Notice of Funds Available (RFP) Print Apply for this Grant

Specifications

Posted	Applications Due	Start Date	End Date	Amount	Match	Poverty Match	Council Staff
	Mar 16, 2018	Jun 01, 2018	May 31, 2020	$67,500.00	$22,500.00	$7,500.00	Danny Fikac

Introduction

The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (TCDD) approved funds for one project for up to two years to hire and mentor one TCDD Policy Fellow.

This project will increase the number of policy professionals in Texas who have the skills, knowledge and experience to engage in policy activities that lead to systems change so that people with developmental disabilities have greater control over their own lives. The entity receiving funding must support Fellows to develop a deep understanding of policies affecting people with developmental disabilities and to demonstrate they have attained the skills to promote self-determination and self-advocacy in the policy environment.

About this funding opportunity:

• TCDD may post this Request for Proposals (RFP) up to two times per year.
• If your proposal is not selected, you may re-submit the same proposal or a new proposal for consideration at a later date.
• You may apply if you have previously received a grant for a TCDD Fellow, but no earlier than one year after the end of the previous TCDD Fellow grant. If funded, you may not select the same Fellow again.
• You may choose to hire a Fellow for less than two years, but you will have to adjust your budget accordingly if you do so.
• Past success and performance with TCDD grants will be a factor in the selection process.
• Applicants who have not received a TCDD Policy Fellow grant before will be given priority in the selection process.
• You may not have more than one TCDD Policy Fellow grant at a time.

Funding for the second year is not automatic. See the "Continuation Funding" section of this Request for Proposals (RFP) for more information about continuation funding application requirements. TCDD does not plan to provide funding for these projects beyond two years.

If you have questions after reading this RFP, contact Danny Fikac, Planning Specialist, at Danny.Fikac@tcdd.texas.gov or at 512-437-5415.

About TCDD

TCDD is a state entity that is funded by the federal Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) in accordance with the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (DD Act). TCDD's mission is to create change so that all people with disabilities are fully included in their communities and have control over their own lives. TCDD awards grants to entities sharing TCDD's vision and values for projects that are consistent with the Goals and Objectives in the Five Year State Plan. TCDD expects these projects to help TCDD meet the following TCDD FY 2017 - 2021 State Plan Goal:

Goal 3: Increase the access that individuals with developmental disabilities and families of individuals with developmental disabilities have to information, training, and support to advocate for themselves and/or to collaborate with allies to impact public policy, service systems, and community supports.

You may read more about TCDD, TCDD's mission and values, and the Five Year State Plan, at www.TCDD.texas.gov.

Who May Apply

Public agencies, not-for-profit organizations, secondary schools and post-secondary institutions, faith-based institutions, and for-profit businesses may apply. The entity that applies for this grant must be the entity that will administer the grant and receive, disburse, and account for grant funds.

Individuals may not apply for this grant.

Funding and Duration

TCDD may award a maximum of $67,500 per year for one project, for up to two years. TCDD reserves the right to negotiate the budget as needed and may choose not to award funding for these projects.

TCDD grantees must provide a matching contribution each year. Matching contributions may include funding, volunteer hours, or other "in-kind" donations, such as office space and utilities. Other federal funds may not be used as match. Items or funds that are used for match for another federally-funded project also may not be used as match. TCDD prefers that the amount of match increase each year of the project.

Project activities located in counties not designated as federal poverty areas require matching resources equal to at least 25 percent of total project costs. Project activities located in counties designated as federal poverty counties require matching resources equal to at least 10 percent of the total project costs. The minimum amount of required match can be found on the front page of this RFP.

A list that identifies poverty counties is included in the "DD Suite Guide and Application Instructions" attached to this RFP.

Due Dates

All questions must be asked in writing and emailed to Danny.Fikac@tcdd.texas.gov by 5:00 PM Central Standard Time on February 23, 2018. Questions will not be accepted after that date and time. TCDD will post questions and answers on DD Suite as an attachment to this RFP on February 27, 2018 by 5:00 PM Central Standard Time.

Proposals must be received by 5:00 PM on March 16, 2018. Late proposals will not be reviewed. User errors that result in a failed or late submission will not be grounds for an exception to the deadline. If you have questions about DD Suite and cannot find answers in the DD Suite Guide and Application Instructions attached to this proposal, email Joanna.Cordry@TCDD.Texas.Gov or call 512-437-5410. This should be done as early in the process as possible.

TCDD will notify applicants about decisions within 30 days following the Council meeting.

