Families First Evaluation RFP Questions with Answers



Families First Evaluation RFP Questions and AnswersHow much funding is available?We are not able to share this information.Will the funding come out of the $13.9 million currently available?We are not able to share this information.How many Family First Prevention Service Grantees are expected from the current RFP? Can you share the estimated number of proposals from the required letter of intent to apply?It is unknown at this time exactly how many awards will be made. There were approximately 40 letters of intent submitted, however they were not required to be able to apply.Can an agency be awarded both a FFPSA Service Grant and this FFPSA Evaluation Grant, if we use separate staff, department, or subcontractor for the FFPSA?Proposals received will be reviewed. Decisions regarding multiple awards across grants would be made based on review of proposals received. Can an agency be awarded both a Family Preservation Grant and this FFPSA Evaluation Grant?Yes.What type of evaluation is expected: Measure of fidelity to EBP, Formative, Process, Outcome?Outcomes are listed in the RFP. Fidelity to EBP is not in the scope of the evaluation. We welcome ideas in the proposals. Does DCF need to have evaluation of all services, or is an appropriate sampling method allowable?Outcome measures are regarding all children served and detailed in the operational definitions. We welcome odeas in the proposals. Will DCF be applying for a waiver for evaluation of well-supported practices?See answer to # 6. We noticed that if all renewal options are used this Evaluation grant will last for one year longer than the current grants awarded under the FFPSA Services RFP currently open.?Can DCF explain the reason for the longer period for the evaluation grant than the service provision grants??Is it DCF’s intent to extend or publish another RFP for service grants that then would be the responsibility of this evaluation grantee?Renewal episodes contemplate time lapse to measure outcomes and prepare reports. Section II., Page 7. Should any additional target outcomes (beyond those identified in the RFP) be proposed in the RFP application or can target outcomes be collaboratively determined post-award?See answer in #6. On page 8, under program outcomes, can DCF explain what “indirect services that support implementation of evidence-based strategies” mean? Is this the specific EBPs in the Prevention Clearing House and/or general evidence-based strategies or practices for implementation of any evidence-based strategy?The evaluator will not provide indirect services to a DCF client population. The intention of this section was to convey the outcomes that prevention grantees have in their outcomes that would be a part of the evaluator’s scope to analyze and measure.Should the proposal include travel or other reimbursement for statewide and regional advisory work groups?YesIs there a desired or maximum capacity DCF has in mind for the state and regional advisory work groups?The state workgroup is estimated to be about 25 people. Regional teams may vary. Is there a preference for face-to-face or virtual meeting for the statewide and regional advisory work groups?We welcome ideas in the proposal. Will there be a requirement to report to and or participate in any national or cross-state evaluation efforts? At this time, DCF is not aware of any such requirement. Apart from the required financial, budget, and status reporting, how frequently does DCF want written reports on evaluation?? Annually?? Quarterly?? More frequently?Quarterly Section III., Page 9. 2)What is the estimated award funding amount (floor and ceiling)?We are not able to share this information.Section V. Page 12. Clarify if resumes and job descriptions of key staff/positions are considered part of the Program Narrative 20-page limit.They should not be a part of the Program Narrative. Section V. Page 12. Can DCF provide examples of how previous awardees have created a plan for “how the long-term financial sustainability of the project will or might be funded in the future” for an outside evaluation of DCF programs of similar size and scope?This is all a part of a new federal program and DCF has not had such grants in the past.The RFP appears to speak to grantees and evaluation applicants. Can you provide clarification on the specific evaluator/evaluation response based on the guides of this RFP?Responses to this RFP should speak to capacity, design approach and methods of evaluation of outcomes for FFPSA evidenced-based foster care prevention grants as set forth in the RFP and federal guidance. See Section 2 for more information on purpose, goals, objectives, initial outcomes, standards and data elements.In RFP Section V. Application Process – Grant Budget Request (pg. 12), would the State be amendable to the use of our hourly rate which is fully loaded for budgeting purpose (includes Equipment, Supplies, etc.)?This being a grant we are required to report actual expenses to the federal partners and therefore an hourly rate invoice is not possible. All actual expenses must be reported for payment.Does DCF have an anticipated date the Evaluation RFP will be awarded?Before October 1, 2019.Regarding the Grant Budget Request in Attachment B: Would the State be amenable to an alternative cost proposal that is based on Phases of the project, with associated deliverables?See the answer to #21.The Grant RFP indicates $13.9 million is ear marked for Family First programs. How many different programs is DCF anticipating approving with that funding?See the answer to #3.Regarding the Attachment A – Grant Application Information Sheet, would the State be amendable to the use of a Transmittal Letter as the contents of the Application do not fully apply to the External Evaluator RFP?No.Regarding the Attachment E – Debarment Memorandum the link , it is not working. Do you have another link that should be used for this RFP? Was this opportunity sent to all certified evaluation vendors? If so, is there a list of these vendors available?It is unknown if those who received the RFP are certified evaluation vendors or not.Are For-Profit organizations allowed to apply for this RFP?Yes, if they otherwise meet eligibility requirements.How many grantees and/or programs do you expect to fund? Do you expect there to be multiple grantees (meaning organizations, not programs) within each region? See answer to question #3. It is possible there may be more than one organization in a region. The following statement (a) is at the bottom of page 8 of the RFP. Do you mean that the evidence-based strategies would result in improvements in proximal individual/family outcomes (e.g., progress on measures of mental health, substance use, parent skills, kinship navigation, etc.), while also contributing to state and local outcomes (which would be the larger distal outcomes of family engagement and reduced entry)? We weren’t sure what targeted state or community-level factors might be measured through an evaluation of proximal outcomes. If you have other outcomes in mind, can you provide those? Here is the statement in question: The grantee shall be responsible for providing indirect services that support the implementation of evidence-based strategies that result in improvements in targeted State-or community-level factors, while also contributing to State and local outcomes as indicated below:Family Engagement in program delivery Reduced entry into foster care See answer in #6. We welcome ideas in the proposal for additional measures. Some of the required narrative components appear to be more related to program implementation (i.e., statement of the problem, sustainability). The evaluation will be dependent on the problem statements and/or targeted outcomes identified by the funded programs. It seems inappropriate for the evaluator to submit a statement of the problem since our work will be in support of the organizations that are focused on the problems as they identified them. Also, the evaluation would typically only last as long as the program. It will be difficult to respond to these sections without knowing what the funded programs are and have submitted. Is there an alternative response we can provide?These sections are required of a grant RFP response for DCF. We are unable to provide guidance to any applicants on how to respond to an RFP. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download