EEC.eFax.Boston@mass.gov

CONTENTS

About EEC

Description of Procurement

Applicable Procurement Law

Acquisition Method

Estimated Number of Awards

Adding Applicants after Initial Grant Award

Eligibility Requirements

Expected Duration of Grant

Required Services/Deliverables

Key performance indicators

Anticipated Expenditures, Funding or Compensation

Funding

Funding Use

Funding Formula

Reporting

Quality Reporting

Programmatic Reporting

Questions and Answers

Application Amendments

Instructions for Submission of Responses

Online Application Submission

Evaluation Criteria

Estimated Award Contract Start Date

Submission of Grant Proposals/Applications

Estimated Procurement Calendar

MA Administrative Forms

Appendices

Additional Information

ABOUT EEC

The Department of Early Education and Care’s mission is to create the conditions for children, youth, and families to thrive socially, academically, and economically. EEC’s vision is that children, youth, and families reach their full potential now and in the future.

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) EEC is the lead agency for all early education and care services and funding in the Commonwealth, charged with administering the federal Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) monies provided to Massachusetts. This block grant provides child care subsidies to more than 50,000 low-income families to help ensure they can work and stay employed, while ensuring that children are getting the high-quality early education needed to prepare them for success in school and in life.

EEC is focused on strengthening and promoting the diverse early education and care sector in Massachusetts. EEC licenses, monitors, and provides technical assistance to the nearly 9,000 early education and care programs and agencies that serve children and youth, including family child care programs and center-based programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, out-of-school time programs, residential group care facilities, temporary shelters, and placement agencies for foster care or adoption services. In addition to informal settings such as home visiting and community-based family engagement networks.

EEC also provides technical assistance to licensed programs on complying with safety and best practice standards; and assists programs in advancing to higher levels of quality through a system of standards and support, including professional development for nearly 100,000 early educators in the workforce.

Whether you are a parent, family member, provider, educator or community leader, EEC will provide you with information and resources to help support the Commonwealth’s youngest citizens. By giving a strong start to our youngest learners, we create a stronger, more prosperous future for all. Massachusetts is dedicated to increasing coordination in our system of early learning and development and aims to prepare children for school and life success, especially those with the highest need.

DESCRIPTION OF PROCUREMENT

EEC is releasing this competitive procurement to award grants to applicants) who will provide Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) services through a statewide system that meets the needs of the children, families, and communities throughout the Commonwealth. Ultimately, EEC seeks to provide coordinated family and community engagement services that address the developmental, social and emotional, and community support needs of young children and their families that will foster healthy development, reduce caregiver isolation, and promote early learning success.

APPLICABLE PROCUREMENT LAW

Type of Purchase: Grants Applicable Laws: M.G.L. c. 7A, § 7; St. 1986 c. 206, § 17; 815 CMR 2.00

ACQUISITION METHOD

This is an Open Competitive Grant. The Grant Application/RFR and appendices are posted on COMMBUYS. The application will be submitted through an online grant application to EEC.

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF AWARDS

EEC expects to award up to $15,539,190 with an expected maximum number of 90 grantees. Subject to appropriation and grantee performance, these grants are subject to renewal in FY2027. EEC may award more or fewer grants, if it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth. COMMBUYS vendors are hereby referred to as applicants for the purpose of this procurement.

EEC may award funds to a vendor or vendors providing the best value to the Commonwealth with the goal of identifying a vendor or vendors capable of providing coordinated family and community engagement services across all EEC regions, cities, towns, and communities.

To ensure statewide coverage, EEC reserves the right to: (1) re-post this grant if it does not receive sufficient applications to cover the entire state, and (2) negotiate with vendors to determine if they will be willing to provide services to other cities or towns not included in their original grant applications.

Vendors may apply to cover specific cities, towns, and communities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Vendors are required to maintain the integrity of all existing regional school districts.

Underutilization or failure to meet contractual requirements may result in termination or non-renewal of the contract.

ADDING APPLICANTS AFTER INITIAL GRANT AWARD

If, over the life of the grant, EEC determines that additional applicants may be added, these may be drawn from qualified applicants which responded to this Solicitation but were not awarded grants. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the Solicitation may be reopened to obtain additional Bids.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant is a competitive grant that is open to applicants that can demonstrate through the submission of a successful grant application that they are able to meet the priorities and required services as outlined in this grant application.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Have demonstrated experience and excellence in several areas pertaining to serving families, children, providers, and community network building.

• A solid understanding of their awarded cities and towns.

• Meet regularly with EEC to discuss challenges, opportunities and any concerns identified in meeting all services identified in the Scope of Services.

• Selected bidders must maintain ongoing communication with EEC to ensure that required services are being provided in accordance with Contract terms and any updates thereto.

