Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver�s Choice

							                        VOUCHER DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM
                                Grant # 90CV0457

                REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS | TECHNICAL PROGRAMMER



OVERVIEW
The National Mentoring Partnership, Inc. (MENTOR) is accepting applications for a service
delivery demonstration project funded by the Administration on Children, Youth and
Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB). The Service Delivery Project –
Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice (Caregiver’s Choice) – is a cooperative
agreement with MENTOR to ensure the national distribution of mentoring service vouchers
to families and caregivers of children whose parent(s) are incarcerated in either a state,
federal or tribal prison.


FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
MENTOR is the lead champion for youth mentoring in the United States. Our goal is simple
but powerful: to help young people achieve their full potential. An estimated 17 million
children in America need and want mentors. MENTOR helps children in need through
building: a capacity of mentoring programs nationwide; quality for mentoring in general
(through standards, cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art-tools); and capital (MENTOR
assists the mentoring movement raise funds to continue its critical work). MENTOR works
closely with State Mentoring Partnerships and more than 5,000 mentoring programs and
volunteer centers throughout the country, serving more than 3 million children in all 50
states.


The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded MENTOR a three-year, $30
million grant to administer the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Voucher Demonstration
Program. Caregiver’s Choice provides vouchers for mentoring services to children of

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prisoners and their families through a mentoring support agency. Vouchers enable families
to choose a mentoring program that meets quality standards, and enable mentoring
organizations to serve children closer to where they live.


Through this cooperative agreement with FYSB, MENTOR and selected applicants are
expected to reach families not previously served through the MCP program
(http://www/acf/hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/youthdivision/programs/mcpfactsheet.htm) by
identifying children of prisoners who have not been matched with a mentor by the recipient
of the MCP grant. Priority should be given to children who: reside in an area not already
served by an MCP grantee; reside in an area that has a substantial number of children of
prisoners; reside in a rural area; or are Native American.


Vouchers shall be provided to the families of children of prisoners identified by the grantee
to redeem for services at any participating agency meeting quality standards. Vouchers
shall have a service value not to exceed $1,000.


Vouchers will increase effective mentoring practices in several ways:
      Vouchers allow families to choose from a range of mentoring programs that have
       met quality standards.
      Vouchers enable prisoners’ families from a variety of communities and demographics
       to select mentoring programs that are geographically close and connected to their
       culture.
      Vouchers assist families and/or caregivers in providing additional caring and
       supportive adults in the lives of their children.


MENTOR announces the availability of approximately $100,000 for the third year of a three-
year grant award to non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, government agencies
and individual consultants that provide training/technical assistance on how best to support
children of incarcerated parents through mentoring services.




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ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, government
units, and individual consultants with extensive, proven experience in providing services,
technical assistance and support to organizations that serve children with incarcerated
parents and/or families of children of incarcerated parents.


DEADLINE
All applications are due by 4:30 p.m. E.T. on April 16, 2010. Applications must be
submitted to MENTOR via email at caregiverschoice@mentoring.org or hard copy at 1600
Duke Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314, Attn: Caregiver’s Choice. Applications
submitted by fax will not be accepted.


APPLICATION SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
I.     Scope of Services
       Through a cooperative agreement with FYSB, MENTOR has agreed to distribute not
       less than 13,000 vouchers for mentoring services over a 12-month period in the
       third year of the grant. Participating Caregiver’s Choice programs must use of
       MentorPRO® Basic.


       MentorPRO® Basic (MPB) is an online tracking and evaluation tool specifically
       created for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice Demonstration
       Project. MPB allows participating mentoring programs to manage their one-to-one
       mentoring relationships, including the documentation and completion of four
       mentoring relationship milestones. As programs enter information about mentor
       screening, match meetings, etc., MPB tracks their progress towards meeting the
       criteria of each of the four mentoring milestones. Completion and verification of
       each milestone flags payment to be made to programs as they meet their
       milestones. Each program receives a total of $1,000 for each match if all four
       milestones are completed. Additionally, MPB features several reminders and on-
       demand, real-time reports that help mentoring programs track and assess data to



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better manage their Programs, manage mentoring Relationships, and evaluate
Outcomes of their Caregiver’s Choice matches.



