Frequently Asked Questions about the CSRW RFP
What neighborhoods are eligible to apply?
- Allston / Brighton
- Charlestown
- Mattapan
- Roslindale
In addition, through this RFP process, Thrive in 5 will choose a fifth neighborhood from one of the following:
- East Boston
- Communities within Dorchester
- Roxbury or communities within Roxbury
- South End
Proposed communities within Dorchester or Roxbury must meet the following criteria:
- At least 500 children birth to under age 5 reside there
- At least 70% of children birth to under age 5 are children of color
- At least 29% of children birth to under age 5 live in households that are under the federal poverty line
How were the eligible neighborhoods chosen?
Allston / Brighton, Charlestown, Mattapan, and Roslindale were selected in order to build on existing early childhood initiatives
sponsored by United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and the City of Boston. The Allston Brighton Early Childhood System of Care works in Allston / Brighton
and Smart from the Start works in Charlestown, Mattapan, and Roslindale.
The neighborhoods eligible to be the 5th neighborhood for CSRW: East Boston, communities within Dorchester, Roxbury or communities
within Roxbury, and the South End, were selected based on the following criteria agreed to with our funder, who wanted an assurance that
the neighborhood would be a diverse, low income neighborhood:
- At least 500 children birth to under age 5 reside there
- At least 70% of children birth to under age 5 are children of color
- At least 29% of children birth to under age 5 live in households that are under the federal poverty line
What if no competitive proposals are submitted from one or more of the neighborhoods originally selected (Allston Brighton, Charlestown, Mattapan, Roslindale)?
If the strongest proposal from 1 or more of the originally selected neighborhoods does not rank within the top 50% of all proposals received, the proposal/s will be flagged for a special review. A review team comprised of community readers and Thrive in 5 staff will read the flagged proposal/s and make a decision whether to fund it or not.
If it is decided that the proposal/s is not strong enough to fund, we will award the grant to the 5th strongest proposal instead. In this case, we would be funding CSRW in more of the diverse, low income neighborhoods listed in the RFP (Roxbury or communities within Roxbury, communities within Dorchester, South End and East Boston) rather than all 4
of the originally selected neighborhoods.
What organizations are eligible to apply?
- Established non-profit organizations
- Grassroots community groups
- Faith based organizations
- Community centers
- Family-serving agencies
- For-profit organizations
In all cases, the lead and fiscal agent (the hub agency) must be a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization.
Can a collaboration apply?
Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply as a collaboration of 2 or more entities working together. As a part of their proposals, partner organizations
will submit Memorandum/a of Commitment that outline the roles and responsibilities of each partner.
Organizations that apply as a collaboration must designate one organization as the fiscal and lead agent called the hub agency.
This means that Thrive in 5 will transfer payment to one organization (i.e. the hub agency) and this organization will be
accountable to Thrive in 5. The way that this hub agency divides the money is up to the organization and its
collaborating partners. For example, if one organization in the collaboration will be in charge of Family,
Friend and Neighbor Care outreach and engagement and another organization will be in charge of the data collection system,
the hub agency may transfer funds within the collaboration. On the budget worksheet, this may be designated as contracted
services, but it does not need to be designated in this way. Please note: We do recommend that hub agencies use an award
letter, subcontract or other formal agreement among collaborators.
Can my organization submit a letter of support and/or Memorandum of Commitment for more than one applicant?
Yes.
The budget worksheet states that the budget period is 1/1/2010 to 6/30/2010. I thought the grant period was 18 months. Is this correct?
There is a typo in the budget worksheet (RFP Appendix F). The grant period is 18 months, therefore the budget period should read 1/1/2010 to 6/30/2011. We apologize for any confusion this caused.
What are the criteria for determining which neighborhoods are offered January 2010 funding?
Applicants that demonstrate through their proposals that they have the foundation needed to start CSRW will be offered funding to being in January 2010. Organizations
that apply as a collaboration of 2 or more entities working together will be in better position to be selected for the January state date.
What is the RFP decision making process? Is it written down? Will it be a public process?
There is a written decision making process for the Community School Readiness Wiring hub agency selection process. Please contact Katie Madrigal, Thrive in 5 Ready Families Manager (katie.madrigal@thrivein5boston.org or 617-624-8196), to receive a copy of the selection process document.
The hub agency selection process will be an open process. Any not-for-profit organization is encouraged to apply. Initial scoring of the proposals will be done by an independent group of community readers. In addition, applicants may request:
- Feedback about their proposals
- Guidelines given to proposal readers
- Numerical scores of all proposals
- Consensus ranking by proposal readers
- Consensus ranking by Thrive in 5 team
- Thrive in 5 Leadership Council feedback (if any).
We will make a list of proposals submitted available, and proposals will be available upon request with the permission of the proposer.
What does success look like after 1 - 3 years?
CSRW will be in different in every neighborhood, based on the neighborhood's assets, needs, demographics, and creativity. In each neighborhood there will be a School
Readiness Roundtable and CSRW Project Plan. The RFP gives specific, measurable 18-month expectations in Section II. In addition, there are short term and long term outcomes included
in the CSRW logic model (Appendix C).
Is planning time built into the grant?
There is project development time built into the grant. Hub agencies will be expected to submit an Outreach and Engagement Plan within 6 weeks of receiving the grant,
and a CSRW Site Plan within 6 months of receiving the grant. During this time, we expect hub agencies to focus on gaining community support, recruiting partners (including families),
developing a neighborhood-wide vision and creating their project plan.
For answers to more questions:
Read a summary of the community meetings in August
Read Questions & Answers from the Bidders' Conference
Read Questions & Answers - Supplement (Bidders' Conference)
Go back to the Request for Proposals Page