• Achieve and exceed EEC’s expectations regarding General Administration, Office Location, Staffing and Organizational Capabilities to provide quality, effective services as described in the Scope of Services.

• Must maintain a physical office in one of the communities that the organization proposes to serve and provide programs in the catchment area they apply to serve.

• Should open on a yearly basis excluding state and federal holidays.

• Must demonstrate that they have a system of sound financial management.

If an applicant proposes subcontracting some of their required services, the applicant must submit the proposed subcontracted services as part of its grant application response. Please note that all subcontracts must be in writing and include language that the subcontractor is an agent of the CFCE.

Responses to this RFR must meet submission requirements and timelines.

EEC will disqualify any incomplete or late competitive grant applications and these applications will not be considered or reviewed.

EXPECTED DURATION OF GRANT

Grant Duration Number of Options Number of Years/Months

Initial Duration Three (3) years, thirty-six (36) months, from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2026.

Renewal Options 1 One (1) option to renew for a period of two (2) years, from July 1, 2026, to

June 30, 2028.

Total Maximum Grant Duration Five (5) years, from July 1, 2023, to

June 30, 2028.

EEC shall have the sole discretion to determine whether to renew the grant. Renewal options are subject to State and Federal budget allotment and appropriation; the availability of funding; and the applicants’ satisfactory grant performance.

Failure of the Applicant to comply with any of the specifications in this Grant Application (RFR) shall be considered grounds for termination. The Applicant shall be liable for any costs incurred by EEC relating to the fulfillment of this Grant should it be terminated because the applicant failed to perform.

S C O P E O F S ERV I C E S

EEC’s mission, vision and strategic plan are built on the recognition that families are essential partners in the agency’s work. According to the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education in the joint guidance, “Policy Statement on Family Engagement: from the Early Years to the Early Grades”, families have strong and sustained effects on children’s development, learning, and wellness.

1Studies indicate that nurturing, responsive, and sensitive parenting promotes social-emotional competence and academic success. To this end, EEC builds and strengthens a local infrastructure of supports and services across the Commonwealth to ensure that all families with young children, especially those with the greatest need for educational supports and those experiencing multiple risk factors, have access in their community to the resources available to support their success.

Through the CFCE grant EEC intends to focus on universal and targeted outreach strategies to reach and meet the needs of children and families, linkages to comprehensive services, family education, transitional supports and building community capacity.

REQUIRED SERVICES/DELIVERABLES

CFCE grantees shall provide comprehensive support for children and their families through educational programming and referrals to a broad range of service providers. Grant activities must promote the Strengthening Families Protective Factors of parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development and children’s social and emotional development. In addition, these activities must align with the Principles of Effective Family Engagement. By supporting these protective factors in families through CFCE required services, grantees will reinforce family stabilization and optimal child development, which are identified with school readiness and success in life.

I. CFCE Governance Structure and Staffing

The vision, mission, and goals of a CFCE lead agency must align with the priorities and deliverables of the CFCE grant. Lead agencies must demonstrate a clear commitment to the successful oversight and implementation of this grant.

https://cssp.org/resource/about-strengthening-families-and-the-protective-factors-framework/ https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/family-engagement-framework.pdf

Lead agencies must:

A. Maintain, at least, one staff who coordinates the CFCE plus an agency manager who is familiar with the CFCE and its goals and programs.

B. Convene and consult with CFCE Advisory Council to gather community knowledge, perspective, and support for the implementation of this grant at minimum four times per year. Grantees must submit the names, agencies, and roles of Advisory Council members to EEC annually.

C. Ensure that CFCE staff have relevant education and experience related to CFCE required services.

D. Ensure all CFCE staff are qualified and appropriately trained.

E. Ensure that staff funded through the CFCE grant be culturally and linguistically reflective of the population served.

F. Ensure that CFCE staff participate in statewide, regional and/or online meetings/trainings as required by EEC.

G. Ensure all CFCE staff use Strengthening Partnerships: A Framework for Prenatal through Young

Adult Family Engagement in Massachusetts to engage caregivers and children in program offerings.

H. Provide ongoing professional development opportunities for CFCE staff aligned with grant requirements and specific program needs.

II. Serve as Information and Referral Hub

Provide community-based information and act as a resource hub and navigator for families to increase their knowledge of and accessibility to high-quality early education and care programs and services for families with children birth through age six, including information and referrals that address a wide range of informal and formal transitions.

A. Outreach

1. Conduct targeted outreach through a variety of methods and languages, ensuring that the highest need populations of children and families are provided with opportunities to receive information and other supports. Grantees are expected to have an online presence as part of their outreach and communication strategy. Suggested methods of outreach include:

a. Social media;

b. Maintaining a consumer friendly, up-to-date, and easily accessible website;

c. Electronic and print newsletters and brochures; and

d. Participation in community-wide events to build awareness and extend the reach of

CFCE programming and services. Events that are strictly designed for outreach should not be included in playgroup numbers.