Further, MPB has additional user levels each with different features and
functionality. An overview of MPB is attached.


As such, the service delivery plan will achieve the following outcomes:

Technical Assistance and Support:

   Web hosting for MentorPRO Basic; and
   Maintain web server, database server and development environment.

Prototyping, Programming and Quality Assurance (QA):

   Manage QA review, testing and related bug fixing;
   Identify, prototype and program additional functionality;
   Additional reporting as approved by MENTOR; and
   Ongoing maintenance and testing.


The applicant will provide the following:
       Dedicated Hosting Services to include management of dedicated hardware
        equipment located at a domestic hosting facility. Clearly articulated process
        on how the following services will be supported: 24 x 7 Ongoing Support and
        Maintenance, Web Hosting /Replication and Mirroring, Shared SQL Database,
        Scripting and Drivers Updates, Troubleshooting and Availability for Repair,
        Virus Scanning and Protection, Security and Software updates and
        monitoring, Full Backup and Recovery and use of firewall.
       Proposed costs for an interim “service agreement” for 6 months to correct any
        bugs, make enhancements, etc. to the product.
       A plan that describes protocols for transferring the web-based application and
        data to a separate entity with a delivery date proposed for September 2010.




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       An online demonstration of MPB will be provided to interested applicants to assist
       them in developing their proposal of services. Please email
       caregiverschoice@mentoring.org to schedule a demo.


II.    Program Requirements
       The successful applicant should demonstrate credentials and experience managing,
       maintaining and making enhancements for similar products. MentorPRO Basic uses
       Microsoft Visual Studio.NET technologies using ASP.NET (Active Server Pages in the
       .NET environment) as the programming language. ActiveReports by Data Dynamics is
       used for the reporting processes. All data is stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The
       product is available in development, staging and production environments —all of which
       need to be maintained.


III.   Definitions
          Caregivers – A parent or legal guardian charged with the responsibility of caring
           for a child while one or both parents are incarcerated.
          Children of Prisoners (Mentees) – Children with one or both parents
           incarcerated in a Federal, State and or tribal correctional facility. The term is
           deemed to include children who are in an ongoing mentoring relationship in this
           program at the time of their parent’s release from prison, for purposes of
           continued participation.
          Jail – A detention facility for those awaiting trial or convicted of minor offenses.
          Mentor – A trained and carefully screened caring adult who is willing to serve as
           a trusted guide to a youth mentee.
          Responsible Mentoring – A structured and trusting relationship that brings
           young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support and
           encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the
           mentee.
          Vouchers – Indirect funding, or funds provided indirectly, to a provider of
           mentoring to children of prisoners, where the choice of service provider is in the
           hands of the family. Each voucher shall have a service value not to exceed


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         $1,000 and will be distributed to the provider of mentoring services over a 12-
         month period based on the demonstration of significant services and activities
         related to milestone criteria.


IV.   Award Period and Future Funding
      The successful applicant will receive funding through September 29, 2010.
      Additional funding will be subject to an approved extension from the Department of
      Health and Human Services (FYSB).


V.    Selection Criteria
      In awarding this grant, MENTOR will consider:
      A. Program Design (35%)
      B. Organizational Capacity (50%)
      C. Budget/Cost Effectiveness (15%)


      A. Program Design
         MENTOR will consider the quality of the proposed design based on the
         soundness, relevance, and creativity of applicant’s plan.



      B. Organizational Capacity
         MENTOR will consider the capacity of the applicant to deliver the proposed
         services based on:
            Applicants’ credentials and experience managing, maintaining and making
             enhancements for web-based products.
            Expertise in Microsoft Visual Studio.NET technologies using ASP.NET (Active
             Server Pages in the .NET environment) as the programming language.
            Expertise in ActiveReports by Data Dynamics and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
            Applicant’s ability to provide dedicated hosting services that includes
             management of dedicated hardware equipment located at a domestic hosting
             facility.


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              Note: This product is available in development, staging and production
              environments —all of which need to be maintained.


