Project SEARCH QA 2.pdf

Project SEARCH - Request for Grant Proposals (RFGP) OregonBuys Bid Number S-10000-00008884 Frequently Asked Questions

For Technical Questions contact OregonBuys help desk support.oregonbuys@das.oregon.gov 1-855-800-5046

Single Point of Contact and facilitator:

Russell Brammer, (he/him pronouns) russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov

Q: Will we have one point of contact?

A: Yes, Russell Brammer is the single point of contact. Email all questions directly to Russell at russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov

Q: Will a recording of this session be available?

A: Yes, a recording of this session may be requested by emailing russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov

Q: When are questions due?

A: The questions or requests for clarification are due November 1st.

Questions emailed to Russell at russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov will be responded to within 5 business days. All questions and answers will be available in OregonBuys by November 6.

Q: When are the proposals due?

A: Proposals must be received before 3:00 PM on November 15th. Please don’t wait until the last minute to submit your proposal, there may be technical delays. The timing of receipt of proposals is determined by when it is timestamped in OregonBuys, not when you submitted it.

Q: Who is eligible to submit a Proposal for this Grant? Are proposers expected to be a nonprofit or for-profit entity? Are Partnerships eligible?

A: Proposers must be either a Community-Based Employment Provider with status as a Current Vocational Rehabilitation vendor; or a school district, Career Technical School, community college, or education service district who provides transition services. Your corporate or business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, for profit, non-profit, etc.), isn’t a concern as much as your proposal demonstrating that you meet the mailto:support.oregonbuys@das.oregon.gov mailto:russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov mailto:russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov mailto:russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov mailto:russell.brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov minimum qualifications to apply. See Section 3.1 “Minimum Qualifications” in the solicitation document for more information.

Q: How many Project SEARCH Grants will be offered? Will more than one agency be awarded Grants, or will all four sites mentioned be offered to one provider agency?

A: ODDS has limited funding for up to four sites but may offer less if we don’t receive viable proposals for all 4 sites. It’s possible one Proposer will be granted an award for multiple sites, they could all go to different organizations, or none could be awarded.

Q: Is there an anticipated award amount per Grant?

A: The anticipated award is to be determined. We will be evaluating your cost proposals to see if it’s sustainable and feasible for this project.

Q: What are the allowable expenses? Will bringing on new staff be included in the scope of the Grant?

A: This solicitation is an opportunity to create a pilot program. Include in your cost proposal the amount of funding it will take to get this program off the ground – from the point of execution of the Agreement, to run it for the 2024-2025 school year. You may include new or existing staff costs, as well as other expenses.

Q: Do you have any examples of plans that have been proposed?

A: No, we don’t have any examples to provide.

Q: How have other states been allocated this funding? Have they started any part of the program like this that you are aware?

A: ODDS is using one-time ARPA funding for this opportunity, which is a federal program. Other states have decided to use ARPA funding in a variety of ways, we’re not aware of how they have chosen to use their funding.

Project SEARCH is a nationally recognized internship program for people with developmental disabilities. There are many Project SEARCH sites across the United States. The successful Proposer(s) (if any) and ODDS will work directly with the national Project SEARCH organization to implement this program. More information about Project SEARCH can be found at https://projectsearch.us/.

https://projectsearch.us/

Q: If we partner with a school district will the school district have to provide a special education teacher for the program?

There is information in the solicitation itself that talks about the required partnerships; See the Amendment 1 Document in OregonBuys for more information.

The expectation is that if any qualified entity submits a proposal, they will have to partner with appropriate organizations to fulfill the roles they are not able to fill themselves. For instance, if an employment provider submits a proposal, they may decide to hire a teacher themselves, or they may need to partner with an appropriate educational institution to provide a qualified instructor and/or recruit student interns. To be clear, any school district, Career Technical School, community college, or education service district who provides transition services is considered an appropriate educational partner. This point is clarified in the Amendment 1 document in OregonBuys.

We know that these partnerships are new, and we are open to considering different partnership possibilities. ODDS won’t specify exactly what that will look like because we want to give you flexibility to make it work, depending upon where you are located in the state.

Q: Is the expectation to replicate the traditional transition program model?

A: The Project SEARCH internship program has a fidelity model separate from the traditional transition program. Many transition programs across the United States have adopted this model to facilitate a seamless transition from school to employment.

Q: Can it be an existing program? Or does it need to be a new program within the organization?

A: It could be a new program, or it could be existing. Serving Transition- Age students in the state of Oregon is what makes this pilot new and different. There are existing Project SEARCH sites in Oregon right now, but they only support adults. This solicitation is the first opportunity in Oregon to have a Transition-Age program. So even if you use the same actual physical space, this will be serving a different demographic.

ODDS encourages proposals from existing Project SEARCH sites for this Grant. Proposers with experience running an adult Project SEARCH site, interested in expanding capacity by starting a Transition-Age Project SEARCH site, or shift from their current adult program to a Transition-Age program are encouraged to respond to this opportunity.

In addition, existing school based transition programs may apply for this Grant to start a new Project SEARCH site hosted by a business in the community.

Q: Will students participating have to remain enrolled in their school district and have an IEP throughout this pilot year?

A: That is really a school district decision rather than a Grant decision.