2. Work with local partners to disseminate outreach and engagement information, including, but not limited to:

a. Families facing social isolation;

b. Grandparents raising grandchildren and other kinship arrangements;

c. Fathers and other male caregivers;

d. Single parents;

e. Young parents;

f. Foster families;

g. Family, friend, and neighbor care also known as informal caregivers;

h. Families with newborns or newly adopted infants; and

i. Families outside the traditional model, including LGBTQ+.

3. "Funded by the Department of Early Education and Care” and the EEC logo must clearly appear on all CFCE outreach materials, such as newsletters, flyers, and program promotional information.

B. Information and Resources

1. Maintain up-to-date community resource information on comprehensive services available to families in their community. This information should be inclusive of resources, but not limited to these examples:

a. Basic Needs (TAFDC, SNAP, WIC, food, diaper bank, clothing, shelter, etc.)

b. Child Development (EI, Special Ed, RCP, Head Start, ECE, etc.)

c. Health and Wellness (Pediatrician, Mental Health, Mass Health, postpartum, Covid 19, etc.)

d. MASS 211 and other hotlines (Poison Control, Domestic Violence, etc.)

e. Child Care Resource and & Referral agencies, Family Resource Centers, Family Service

Centers

f. Other resources that address a range of formal and informal transitions for families with children birth to kindergarten entry

2. Support families with high needs as well as those whose children have disabilities and/or special needs, by providing enhanced referrals where necessary and conduct follow-up regarding placement and/or services provided.

3. Work in Partnership with Massachusetts’ Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies, EEC regional offices and other EEC grantees on behalf of families.

CFCEs must effectively coordinate with CCR&Rs, EEC Regional offices and other EEC grantees as follows:

a. Participate in quarterly meetings with CFCE, CCR&R, and other EEC grantee staff facilitated by EEC;

b. Establish and maintain open ongoing communication win the CFCE service area, including follow up meetings and phone calls to identify and plan responses to collaboratively meet the needs of families in each community served;

c. Provide resource information to families including, but not limited to:

d. sharing information about the CFCE to post in their offices, websites, and social media pages; and

e. Provide current CFCE contact information to be shared with families, educators, and programs;

f. Respond timely to referrals made by CCR&Rs and other EEC grantees for families to the CFCE program for information and services;

g. Conduct outreach to families on EEC’s financial assistance waitlist.

4. Provide current CFCE grant program information to Mass 2-1-1 to be shared with families who contact Mass 2-1-1 for programs and services.

III. Family Education and Supports

Promoting Optimal Child Development and Strengthening Parent Capacity

Family education and support activities must be intentional, culturally and linguistically responsive, build trusted relationships with families, and connect to a larger family engagement and education strategy that provides repeated opportunities for effective family engagement and participation. CFCE intentionally promotes evidence-based education, family engagement opportunities and literacy support through activities that:

• build on family strengths;

• promotes and practices cultural and linguistic competence;

• bolster parental leadership;

• create parental opportunities for mutual support and social connections;

• build literacy skills, while supporting the development of home language and the needs of Dual

Language Learners; and

• are community-based and center on families’ roles as children’s first and most important teachers, advocates, and nurturers.

A. Ages and Stages Questionnaire

In partnership with families, use the Ages and Stages Questionnaire to enhance understanding of child development and link families with community resources.

1. Make ASQ data easily accessible and understandable to parents and assure all families who take the ASQ receive follow up feedback;

2. Support families in interpreting and using data to support their children’s learning and development;

3. Make referrals to comprehensive services for families with children identified as needing further assessment; and

4. Input completed paper ASQs that were not conducted by Family Access into the online ASQ system monthly.

B. Evidence-based Parent Education

Provide educational opportunities for families that:

1. Strengthen knowledge of child development across all developmental domains; and

2. Enhance families’ capacity to support their children’s development. This could include education on social and emotional development with strategies for managing challenging behaviors and on specific content areas relevant to young children, such as science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

C. Literacy and Language Supports

1. Support literacy through evidence-based programming, small group activities, and community-wide initiatives that strengthen the quality of parent-child verbal interactions and support school readiness.

2. Implement EEC approved, evidence-based early literacy models/practices that have specific goals, tools to measure outcomes and focus on home language development.

These must include:

a. Interactive Book Reading, which promotes expressive/receptive language development and includes explicit interactive techniques such as asking children to point to the story title, predict what might happen next, and retell story events.

b. Dialogic Reading, that promotes Verbal Fluency/Auditory Comprehension, scaffolds adult-child language interaction around reading, and can be used to assess and support oral language and vocabulary development through multiple readings and conversations about books.

c. Provide families with information and resources regarding basic literacy training and adult basic education that is linguistically and culturally appropriate.