How to Apply

To submit your proposal:

1. Complete all required sections of the application in DD Suite. If the application is not complete, the proposal will not be reviewed for funding.
2. Complete all sections of the Supplemental Forms packet and upload it to DD Suite as an attachment to your proposal. If Supplemental Forms packet is not complete, the application will not be reviewed.
3. Upload the Supplemental Forms packet and other required documents to DD Suite as attachments to your proposal. Documents received by fax, email, hand delivery, or mail will not be considered.
4. If you have Letters of Support or letters from other entities or individuals that state they will partner on the project, upload them to DD Suite as an attachment to your proposal. Letters will not be accepted by fax, email, hand delivery, or mail.
5. Submit the completed proposal, the Supplemental Forms, and allowed attachments through DD Suite by the due date and time. Late proposals will not be accepted.

Please note:

• The DD Suite application states "no budget selected." This is because TCDD requires the budget to be submitted as a part of the Supplemental Forms packet that must be completed and uploaded to DD Suite. Proposals that do not include a budget will not be reviewed.
• The "DD Suite Guide and Application Instructions" provides information about using DD Suite. You may also click on the "Help" link in the upper right hand corner of DD Suite. If you still have a question, TCDD staff are available to help.
• TCDD will only accept applications and documents that are submitted through DD Suite by 5:00 PM Central Standard Time on the due date.

Bidders Conferences

TCDD will hold two telephone bidders' conferences to provide more information about TCDD and TCDD's proposal review and grant award process. The same information will be covered at each teleconference. You are not required to attend in order to apply.

Telephone bidders conferences will be held:

• January 24, 2018 at 11:00 AM Central Time
• February 20, 2018 at 2:00 PM Central Time

Please email Danny.Fikac@tcdd.texas.gov to sign up. To join the conference, dial the toll free number:

• Dial 1-877-820-7831
• Enter participant Passcode 649944#

Background

Many professional advocates who collaborate successfully with people with developmental disabilities and their families on disability-related policy issues are nearing retirement. TCDD believes it is important to ensure that new policy-focused professionals receive training and mentoring from these experienced professionals. Unfortunately, the opportunities to be mentored by seasoned, long-time experts may decrease in the near future as those experts retire.

Through a fellowship program, TCDD intends to support opportunities for experienced policy professionals to train and mentor less experienced policy professionals. TCDD expects that TCDD Public Policy Fellows will develop the skills and knowledge to work effectively at the state and community levels. Although the Fellow will likely contribute meaningfully to the missions and policy work of the grantee, the primary focus of this project is to mentor and support the Fellow so they may contribute to the disability community.

Please note: TCDD funds may not be used to support people to engage in activities that would require registration with the Texas Ethics Commission as a lobbyist. If a mentor is a registered lobbyist, they may only lobby as a part of their job that does not involve the Fellow. If you receive this grant and use any TCDD funds to support a mentor who is a registered lobbyist, you must must clearly separate those aspects of the mentor's job that involve lobbying. It must be 100% clear that they are not conducting any of the lobbying activities while being paid by TCDD funds. This arrangement would be negotiated with TCDD grants staff, who would help determine what kind of documentation must be provided.

Outputs and Outcomes

TCDD expects your project to:

• Provide the Fellow with training to enable them to work at the national, state, and community levels on issues that address major social, economic, and/or health conditions facing persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Document the activities involved in training the Fellow in order to create a mentorship guide that will provide information to TCDD, AIDD, other Councils, and other organizations.
• If the Fellow helped individuals with developmental disabilities and/or family members to increase their advocacy skills, report how the people trained or supported used those skills be more fully included in their communities and/or exercise control over their own lives.
• Provide TCDD with information about relevant public policy issues, how public policy issues can be or were addressed, and whether efforts to address them were successful. Public policy issues might be related to such things as rules, laws, budgets, practices, or other barriers that prevent people from accessing information, services and supports, and/or being included in community life.
• Provide TCDD with at least one story each year about a person who experienced a benefit from the project.
• Provide TCDD with relevant information to assist TCDD to better understand and address the experiences of diverse groups of people who are unserved and underserved (including, but not limited to, people of color, people living in rural areas, people with limited English proficiency, and people living in poverty).
• Ensure that the project outcomes have a sustained long-term impact that benefits people with developmental disabilities. This might include things such as:
• changing or creating at least one policy, procedure, statute, and/or regulation;
• educating and sharing information with decision makers or others in the community;
• training, supporting, and/or organizing people with developmental disabilities to advocate for themselves and/or serve in leadership positions;
• creating new partnerships that increase the capacity of the community to support individuals with developmental disabilities;
• creating a new program, model, or technology that continues to be available after the grant funding ends;
• producing a product that will be of value beyond the life of the grant; and/or
• enabling more people to have access to services and supports.

