This RFP is for community-designed programs and practices for prenatal to five home-based services.
Home-based services are a type of relationship-based support provided to expecting parents, and parents of children birth to age 5, in the places where they live. Home-based services are intended to provide a range of resources and supports that contribute to improved maternal-child health outcomes, increased parenting knowledge and confidence, reduction in parent stress, strengthened parent-child attachment, positive child development, and potentially, other outcomes. Best Starts is working to build a range of home-based services across age groups, geography, diversity of communities, service intensity, and types of evidence so that we can meet the variety of needs in the County. The Best Starts Home-Based Services Strategy is investing in:
Programs that were eligible to submit applications for the Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Home Visiting Programs RFP are not eligible to apply for the same program for this application. For example, Parents as Teachers were identified as an eligible program for the Evidence-Based RFP and are therefore not eligible to apply to this RFP.
Click here to view all supporting materials associated with this RFP.
Commitment to Equity
Equity and Social Justice is an integral part of the County’s work and foundational to the work of Best Starts for Kids. Our goal is to ensure that all people, regardless of who they are and where they live, have the opportunity to thrive, with full and equal access to opportunities, power, and resources.
For Best Starts funded programs, we seek to support organizations that are reflective of and embedded in the communities they serve, and recognize and address the disparities and disproportionality that exist in our communities.
Eligibility
- Organization Types: 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.
- Ineligible Home Visiting Models: The following home-based services are not eligible for this RFP:
- Programs that were eligible to submit applications for the Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Home Visiting Programs RFP are not eligible to apply for the same program through this RFP process. They may apply for a program that has a significant adaptation that has not yet been codified or tested.
- Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) is not eligible for this RFP. Best Starts funding for PCHP is administered through the United Way of King County and was put out to bid in an earlier RFP.
- Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is not eligible for this RFP. BSK has invested in the expansion of NFP delivered through Public Health Seattle-King County.
- New or Already-Implementing Programs: Organizations can apply for funds to support:
- The development of a new program
- Significant improvement or further development of a currently operating programs
- A specific adaptation of a program or addition of a new practice to a program
- Partnerships: Partnerships are eligible to apply. One organization must agree to serve as the lead and contract administrator.
Funding Priorities
In alignment with the Best Starts Equity and Social Justice framework and values, this investment will prioritize:
- Communities of color, low-income communities, and limited English-speaking communities
- Populations and communities experiencing significant service gaps
- Organizations that are connected to, and embedded in, the community served
Funding Detail
This RFP is intended to expand the availability of services that use other valuable forms of evidence such as “community-defined evidence” and “practice-based evidence”:
- Community-defined evidence refers to a set of practices that communities have used and determined to yield positive results as determined by community consensus over time.
- Practice-based evidence refers to local aggregate evidence collected from individual client histories to learn what is happening in community practice.
This RFP prioritizes community-based expertise—such as experience, knowledge, and local client data—and embraces the concept that “practitioners in the field, families, communities, and diverse cultures serve a vital role” in identifying optimum programs and practices.
Through this RFP, Best Starts for Kids is seeking to invest in prenatal-to-5 home-based services that are specifically designed for a focus community. Proposed programs should be valued by the focus community, be embedded in cultural and social conditions of the community, and/or address populations for which Evidence-Based or Evidence-Informed programs have not been developed.
Programs that are selected for this RFP will receive funding for two distinct phases over a period of 2.5 years.
- Program Development and Implementation Planning
- Award: $50,000 per funded program
- 6 months: August 1, 2018-January 31, 2019
- Program Implementation
- Award: approx. $250,000 per funded program per year
- 23 months: February 1, 2019-December 31, 2020
Timeline
| RFP Issued | April 11, 2018 |
| Info Sessions | April 16, 18, 2018 |
| Final Day to Ask Questions | May 8, 2018 |
| RFP Addenda Issued (if necessary) | May 11, 2018 |
| RFP Responses Due | May 21, 2018 |
| Responses Reviewed and Rated | June 7, 2018 |
| Notice of Selected and Non-selected Proposals | June 18, 2018 |
| Selected Proposals List Published | June 21, 2018 |
| Contract Term | August 1, 2018-December 31, 2020 |
Info Sessions
Online
Monday, April 16, 11:00am-12:30pm
This is an online conference only. Join the conversation.
Audio via phone at 206-263-8114, conference ID: 9034606
In-Person Bidder’s Conference
- April 16, 2018 at the Snoqualmie Public Library in the meeting room from 3:30pm-5:00pm.
- April 18, 2018 at the White Center Library in the meeting room from 10:30am-12:00pm.
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.
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.