D. Parent/Child Educational Programs

1. Offer parent/child educational playgroups that align with the following EEC guidelines:

a. Parent/Child educational playgroup facilitators must:

i. Have backgrounds (training/education, experience) in child development/early education and guide children and adults through group and individual activities focused on developing early learning skills;

ii. Use strengths-based approaches in their work with families;

iii. Whenever possible be of the same cultural group of families served and always be culturally and linguistically responsive to families served; and

iv. Use data from evaluation surveys and ASQs to inform program development, improvement and outcomes for children and families.

b. Parent/Child educational playgroups must:

i. Provide children with intentional developmentally appropriate learning experiences with their peers and families with goals that are explicitly linked to Massachusetts early learning standards and guidelines;

ii. Provide families with information, resources, support, and connections to promote optimal development in their children;

iii. Include modeling of evidence-based practices by facilitators and opportunities for practice for families;

iv. Be effective in building social and learning networks (groups that enable families to meet, share ideas and resources and learn from each other in social settings), which may reduce isolation and strengthen families; and

v. Be located in neighborhood parks, schools, libraries, and other local settings that may avoid a need for transportation and are easily accessible to families.

c. Parent Education and Leadership

i. Provide parents with individual and peer supported groups where they can learn about child development and enhance their caregiving skills and confidence.

ii. Parent support guidance must be grounded in evidence-based curricula such as the Nurturing Program or the Power of Parenting.

iii. Provide opportunities for the voices of parents and families to guide programming whenever possible and look for places to support parent leadership.

E. Supports for Early Childhood Transitions Between Settings

1. Coordinate activities and resources, which maximize families’ access to supportive prenatal to age six transitions between and among home and early education and care programs in the mixed delivery system (e.g. family child care, center-based programs, public schools, out-of-school time settings, early intervention, and early childhood special education).

2. Collaborate with public elementary schools to promote connections with families of: three-year-olds (for child find), five to six-year-olds (for kindergarten entry):

a. Reduce the numbers of children that arrive at kindergarten with no prior early childhood facilitative learning experience and/or arrive unregistered for kindergarten; and

b. encourage family engagement in early elementary school.

3. Collaborate with early intervention and public schools to ensure that families with children who participated in early intervention have access to specific information and support to promote successful transitions from early intervention to appropriate early education and care options, which may or may not include special education.

F. FY 2024 Calendar of Activities

1. Applicants must submit a list of proposed activities scheduled throughout the year that meet the required services/ deliverables of this CFCE grant. Ongoing Calendar of Activities must be submitted quarterly to EEC for approval. Please use your own template for the calendar. The following elements should be included:

a. Month

b. Program type

c. Brief description

d. Age range for program

e. Towns that are served and town location of program

f. Facility location (e.g. library, shelter)

g. Time of day

h. Frequency (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)

i. Strengthening Families protective factor(s) supported through each activity

2. Activities must:

a. include programming specific to the needs of children and families in the specific community(ies) served;

b. include programming and services for every month of the year – including summer months; and

c. be offered in locations and at times that provide accessibility to families in all the communities served by this CFCE grant.

G. Program Space

CFCE programming and services must be offered locally and, in each community, served.

Families should have an opportunity to network with other families, engage in CFCE programs and services and access information and referrals in these settings. Hours of operation and programming schedule for each CFCE location must be easily accessible for families.

Program space must be family friendly, accessible, and safe for children. While CFCE programs are not required to be licensed, EEC child care licensing regulations provide good guidance on health and safety as well as accessibility.

IV. Assessing Needs, Measuring Impact and Satisfaction, Quality Improvement

Collecting and analyzing data on the effectiveness of the CFCE program should inform decision-making in terms of program implementation and professional development opportunities for staff, and support overall continuous quality improvement. The following is a list of tools and resources to support successful implementation of the CFCE grant.

CFCE Toolbox:

• Ages and Stages Questionnaires

• Strengthening Families Self-Assessment

• Impact Measurement Tools

• Satisfaction Surveys

• CFCE Reporting/Quality Improvement Planning

• EEC Learning Management System (LMS)

A. Ages and Stages Questionnaires – Grantees are expected to use this screening tool to provide families with additional information about their child’s development and link them to resources as needed. Trends in child screening results should inform programming content.

B. Strengthening Families Self-Assessment – Grantees are expected to complete this online tool on an annual basis in the first Quarter of each fiscal year of the grant, using results to inform service delivery, programming, and staff professional development.

C. Community Needs Assessments- Working with council members and other community partners, grantees are expected to review existing demographic and resource data on their communities. Strengths and gaps should be identified through this process, which must inform programming and service delivery decisions. This review must be completed in writing by December 31, 2023.

D. Satisfaction Surveys – EEC will provide satisfaction surveys for parent-child playgroups, parent education programs, and staff professional development events to collect feedback from participants about CFCE programming and services.