This is not an exhaustive list. You may identify other ways through which a long-term impact will be achieved. TCDD staff may contact grantees annually for up to five years after a grant has ended to evaluate the long-term impact.

It is your responsibility to determine what the sustainable change or impact of your project will be and to explain that in their proposal. You are expected to begin work on this in the first year of their project.

Project Description and Milestones

If awarded this grant, you will be expected to conduct outreach and hire a Fellow through a competitive process that makes a concerted effort to reach out to people of color, people who are bilingual, and people who have disabilities. TCDD does not require the Fellow to have additional education beyond a High School Diploma or Certificate of High School Equivalency if they exhibit a wealth of applicable knowledge, skill and involvement in disability related supports, services, needs, issues and or advocacy. You are encouraged to hire a Fellow who is a self-advocate or family member. When advertising the position and throughout the grant, the Fellow must be referred to as a "TCDD Policy Fellow." You may add your organization's name after "TCDD Policy Fellow" (for example, "TCDD Policy Fellow, housed at..." and then the name of your organization).

The selected Fellow, in collaboration with their mentor, will select their core area(s) of focus. The area of focus must contribute to a longer-term public policy goal that is consistent with TCDD's Mission and Guiding Principles. You may choose to hire a Fellow for one year only and use the remainder of the grant period to develop the training and conduct evaluation, but the budget of the proposed project should be reduced to reflect this since most of the budget is expected to be used to pay for the Fellow. The Fellow must:

• chose a focus justified by research and data and that promotes self-determination;
• understand how the focus provides an opportunity to make a positive impact or influence the policy;
• identify how much others are leading or involved;
• understand potential positive and negative impacts; and
• identify what constitutes success.

Although the Fellow will concentrate on a single policy goal, they may also work on work on other issues impacting people with developmental disabilities.

By the end of the first year, you must:

• Conduct outreach to potential Fellows and demonstrate efforts to reach out to people with disabilities, people of color, and people who are bilingual. Entities committed to the inclusion of an individual with a disability as the TCDD Policy Fellow will be given preference for funding. The Fellow may not be selected prior to the grant being awarded. Applicants should submit a position description for the Fellow as a part of their proposal.
• Select, hire, train and employ a paid TCDD Policy Fellow who will be employed for one - two years. Each Fellow:
• May not be currently or previously employed by the organization providing the Fellowship.
• May not have been a TCDD Fellow before.
• Begin the Fellow's training, supervised by one experienced mentor. The mentor may be a current employee or an outside contractor working with the entity. The Fellow may also consult with other people or entities that have expertise on different topics; or, if serving in a Fellowship overseen by a university public policy program, may rotate through different departmental programs to gain experience working on multiple issues and/or in different disciplines. The Fellow should collaborate with people who have developmental disabilities and diverse backgrounds to begin to understand issues related to the intersection of disability and race.
• Identify core areas of public policy focus.

Throughout the project, you must:

• Pay the salary of a full-time Fellow (expected to be approximately $35,000 - $45,000 per year); benefits equal to those of the organization’s other employees; mentoring; and professional development. If the Fellow receives public benefits that will be reduced by this salary, the Fellow may work part-time.
• Provide or facilitate training and experiences for the Fellow to increase their knowledge of and ability to analyze public policy issues related to the diverse needs of people with developmental disabilities.
• Ensure that the Fellow attends all TCDD quarterly Council meetings. Dates are posted on the TCDD website.
• Develop the Fellow’s understanding of different approaches to addressing policy issues, including statutory and regulatory actions and organizational practices. The Fellow should have the opportunity to participate in the Texas legislative session to enhance their understanding.
• Track the Fellow's activities and ensure that the Fellow and the mentor submit regular reports to TCDD describing projects on which the Fellow has worked, training that the Fellow has provided to others, training that the Fellow has received, and information about participation in community and state-level meetings, conferences and speaking engagements. At the end of the grant, the grantee, the Fellow, and the mentor must each provide an assessment of their experience that includes pre- and post- assessments of their knowledge and skills, a description of activities that were most beneficial to the Fellow, and the Fellow's intention to continue to work in the disability policy field.

By the end of the second year, you must:

• Document that the Fellow has engaged in advocacy on a specific policy issue and has provided public input at the local government, state agency and/or legislative level.
• Identify and document barriers to accomplishing policy outcomes, if not accomplished.
• Identify and document future opportunities to accomplish policy outcomes.
• Identify and document any meaningful contributions the Fellow may have made to the grantee.

