Children and Youth Commission Small Grant RFQ

The City of Santa Fe Youth and Family Services Division in collaboration with the Children and Youth Commission is seeking applications for the Children and Youth Commission Innovation Fund. The commission is dedicated to enhancing community services, expanding equitable access, and fostering sustainable growth in program effectiveness by allocating funding to support local community programs that promote the healthy development of children and youth, ages birth to twenty-one (21).

The identified funding priorities reflecting the commission's commitment to empowering the Santa Fe community are:

1. Education and Career Readiness
2. Youth Physical and Mental Health and Well-Being
3. Support Services for Youth at Higher Risk

Pursuant to Section 2.F. of City of Santa Fe Ordinance No. 2001-7, applicants shall be limited to nonprofit organizations that have been granted and currently hold tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or to applicants whose programs are covered by a fiscal agent that meets these requirements. Applicants shall promote the healthy development of children and youth, ages birth to twenty-one (21).

Applicants must possess professional liability insurance at time of of purchase order issuance. Applicants must be a vendor of the City of Santa Fe (https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/santafenm) in order to submit a proposal. Offerors must agree to comply with state laws and rules applicable to workers' compensation benefits for their employees. Failure to comply with the Workers Compensation Act and applicable rules when required to do so may result in the termination of awarded funds.

Funding Criteria and Reporting Requirements:

Funding for the Children and Youth Innovation Fund comes from a percentage of the City's share of the state gross receipts tax (GRT) and is administered to local nonprofits (funding amount varies due to GRT fluctuations). Funding award amounts for CYC small grants will be capped at $45,000.00. CYC funding cannot be used for capital purchases.

Funding is reimbursement based. Funding is primarily intended to pay for direct services in the community, rather than to pay for administrative costs. Direct administrative costs for the program shall be as low as possible but not to exceed 30% and should be detailed in the budget section of the proposal.

Fiscal agents are responsible for program management, financial reporting and all agreement requirements. If an applicant is using a fiscal agent and awarded, the fiscal agent will process the reimbursement requests and all official documents and signatures must be those of the fiscal sponsor. Fiscal agent fees shall not exceed 12%.

Reporting shall occur biannually. Site reviews and/or visits are conducted by City staff members, commission members and/or consultants. Funded programs may be expected to participate in several training and technical assistance opportunities during the funding year.

This RFQ will result in multiple awards.