There are going to need to be some negotiations between the school district and partners in this process because they have their own policies, but at this stage that is really a school district decision as opposed to a Grant decision.

Q: Can this Grant be used to fund Transition-Age students to attend a hybrid program for adult and Transition-Age participants?

A: No, this Grant opportunity is not intended to fund a hybrid program, but a new capacity building effort to build a Transition-Age program in and of itself.

Q: What are the qualifications for a qualified instructor?

A: As stated in the solicitation in section 3.1.2 “Key Person(s) Requirements”, Proposals will need to describe the intended qualified instructor’s ability to instruct the curriculum. Intended qualified instructors may or may not be lead persons, if they are not lead persons, it is optional to include them in your Proposal. If there are specific concerns about the qualifications for an intended qualified instructor, let us know. This point is clarified in the Amendment 1 document in OregonBuys.

Q: In terms of presenting a project budget, I see that the Grant term will end June 30th 2025 - is there a suggested start date that we use?

A: Funding will start upon execution of the Grant Agreement. After proposals have been evaluated, successful proposers have been determined, and after a negotiation process they will receive a Grant Agreement. Let's just say January 1 for example - so if the execution date is January 1, you could start your expenses as of that date and run them up to the end of the Agreement term, which is June 30, 2025. This project is intended to start with the school year in 2024, say, September of 2024 through June 2025. So the budget will have more than a year for that project SEARCH site to be funded.

While 2024-25 is our expected schoolyear for this project, you can start your expenses before that. You will have a budget and then you'll need to spend that money within that time period. To clarify, expenses can start before the schoolyear, but not before the negotiated agreement has been signed.

Q: Is there a target age grade that should be eligible for this transition opportunity? Is Senior year involvement or is it post-graduation?

A: Transition-Age Individual means Individuals with IDD who are found eligible for ODDS services who are no older than 24 years of age and no younger than 14 years of age.

Q: Can a provider partner with an ESD rather than a single district?

A: Yes, any school district, Career Technical School, community college, or education service district who provides transition services is considered an appropriate educational partner. This point is clarified in the Amendment 1 document in OregonBuys.

Q: What does the letter of commitment from a school district need to entail for an employment provider proposing?

A: All letters of commitment will be evaluated, and they don’t have specific requirements outside of what is described in Section 3.1.3 “Letters of Commitment”. We’re not telling you exactly what you need to put in it, but we will be evaluating your letters as we score this Grant to see who's the most viable proposer. To clarify, any school district, Career Technical School, community college, or education service district who provides transition services is considered an appropriate educational partner to fulfil the educational institution letter requirement for a Community Based Employment Provider. This point is clarified in the Amendment 1 document in OregonBuys.

Q: Would a two-year proposal be entertained? Is this expected to self-fund after year one? Will this Grant be available in the future? Can it be a year-round program?

A: ARPA funding will not be available after year one - this is designed for the 2024-2025 school year. Proposals will be scored and will factor in sustainability - see section 3.3.1.3.: “Describe proposers plan for sustaining project search after the funded Grant agreement term ends.” We'll be looking at that as we score this to see what your plans are for creating a sustainable program, but this money will just be for the 2024-2025 school year. There are many examples all over the United States of sustainable project search models for Transition-Age programs.

Q: Does it have to be physical space location or can program services be provided in the community?

A: The Project SEARCH Program is a unique, business-led and hosted, one-year employment preparation program that takes place entirely at the workplace in the community. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training through worksite rotations. The program culminates in individualized job development for participants.

Q: In Oregon buys, where are the attachments?

A: Search for bid solicitation S-10000-00008133 on OregonBuys https://oregonbuys.gov/bso/

After selecting the Project Search hyperlink, you’ll find an attachment section in the lower left-hand corner with links to all the attachments:

https://oregonbuys.gov/bso/

Q: I haven't seen the new YTP RFA, but can this be part of that?

A: This is a separate solicitation and will be evaluated on its own merits.

Q: Will we be required to partner with schools?

A: Yes, or other education partner specified in the RFGP. If you are a Community-Based Employment Provider you will need to identify and partner with a school district, career technical school, community college or education service district who provides transition services. Please see sections 2.5.1.6 “Steering Committee,” and 3.3.1.1.4 for more information.

Q: Does my organization qualify as a Community-Based Employment Provider or Vendor Agency?

A: The definitions of those phrases are in the solicitation document at subsection 2.2.7 on page 6:

“Community-Based Employment Provider” or “Vendor Agency” means a Provider organization that has been certified or qualified through ODHS’ ODDS to provide employment services to Individuals with I/DD, or has a contract with ODHS’ Vocational Rehabilitation to provide job placement and Job Coaching supports and has experience providing supported employment supports to Individuals with I/DD.

Subsection 3.3.1.1.1 starting on page 14 describes what kind of documentation must be provided:

If Proposer is a Community-Based Employment Provider with status as a current Vocational Rehabilitation vendor, Proposer must provide copies of relevant documentation issued by the State of Oregon demonstrating their status. Examples of documentation include but are not limited to DD license, a letter from VR showing Proposer has a current contract.

If you feel that describes your current situation and you can provide relevant documentation, I’d encourage you to consider submitting a proposal.

A recording of pre-proposal conferences are available upon requests emailed to: Russell.Brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov mailto:Russell.Brammer@odhsoha.oregon.gov