Earlier this week, we described a morning in the life of a child care health consultation nurse. We are now excited to announce that the Best Starts Child Care Health Consultation Service Delivery RFP is open for applications!
As part of our prenatal to age five investments, Best Starts for Kids will fund a range of Child Care Health Consultation services to be delivered by community-based organizations and agencies across geography, diversity of community, and types of child care so that we can leverage these communities’ strengths to meet the range of needs in the County. Best Starts will support programs based on a public health Child Care Health Consultation model, as well as community-informed pilot programs.
Click here to find the RFP and application details.
What is Child Care Health Consultation?
Child Care Health Consultation (CCHC) is a strategy that promotes the health and development of children, families and child care staff by ensuring healthy and safe child care environments. Various models of CCHC exist across the country, including one delivered by a team at Public Health-Seattle & King County. CCHC services typically are:
- Provided by a multidisciplinary team that may include nurses, mental health consultants, nutritionists, and/or community health workers
- Inclusive of strengths-based training and consultation across a broad range of health needs and concerns
- Centered in trauma-informed practice
- On-demand and on-site support to child care providers
Child Care Health Consultants provide tailored training, coaching, and support to child care providers to address their most pressing needs and provide overall assistance in identifying and implementing change to improve health and safety.
General Eligibility
This announcement is open to not-for-profit organizations, community-based organizations, tribes and tribal organizations, schools and school districts, and public or governmental agencies serving communities in King County. Small non-profits and community-based organizations are encouraged to submit proposals. We recognize that child care health consultation is a niche service area that requires expertise in health, working with young children, and community-specific approaches. Reflecting that, partnerships and collaborations that leverage multiple agencies’ strengths are strongly encouraged.
Available Funding
Best Starts for Kids will invest $2 million annually in Child Care Health Consultation in King County. Funds will be administered as two separate categories: one for programs using a Public Health Model and one for Community-Informed Pilots. Amounts available for each are detailed below:
Public Health Model Summary
- Funds Available: $1,000,000 per year
- Contract Period: Up to three years, beginning May 1, 2018
- Program Eligibility Criteria: Follows best practices of public health programs, multi-disciplinary team, adheres to standards in Caring for Our Children
- Funding Request Limits: $200,000-$750,000 per year
- Anticipated Number of Awards: 2-4
Public Health Model Program Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible for the public health model component of this RFP, the proposed program must meet all of the following program characteristics:
- Uses a multi-disciplinary team consisting at a minimum of a nurse and mental health consultant, and augmented with other staff (such as community health workers or nutritionists) as needed. Team members must have experience with child and community health, as well as familiarity with the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) and other relevant regulations.
- Follows best practices of public health programs and requirements of the WAC, and adheres to the standards outlined in Caring for Our Children.
- The program must also meet the definition of child care health consultation outlined in Section II, A of the RFP.
Partnerships and collaborations are strongly encouraged, and should be submitted with the proposal and identified in budget documents. Only one proposal is required from each partnership or collaboration, however the roles of each partner must be fully described in the narrative.
Community Informed Pilots Summary
- Funds Available: $1,000,000 per year
- Contract Period: Up to three years, beginning May 1, 2018
- Funding Request Limits: $150,000-$500,000 per year
- Anticipated Number of Awards: 2-6
Community Informed Program Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the community-informed model of this RFP, the proposed program should use approaches that are community-specific and focused on underserved child care providers. Proposals should offer innovative solutions to deliver CCHC services in a way that is culturally and linguistically appropriate and bolsters communities’ strengths to support children and families’ well-being. Community-informed models should be valued by that community, embedded in cultural and social conditions, and/or address populations not served by traditional models. The program must also meet the definition of child care health consultation outlined in Section II, A of the RFP. This program does not have specific staffing requirements, but should take a holistic view toward health and safety. Partnerships and collaborations are strongly encouraged, and should be submitted with the proposal and identified in budget documents.
Equity and Social Justice
In alignment with the Best Starts Equity and Social Justice framework and values, this investment will prioritize organizations that:
- Serve and/or are embedded in communities of color, immigrant and refugee communities, low-income communities, communities with disabilities, and limited-English-speaking communities, in alignment with King County’s Equity and Social Justice Ordinance, and as prioritized in the BSK Implementation Plan.
- Provide services in communities and/or geographies where there are limited resources or service gaps. This includes communities where there are few or no services available, the services available are insufficient for the need, or available services are not relevant to specific community needs.
- Expand services to child care providers who have been consistently and historically underserved by CCHC resources. This may include Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) and informal caregivers, rural providers, or new providers seeking initial licensing. For the Community-Informed Programs component, applicants should identify the providers they feel are most underserved within their community.
- Partner with community-based organizations serving diverse communities. This includes employing staff and leadership who are representative of the communities served, and using clearly defined processes for soliciting family, provider, and community input on needs and services.
Timeline
| RFP Issued | January 18 |
| Information Sessions | In person: January 24, February 2 and 7, 2018
Online: January 23, 2018 See below for time and location details. |
| Final Day to Ask Questions | February 16 |
| RFP Addenda Issued (if necessary) | February 19 |
| RFP Responses Due | February 28 |
| Responses Reviewed and Rated | March 20 |
| Notice of Selected and Non-Selected Proposals | April 10 |
| Contracts Begin | May 1 |
Information Sessions
- January 23, 2018 from 1:00-2:00pm online conference only. To join the presentation, click here. Audio via phone at 1.206.263.8114; conference ID 2701484
- January 24, 2018 at the White Center Library, 1409 SW 107th St, Seattle, WA 98146, in the meeting room from 11:00am-12:30pm. Free technical assistance will be available immediately following for in-person support from 12:30-1:30 pm.
- February 2, 2018 at the Snoqualmie Library, 7824 Center Blvd SE, Snoqualmie, WA 98065, in the meeting room from 1:30-3:00pm. Free technical assistance will be available immediately following for in-person support from 3:00-4:00 pm.
- February 7, 2018 at the Federal Way Library, 34200 1st Way S, Federal Way, WA 98003, in Meeting Room 1 from 12:30-2:00 pm. Free technical assistance will be available immediately following for in-person support from 2:00-3:00 pm.
Need help? Get free technical assistance
Technical assistance is available at no cost to support Best Starts for Kids applicants. Providers offer a wide range of skills, areas of expertise, and language abilities.Need help? Get free technical assistance
See the list of providers and contact information for technical assistance here.
Where can I find data to support my application?
Best Starts values the use of multiple sources of data and information. While the use of data resources is not required, we have compiled some King County data resources to assure equal access to information. Indicators identified for Best Starts can be found here: www.kingcounty.gov/bskindicators. Please visit the “Data Resources” page on the Communities Count website.