E. CFCE Reporting/Quality Improvement Planning – EEC will provide CFCE grantees with an online reporting tool that will incorporate data collection integrated with opportunities to identify action steps for quality improvement based on information gathered using the tools listed above.

V. Systems Building: Community Engagement and Collaboration

CFCE grantees are expected to strengthen the capacity of communities through council membership and community collaboration. These collaborations should promote the intentional alignment of goals, approaches, and policies between agencies that serve young children and their families.

A. Local Advisory Council

Grantees are required to have a Local Advisory Council. Council members are required to sign the CFCE Advisory Council Agreement. The Council:

1. Identifies and explicitly links to any existing community-based early education and care councils in their service area and works in partnership to promote alignment of existing councils/initiatives supporting families with children from prenatal through age 6.

2. Collaborates across EEC funded agencies/grantees and other community-based programs to build on and foster efficiencies within the local array of services available to children and families. Examples include Child Care Resource and Referrals (CCR&R), Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations (ECMHC), et al;

3. Facilitates linkages between public and private sectors, e.g., business community, higher education, local foundations, public libraries, and hospitals;

4. Establishes partnerships that support the goals of the CFCE grant;

5. Through needs assessment and analysis, leverages existing community strengths, reduces duplication of services, and fosters ease of access for families;

6. Includes representation of Massachusetts Home Visiting and other state funded community initiatives to ensure active engagement and alignment of services and supports to families;

7. Acts in an advisory capacity to the CFCE grantee, reflecting the needs of the community in the context of existing programs and services for families while aligning recommendations with CFCE objectives;

8. Provide guidance to collaborate with CCR&Rs, Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (ECMHC), Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiatives (CPPI), and Professional Development Centers (PDC) grant programs.

9. Meets quarterly throughout the year. Meeting minutes must be submitted to EEC within forty-five days of each council meeting; and

10. Offers families the opportunity to strengthen leadership and advocacy skills. Opportunities may include: co-chairing the advisory council, conducting outreach, and engaging other families, providing recommendations that inform CFCE policy and practice, organizing parent focus groups, or co-leading CFCE programming opportunities with CFCE staff.

B. Supporting Community-based Child and Family Serving Programs

1. Refer other family serving, community providers to resources that support evidence-based, effective family engagement programs such as local early education and care programs, consumer education, technical assistance, and training that support the development of individuals working in community-based programs.

2. Connect community program’s access to a locally available set of comprehensive services that support the needs of children and families. Referrals for early education and care programs could include, but are not limited to, physical and dental health resources, early childhood mental health consultation, occupational or speech therapy.

3. Through efficient methods, such as advisory council meetings and email distribution, facilitate programs’ access to training, professional development, and other quality support services/ information available through the regional Educator and Provider Support (EPS) grantee.

C. Leveraging EEC’s Investment

Grantees are expected to generate in-kind contributions as well as additional public and private resources to support service delivery. In-kind contributions, additional grant resources, or other supports must be accounted for in the CFCE FY 2024 In-Kind Contributions and Fund-Raising form in this grant application and updated at the end of each fiscal year. Receipts for in-kind contributions should be provided whenever possible.

Optional Services/Deliverables

CFCE bidders may also apply to manage a ParentChild+ home visiting program as an add-on to the CFCE grant. ParentChild+ is embedded in the CFCE grant allocation for a number of Massachusetts’ cities and towns. ParentChild+ is a parenting, early literacy, and school readiness program designed to help strengthen families through verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their young children. Services are delivered through intensive home visits.

To deliver ParentChild+ services, bidders must be a CFCE grantee as well as be an authorized ParentChild+ replication site and/or must subcontract with an authorized ParentChild+ replication site.

If grantees apply to provide CFCE services in cities/towns that currently receiving ParentChild+ services, they must agree to continue providing ParentChild+ in that Service Area. See Appendix C: Allocation of Funding: Estimated Amounts Available by Cities/Towns, Tab 2 to identify established Service Areas. See Appendix K: ParentChild+ Program Description and Requirements for a complete ParentChild+ Program Description and Requirements.

EEC estimates that up to $4,000,000.00 will be available for funding the ParentChild+ open competitive bid for FY24. Funding is subject to State and Federal budget allotment and appropriation. Should additional funds become available, EEC reserves the right to make additional awards based on the responses received, the needs of the Commonwealth, and/or best value to the Commonwealth.

EEC reserves the right to reallocate funding to existing grantees in the event one or more grant is terminated or ended prior to the grant term. EEC also reserves the right, in the event additional funding becomes available, to add additional required services and/or extend the existing services.