The majority of the Fellows' work should be on policy issues important to people with developmental disabilities; however, the Fellow may work on some cross-disability issues.

Project Evaluation

All proposals should describe how you will evaluate, at a minimum, the following:

• Evidence that the Fellow developed the knowledge and skills to work at the national, state, and community levels on issues that address major social, economic, and/or health conditions facing persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities;
• How the Fellow's activities increased the knowledge of people with developmental disabilities and/or family members to take part in decisions that affected their lives, the lives of others, and/or systems; and
• A list of policies, procedures, statute, and/or regulations that were created or changed and how they were changed.

You will also be expected to report the Performance Measures relevant to your project. Please see the list of Performance Measures attached. TCDD can assist you with selecting measures and providing templates to gather data, but you must ensure that data is gathered, analyzed, and reported to TCDD. In the Project Evaluation Section, explain how you will gather this information.

Qualifications and Organizational Experience

Entities that receive grants must be able to disburse funds for project activities and expenses, complete TCDD's forms correctly and on time, and be legally able to receive grant funds to reimburse the organization for expenses. Some forms must be submitted online and some must be submitted through email.

The proposal must show that grant activities and funds can be managed effectively.

Reporting Requirements

Grantees must submit quarterly reports, data for Performance Measures, continuation proposals to request funding for the second year, and a final report at the end of the grant. These must be submitted on time. Failure to meet reporting and spending requirements may impact continuation or future grant awards. TCDD Grants Specialists will provide more information about these processes to the successful applicant(s).

Continuation Funding

If the RFP states that the project may be funded for more than one year, you may apply for continuation funding each year, up to the maximum number of years. TCDD does not automatically provide continuation funding and may choose not to award continuation grants.

In addition to addressing progress on the project and other grant requirements, continuation applications should include information about public policy issues that caused barriers, if or how they were addressed, and the results of any efforts to address them. TCDD also expects you to provide at least one story about a person or family who benefited from the project.

Continuation funding will be based on a review of the project's accomplishments, progress towards stated goals and objectives, financial management, compliance with reporting requirements, review of the most recent program audit and findings of TCDD's onsite reviews, development of alternative funding, and the availability of TCDD funds.

Proposals for continuation years shall not request funding that exceeds the maximum funding amount stated in the RFP.

Terms

Applicants must agree to the following terms:

• Applicants must disclose any conflicts of interest between themselves and TCDD council members, employees or their immediate families.
• Applicants must use respectful language. For examples of respectful language, please see TCDD’s "People First Language" resource in the Supplemental Forms Packet and the DD Suite Guide and Application Instructions.
• All printed materials must be available in Spanish and in an appropriate accessible format — including electronic, tagged PDF, or large print. Funding for this should be included in the budget.
• Videos, DVDs and teleconferencing and distance learning activities produced by this project must be fully accessible. Any videos or DVDs must be captioned.
• TCDD will retain rights to all products created using funding awarded through this RFP. The grantee will retain rights to materials that were created prior to receiving the grant and the rights to materials created without using funds that are associated with this project.
• TCDD reserves the right not to fund any proposal under this announcement.
• Proposals received by TCDD are subject to release consistent with provisions of the Texas Public Information Act.

See "Assurances" in the attached Supplemental Forms for all terms relating to this grant.

The Review Process

Evaluation Criteria will include, but is not limited to: program quality, costs, financial ability to perform services, regional needs and priorities, improved access for underserved and unserved areas and/or groups of individuals; ability to continue services at the conclusion of grant funding, and past performance and compliance with previous grant awards.

An independent review panel consisting of people with expertise related to this RFP will evaluate each proposal based on how well the proposal responds to the RFP requirements and intent and how well the applicant follows instructions in the outline questions. Reviewers will also take into account the extent to which the proposed project may move TCDD closer to meeting the State Plan Goals and Objectives.

Priority will be given to strong proposals that address the needs of people living in rural areas; people living in poverty; and others who are frequently unserved and/or underserved, such as people of color and people whose primary language is one other than English.

Reviewers consider only the information included in the DD Suite application form, the attached Supplemental Forms Packet, and documents that are specifically allowed and are attached to the application. Applicants will not have the opportunity to clarify or add to the information provided in the proposal after the deadline unless they are awarded the grant. TCDD will only review materials specifically requested or allowed by the RFP, the application, or the application instructions.

The review panel considers all evaluation criteria and provides recommendations to TCDD's Executive Committee. The Executive Committee makes all funding decisions.