      C. Budget/Cost Effectiveness
          MENTOR will consider the budget/cost effectiveness of the applicant that:
             Is complete with allowable, and cost effective in relation to the proposed
              activities.
             Shows the cost calculations demonstrating how the applicant arrived at the
              total amount requested.
             Provides a brief supporting narrative to link the costs with the projected
              activities.


      MENTOR will make all final decisions concerning awards and may require revisions
      to the grant application in order to achieve the objectives under this Request for
      Proposal.


VI.   Content and Form of Application Submission
      The length of the entire application must not exceed 30 pages. The project
      description must be typed and double-spaced on a single-side of 8 ½ x 11 inch plain
      white paper. The document should be created in a MS Word format. The application
      should include the following and be in the following order:


         Table of Contents
          This section should reference the order of the application sections and provide
          page numbers.
         Project Summary/Abstract
          Applicants must provide an abstract that clearly identifies the scope of the
          proposed work, including goals and objectives, major activities, and expected
          outcomes. This section, what the project will accomplish, should be no more
          than three paragraphs.
         Project Description

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    Applicants will include a comprehensive description of the proposed project
    including what it will accomplish and how it will be implemented. The project
    description should address the requirements in Section I (Scope of Services).
   Timeline
    In addition to the narrative description of the project design, applicants must
    submit a timeline or milestone chart that indicates major tasks in the proposed
    design. Applicants should not use actual calendar dates in their timelines;
    instead use “Quarter 1”, “Month One”, etc.
   Capabilities/Competencies
    Applicants must describe the roles and responsibilities of project staff and explain
    the program’s organizational structure and operations. This section of the
    narrative must also describe how the project will be managed and staffed. This
    section should also address experience, expertise and capabilities of staff
    working on the project.
   Budget and Budget Justification
    Applicant must submit a budget that includes both a detailed worksheet itemizing
    all costs and a narrative explaining and justifying each budget item. The
    worksheet should provide the detailed computation for each budget line item.
    The worksheet must list the cost of each item and show how the cost was
    calculated. For example, costs for personnel should show the annual salary rate
    and percentage of time devoted to the project for each employee paid through
    grant funds. The narrative should describe each budget item and relate it to the
    appropriate project activity. It should closely follow the content of the budget
    detail worksheet and provide justification for all proposed costs. In the budget
    narrative, the applicant should explain how fringe benefits were calculated, how
    travel costs were estimated, and why particular items of equipment or supplies
    must be purchased and how overhead and indirect costs (if applicable) were
    calculated.
   Other Attachments
    Applicants must submit the following materials as attachments to their
    application:

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               o Resume’s of all key personnel.
               o Job descriptions outlining roles and responsibilities for all key positions.
               o Letters of support/commitment and memorandums of understanding
                  (MOUs) from partner organizations.


VII.   Hard Copy Submission
       Applicants that are submitting their proposal in paper format should submit one
       original and two copies of the complete application. The original and each of the two
       copies must include a signed cover letter from an authorized representative. The
       original copy of the application must have original signature(s). Submit applications
       to the following address by 4:30 p.m. E.T. on April 16, 2010:

       MENTOR
       1600 Duke Street, Suite 300
       Alexandria, VA 22314
       ATTN: Caregiver’s Choice

VIII. Electronic Submission
       Applications submitted electronically to caregiverschoice@mentoring.org must
       be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. E.T. on April 16, 2010. MENTOR cannot
       accommodate transmission of applications by facsimile.


IX.    Late Applications
       Applications that do no meet the requirements above are considered late
       applications. MENTOR shall notify each late applicant that its proposal will not be
       considered in the current competition. Any application received after 4:30 p.m.
       Eastern Time, on the due date will not be considered for competition.


X.     Final Decision
       An award announcement regarding this competition will be made after April 23,
       2010.




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XI.   MENTOR Contacts
This notice is available at www.mentoring.org/MCPCC_RFP/; www.fbo.gov; www.sba.gov
and www.mbda.gov. For questions about this competition, please call the Caregiver’s
Choice staff at 703.224.2210 or email caregiverschoice@mentoring.org.




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