Requirements to Bid for The ParentChild+ Program

1. Bidders who apply to deliver a ParentChild+ program must be a ParentChild+ replication site and/or must subcontract with an existing ParentChild+ replication site. See ParentChild+ website for existing replication sites in your area. https://www.parentchildplus.org/state/ma/

2. To bid for ParentChild+ services, applicants must bid for CFCE services and agree to offer ParentChild+ services to all communities within the identified ParentChild+ Service Area for which they bid. See the last page of Appendix C. Bidders are not allowed to offer ParentChild+ services outside of communities where they offer CFCE services.

3. Bidders must submit a ParentChild+ Statistical Form. See Required Grant Forms (iv.) for this form. Program I refers to the first year of ParentChild+ and Program II refers to the second year of the program. The form must include the proposed number of children and families to be served and the funding amount allocated to support these services. Successful bidders must update this form in Quarter 4 of each Fiscal Year.

The average allocation per family should be about $3,500.00 per year which is the median cost for delivering ParentChild+ services in Massachusetts.

4. Funding to support ParentChild+ programming must be clearly entered in the separate ParentChild+ budget in your response, described as such in the budget narrative, and accounted for separately throughout program delivery.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

To promote program integrity, overall quality, and an improved experience for families, EEC is introducing Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to evaluate the performance of selected grantees in delivering the services detailed in the Scope of Services section. Establishing baseline performance expectations allows both EEC and selected bidders to measure their performance in serving families and https://www.parentchildplus.org/state/ma/ ensure it is high-quality, respectful, and consistent. Each selected grantee is required to work collaboratively and in partnership with EEC to determine KPI’s. Bidders will submit their KPI’s on a monthly basis, unless collected through an EEC-provided technical solution. EEC will review these metrics regularly, provide coaching and support for selected bidders when needed, and formally assess KPI performance quarterly. Additionally, selected bidders will be required to provide brief descriptions of progress made in their quarterly reports, as well as areas of concern.

All CFCEs will be required to participate in a quarterly review progress program hosted by EEC. Mutually agreed upon Key Performance Indicators (KPI) will serve as the initial data points for these reviews.

Vendors that are identified to be underperforming will work with EEC to address any deficiencies and understand why KPIs were not met.

ANTICIPATED EXPENDITURES, FUNDING OR COMPENSATION

FUNDING

Estimated Value of Procurement: Up to $15,539,190.00 in FY2024 of which $11,539,190.00 is distributed through CFCE program delivery and up to $4,000,000.00 for ParentChild+ program delivery.

The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant is funded from a State appropriation for Account 3000-7050 and the FY2024 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant funding is subject to the FY2024 final State budget appropriation for Account 3000-7050.

The ParentChild+ Program is funded from a State appropriation for Account 3000-7052 and the FY2024 ParentChild+ Program funding is subject to the FY2024 final State budget appropriation for Account 3000-7052.

A projected budget reflecting services for FY2024 (July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024) is required for submission with this grant application. Please be advised that the FY2025 and FY2026 projected budgets may be amended if necessary.

EEC reserves the right to reject any and all proposals or any portion of the proposals submitted if it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to do so. EEC shall have the sole discretion to determine whether to renew the grant, and renewals are also subject to appropriation, the availability of funding, and a grantee’s satisfactory performance.

Funding is subject to State and Federal budget allotment and appropriation. EEC reserves the right to increase or decrease the maximum obligation to the selected Applicant, or to execute grants with Applicants not funded in the initial selection process, subject to available funding, satisfactory grant performance and service or commodity need. Should additional funds become available, EEC reserves the right to make additional awards based on the responses received, the needs of the Commonwealth, identified professional development needs, if applicable, and/or best value to the Commonwealth. EEC reserves the right to reduce grant allocation and reallocate funding in the event one or more grant is terminated or ended prior to the grant term. EEC also reserves the right, in the event additional funding becomes available, to add additional required services and/or extend the existing services.

FUNDING USE

Funds associated with this grant must be used to support the grant objectives, goals, and priorities. EEC reserves the right to approve, deny or request modifications on planned fund use. Programs that do not submit complete applications or request fund use for non-approvable expenditures may be subject to not having their grant awarded and/or awarded funding reduced.

Underutilization or failure to meet contractual requirements may result in termination or non-renewal of the contract.

Please see Appendix B: FY2024 CFCE Budget Guidelines, which is incorporated into this RFR, for specifics on allowable and unallowable fund use.

FUNDING FORMULA

FY2024 CFCE grant awards will be determined by city/town allocations which are based upon the following data points:

Data Point - 1 Children Birth to 5 Years Old (U.S. Census) Data Point - 2 Rural Community Indicator (Mass State Office of Rural Health) Data Point - 3 Children in Locale at or Below 85% State Median Income (U.S. Census) Data Point - 4 Redistribution of Significant Differences from FY2018 CFCE Grant

• The ParentChild+ allocation per family is approximately $3,500.00 per year.

