The RFP for Vroom Community Connectors is now open. Applications are due July 3.
Click here to view the request for proposals and apply.
This link will take you a ZoomGrants page. Create a log-in to view the RFP and apply.
What is Vroom?
Vroom is a nationwide initiative that empowers parents and caregivers to play a proactive role in their children’s early brain development. Vroom has brought forth creative tools and materials that inspire families to turn shared moments between caregiver and child into brain building moments through more than 1,000 parent tips, deployed in a variety of ways. Vroom, with its parent-friendly, parent-facing language, can maximize the strengths and resources of families, within communities.
Vroom was developed by the Bezos Family Foundation with thoughtful input from parents, early childhood experts, neuroscientists, and community leaders. It was piloted in Southwest King County in 2014 through the Road Map Project and Community Center for Education Results (CCER – the backbone organization for the Road Map Project). The Bezos Family Foundation continues to support Vroom to be integrated into local efforts across the country and internationally. Through Best Starts for Kids, Vroom is a key tool for community- and family-engagement here in King County.
What is Help Me Grow?
One of the fundamental messages King County has received from communities regarding services for Prenatal – 5 Years is the importance of getting families the information they need, and coordinating all available services, so the right service is obtained at the right time. One of the unique opportunities posed by Best Starts is to partner deeply with diverse communities across the County which have knowledge, trust and history with children, youth and families.
The purpose behind the King County Help Me Grow framework is to weave together services within and across communities, assuring that there is no wrong door for families needing referrals and access. As part of Best Starts, King County is using the Help Me Grow national framework to inform the development of a coordinated system to get families the information they need and to coordinate all available services within King County. Help Me Grow is an evidence-based, family-centered framework for promotion, prevention and early intervention efforts. Building a comprehensive system will take several years and will involve many partners. Vroom is an important tool in building the Help Me Grow framework and will provide opportunities to engage all families.
Community Connectors
This Vroom Community Connectors RFP is a pilot project that will inform Best Starts for Kids in moving forward with additional opportunities. Best Starts will contract with Somali and Latino/Latina/LatinX community-based organizations. As we build community engagement for our Help Me Grow framework, we will use Vroom to engage with families and learn together.
BSK’s goal is to increase partnerships within the Somali and Latino/Latina/LatinX communities that will improve systems and access to resources and services. We also want to engage with families to learn about cultural adaptations for tools and programs that can be used to assure healthy, early brain development and facilitate connections to additional resources. Both Vroom and Help Me Grow will be stronger through partnerships and shared learning.
Based on survey and evaluation feedback from King County-based Vroom providers, we heard that more resources are needed in both Spanish and Somali languages. King County is focusing efforts and resources to support these communities in a way that allows for deeper integration of Vroom.
The Vroom Community Connectors will be contracted within community-based organizations to do the following:
- Support King County in identifying, learning and documenting best practices for Vroom activation within specific cultural communities: What does Vroom activation look like within different programs or communities? How is Vroom being used in these specific cultural communities? Where are the places Vroom is most successful?
- Provide additional support for ongoing community engagement specific to Help Me Grow.
- Serve as ambassadors for Vroom and Help Me Grow within their communities and inform the most effective ways to share information.
- Build upon current work to translate/adapt Vroom materials, attending to both language and cultural nuances within the Somali community.
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, community-based organizations, and youth-led organizations are encouraged to submit proposals.
Investment Available
| Somali community | Approximately $75,000 | One Year Pilot Contract |
| Latino/Latina/LatinX community | Approximately $75,000 | One Year Pilot Contract |
Timeline
| RFP Issued | May 16, 2018 |
| Information Sessions: | May 21, 130-230 online webinar
May 23, 1230-130 at Skyway Library May 24: 11-12 at Kent Library |
| Final day to ask questions from TA providers | June 28, 2018 |
| Application Due | July 3, 2018 |
| Responses reviewed and rated | July 20, 2018 |
| Interviews with applicants (if necessary) | late July 2018 |
| Notice of selected and non-selected applications | first week of August 2018 |
| Selected RFP list published | August 10, 2018 |
Have more questions? Join us for information sessions
Online Webinar
May 21, 1:30-2:30pm. Click here to join. Call in option (audio only): 1.206.263.8114
Conference ID: 6223700
In Person Information Sessions
May 23, 12:30-1:30pm at Skyway Library, 12601 76th Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98178
May 24, 11:00-12:00pm at Kent Library, 212 2nd Avenue North, Kent, WA 98032
Need help? Get free assistance applying
Help preparing your application 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.