EEC anticipates that all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns will be served through the FY2024 CFCE grant awards. To maintain parity with FY2018 funding amounts, while establishing a Funding Formula that is simpler, awards that varied significantly from the previous grant cycle were redistributed using the same three data points that determined the initial allocation.

Bidders should refer to Appendix C to determine the funding available for the cities/towns they propose as their service delivery area(s). Proposed funding requests must not exceed the combined total amount of the funds for each town as listed in Appendix C: Allocation of Funding: Estimated Amounts Available by Cities/Towns.

EEC may fund a successful vendor’s entire proposal or may select to fund only those services that best meet the needs of the communities to be served and/or those that reflect EEC’s strategic direction and/or priorities.

REPORTING

QUALITY REPORTING

The Federal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) Regulations at 45 CFR 98.53 require that states receiving CCDF funds allocate at least nine percent (9%) of the CCDF award total toward quality activities designed to improve the quality of child care. In fulfillment of this federal mandate, Massachusetts has identified this grant as part of Massachusetts’ overall quality activities allocation.

PROGRAMMATIC REPORTING

Individual/Program data will be required from grant-funded Applicants to measure the outcomes of this grant. Applicants must submit reporting information to EEC as outlined below:

Grantees must implement data collection methods and use data to inform practice and improvements to grant services and activities. In addition to collecting required data elements, grantees are expected to use tools to measure the impact of CFCE programs and services on families, assess consumer satisfaction with CFCE programs and services through family surveys, and complete the Strengthening Families self-assessment. Grantees can include additional data if they wand but must address these required questions as a minimum.

CFCE grantees will be required to submit reports on grant fund use to EEC when requested monthly.

Data to be reported will include impact questions related to families’ experience of CFCE programming and services as well as outputs related to families who received referrals and\or participated in educational programming, number of children who received ASQ screening, etc. In addition, grantees will be required to identify areas of improvement and plans for addressing these areas.

CFCE grantees are allowed to bill monthly and at a minimum are expected to submit invoices every other month for grant expenses.

In addition to monthly reporting, please see Section IV. Assessing Needs, Measuring Impact and Satisfaction, Quality Improvement for additional data collecting requirements.

Finally, applicants are required to complete and submit to EEC a Projected Deliverables Form that provides estimates for services that will be provided through the FY 2024 CFCE Grant. FY 2024 Projections will be based on grantees proposed geographic service delivery area, staffing levels, and FY 2024 funding allocations.

EEC, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to modify reporting requirements and/or add additional reporting requirements not found in this RFR. EEC may withhold funding to any grantee or to terminate or reduce funding to any grantee, if the grantee fails to submit quarterly reports and/or annual reports, as required, or otherwise fails to comply with the reporting requirements within this RFR or with any modified reporting requirements. Any changes to reporting requirements shall be made with at least 90 days’ notice to Grantees.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

All questions regarding this Grant Application must be submitted in writing via email to EEC no later than 4:00 PM ET on April 19, 2023. The email should be addressed to EECSubmission@mass.gov and should contain the Grant Application Title/Fund Code in the Subject Line of the email.

In response, EEC will develop a Questions and Answers (Q&A) document to address the questions received from the applicants. If applicable, questions that are presented in a Webinar will also be included in the Q&A document. EEC anticipates posting the Q&A document on COMMBUYS on or around April 25, 2023.

It is the responsibility of the Applicant to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS (e.g., the Applicant must keep a current email address for the Applicant’s contact person and prospective grant manager, if awarded a grant). The Applicant/Applicant’s contact person must monitor that email inbox for communications from EEC, including requests for clarification. EEC and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if an Applicant’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems arise, including those with the Applicant’s computer, network, or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the Applicant and EEC to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

APPLICATION AMENDMENTS

EEC reserves the right to make amendments to the application after initial publication. It is each applicant’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Application.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES

In accordance with the submission requirements detailed below, the online application with all required documents must be submitted electronically to EECSubmission@mass.gov no later than 4:00 PM ET on May 8, 2023.

We are not requiring that you submit hard copies of the grant application to EEC at the grant submission deadline. This means that you need to submit the online application electronically by the grant submission date, including uploading the required grant forms.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY HARD COPIES OF THE GRANT APPLICATION TO EEC.

We will send an approval email to you with instructions once we complete the grant review and the follow-up correspondence.

EEC will disqualify all incomplete grant responses or grant responses that are submitted after the submission deadline. Grant responses will be considered incomplete if any of the sections of the online mailto:EECSubmission@mass.gov application are not received by the submission deadline. Incomplete or late grant responses will not be reviewed or considered for funding. Please see the charts below for the submission requirements.

Note: EEC does reserve, in its sole discretion, the right to review and/or fund a grant response submitted after the deadline where an emergency situation caused or contributed to the late submission.

Additionally, for any submission that fails to meet the submission requirements of the Grant Application, EEC reserves the right to allow an Applicant to make minor corrections to its submission, if the evaluation team, at its sole discretion, determines that such non-compliance is insubstantial and can be easily corrected.

ONLINE APPLICATION SUBMISSION

To complete and submit the online portion of the grant application, please click the following link: FY2024 CFCE Online Application

Prior to submission, to ensure that the online application is completed fully and accurately, please see Appendix A: FY2024 CFCE Online Grant Application Instructions.

The online portion of the Grant Application includes the following information that must be submitted online:

1. Contact Information

2. Communities Served

3. Languages Spoken

4. Lead Agency Budget 4a. ParentChild+ Budget

5. Subcontractor Budget 6a. FY2024 Budget Summary 6b. FY2025 Projected Budget Summary 6c. FY2026 Project Budget Summary

6. Narrative Questions-- please see Required Grant Forms

7. Projected Deliverables-- please see Required Grant Forms

8. Required Grant Forms

i. FY24 CFCE Narrative Questions

ii. FY24 CFCE Projected Deliverables

iii. FY24 CFCE In-Kind Contributions and Fundraising

iv. FY24 ParentChild+ Statistical Projections

v. FY24 CFCE Local Advisory Council Form

vi. Calendar of Activities

vii. Advisory Council Bylaws

viii. Lead Agency Organizational Chart

ix. CFCE Program Organizational Chart (if different)

x. Resume (or job description) of CFCE Coordinator

xi. Lead Agency Indirect Cost Approval Letter (if applicable) https://eecweb.eec.state.ma.us/GrantsOnline/GrantsPortal/default.aspx?id=OO40P42EGLUA0R7S3MYV8IPS04I7L6W

xii. Subcontractor Indirect Cost Approval Letter (if applicable)

9. Checklist

10. Cover Page

11. MA Administrative Forms

EVALUATION CRITERIA

This is a competitive grant. EEC will first prioritize proposals by determining if they meet the eligibility requirements and then will score proposals that meet all eligibility requirements by priority category, according to the general evaluation and rating criteria articulated in Appendix F: Evaluation Criteria, which is incorporated into this RFR. Scores will be used to assess the strength of proposals received and to determine whether a performance/monitoring plan should be developed and implemented for an Applicant if they awarded a grant. EEC reserves the right to set the amount of funding, available to, or awarded to an Applicant, based on the Applicant’s score. Additionally, EEC reserves the right to decline to award a grant based on an Applicant’s proposal score.

ESTIMATED AWARD CONTRACT START DATE

July 1, 2023: this is the approximate start date. The actual start date will be the Contract Effective Date which is the date the Contract for the Award is executed by the parties.

SUBMISSION OF GRANT PROPOSALS/APPLICATIONS

See the Responses Deadline Date and Time indicated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar (below).

ESTIMATED PROCUREMENT CALENDAR

Procurement Activity Date Time

Grant Application Release/Posting April 10, 2023

Applicants’ Webinar Please click this link to register for the webinar:

FY2024 CFCE Bidders' Conference Webinar

April 13, 2023 1:00-2:30 PM ET

Submission of Written Inquiries Applicants must submit written inquiries to:

EECSubmission@mass.gov Inquiries may be submitted in advance of the webinar and after the webinar, up to the deadline.

April 19, 2023 4:00 PM ET

Response to Written Inquiries (Estimated) April 25, 2023

Submission Deadline for Grant Applications Applicants must submit proposals to:

EECSubmission@mass.gov

May 8, 2023 4:00 PM ET

Notification of Awards (Estimated) June 28, 2023

Contract Start Date (Estimated) July 1, 2023

Applicants are required to monitor COMMBUYS for changes to the procurement calendar for this Bid.

MA ADMINISTRATIVE FORMS

All applicants will be required to submit the MA Administrative Forms listed in the chart below when requested.

Form/Document Location Notes/Instructions (If any)

Request for Taxpayer Identification Number & Certification (Massachusetts Substitute W-9 Form)

COMMBUYS/Online Application

Electronic/Wet Blue Ink Signature Required, when requested

Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing COMMBUYS/Online Application

Electronic/Wet Blue Ink Signature Required, when requested

Authorization for Electronic Funds Transfer

COMMBUYS/Online Application

Electronic/Wet Blue Ink Signature Required, when requested

Standard Contract Form and Instructions Emailed to Approved Grantees

Electronic/Wet Blue Ink Signature Required, when requested https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdOisrzoqEtE_p13vbTJpAlkkBLfzc-3m

Form/Document Location Notes/Instructions (If any)

Federal Funding and Accountability and Transparency Act Reporting Requirement

(FFATA)

COMMBUYS/Online Application When requested

APPENDICES

All Applicants are required to review all the appendices…