CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION
Independent Living and Assistive Technology Section
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA) IL-08-4
Title VII B – CFDA # 84.169A
Diversity Leadership Training Grant
I. INTRODUCTION
The California Department of Rehabilitation is pleased to announce that funding is available for a Diversity Leadership Training Grant. This will be a two year grant funded at $75,000 per year for a total of $150,000. This is Federal Rehabilitation Act Title VII B money allocated per the State Plan for Independent Living for 2008-2010.
Background:
The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) in partnership with the State Council on Independent Living (SILC) identified in the State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL) the following goal and objectives:
“GOAL 2: Increase the capacity of Independent Living Centers (ILCs) and other disability organizations to provide culturally competent services to under-represented communities.
Objectives:
A. DOR will provide technical assistance in the development of Diversity Plans and program development activities to assist California Independent Living Centers in achieving consumer demographics that reflect the populations of their respective service areas.
B. DOR will fund and evaluate an experienced provider to provide training, technical assistance, and leadership development to California disability organizations. Funds will support increasing the organizational, leadership and community capacity to provide culturally competent services and systems advocacy.”
Note: A copy of the 2008-2010 SPIL may be obtained by contacting the DOR Independent Living and Assistive Technology Section (ILATS) at (916) 558-5775 or by e-mailing Dan Clark at . Copies may be requested in e-mail or paper format or found on the DOR internet address: www.dor.ca.gov or http://www.dor.ca.gov/public/silcdorstpln.htm .
II. PURPOSE OF THIS RFA
Goal: Foster leadership development regarding diversity within independent living centers and other public and non-profit agencies in California that serve people with disabilities. Through this leadership, generate inclusion and organizational change so that disability serving organizations may better meet the needs of the diversity of California’s disability community.
III. Description of Grant Services
The successful applicant will be required to provide the following services under this grant:
• training,
• technical assistance,
• outreach,
• advocacy, and
• evaluation
directed to disability agency staff, especially at Independent Living Centers in the State of California, in multicultural competence, organizational and leadership development, and systems change, to motivate and lead inclusion initiatives within their organizations and within society. Each of these services and expected outcomes are described in further detail down below.
Training: The successful grantee will be expected to conduct at least 8 distinct, separate trainings per year for at least 150 distinct, separate individuals per year.
Training methods must take into account the blend of geography, ethnicity, disability and culture critical to promoting diversity in California. They should also include providing a pre and post test survey, training materials and follow-up resources. Acceptable training methods will include: diversity learning skills, listening, dialogue, storytelling, personal reflection and self assessment, leadership and change, core values, evaluation, and social network building. Sessions should build on developing leadership to create organizational change to better serve the diverse disability community of California.
Trainings must be grounded in the Independent Living Philosophy and include elements that relate to disability history and culture as well as ethnic, cultural and disability diversity. Cultural competency trainings may be comprehensive, or may focus on specific communities based on the needs of the region or the individual organization. The successful applicant and staff must have documented experience and history of work in the Independent Living movement and philosophy
Cultural competency trainings should be offered to educate organizations on how to provide culturally competent and accessible services to people across all types of disabilities.
Technical Assistance:
The successful grantee will conduct needs assessments through organizational surveys and/or interviews with participating disability-serving organizations.
Develop individualized interactive trainings responding to needs assessed.
Provide expertise, advice and continuing support to disability serving organizations, particularly ILCs, to assist them with developing, monitoring and executing plans to increase diversity throughout their organizations and to reach unrepresented and underrepresented populations.
Maintain ongoing communication through a listserv or other electronic means including a dedicated website to support the ongoing interaction and learning community of training participants.
Outreach:
The successful grantee will provide outreach to ILCs, disability-serving organizations and state agencies within California and serve a diverse mix of people with disabilities. Organizations engaged should be located in different regions of the state or should have a statewide program. The successful applicant will be required to train the SILC and assist the SILC in the development of its own diversity plan as a part of their work.
Advocacy:
The successful grantee will provide leadership development and training to assist individuals to advocate around public policy issues that impact California’s un/underserved ethnic, cultural and disability communities related diversity, inclusion or discriminatory practices. Advocacy may include educating policy makers in the legislature to administrators in state departments.
Evaluation:
The successful grantee will include feedback systems within their program that will enable them to adjust the program to meet participants’ needs in a timely manner. In addition, there is an expectation that the applicant will follow-up with training participants at least once, 6 months after the training is completed, to ascertain whether any organizational change has been achieved. It is expected that the grantee will use knowledge and insight gained from project management to develop a report on the future cultural competency training needs of disability-serving organizations. In addition, the grantee will annually evaluate public policy effectiveness based on a review of advocacy efforts and related outcomes, as well as the level of engagement of training participants.
As a result of this RFA grant award, the successful grantee is also subject to the conditions for grants administered by the Independent Living and Assistive Technology Section, Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Standard Grant Agreement, Standard Grant Provisions, state grant award requirements, and applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
The successful grantee must develop written administrative and personnel policies and procedures for the operation of the grant program within six (6) months of the grant award. These policies and procedures must be consistent with applicable DOR grant management handbook policies and must be submitted for review and approval by DOR.
The successful grantee will be assigned to a DOR Resources Specialist who will provide consultation and oversight during the development of the grant program and will work closely with the successful grantee during the life of the grant to monitor its progress for the Department of Rehabilitation.
During the grant period, a representative of the successful grantee may be required to present, in person, a report of progress to the SILC or one of its committees at least three times each year. The successful grantee will be required to submit reports on a quarterly basis beginning with the effective date of the grant.
Additionally, an aggregate self-evaluation report is required within 60 days of the conclusion of each funding year and also at the end of the final grant year. Each year’s aggregate report should be inclusive of all grant-funding years. The report must be sent to the assigned DOR Resources Specialist in the Independent Living and Assistive Technology Section.
IV. ELIGIBILITY
Grant applicants eligible to apply for this grant award must be private, not-for-profit organizations with a demonstrated record of involvement in the Independent Living movement and philosophy, a history of consumer involvement, and experience in advocacy on issues of importance to persons with disabilities statewide. Grant applicants need not be cross-disability organizations; however, activities proposed for funding under this RFA must support leadership activities focusing on diversity that will benefit a broad range of persons with various disabilities without focus on issues that primarily apply to persons from a single disability group.
V. GRANT AWARD AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
The grant will be awarded according to the following schedule:
Deadline for Hard-Copy Applications March 25, 2009 (4:00 p.m.)
Deadline for Electronic Elements March 27, 2009 (4:00 p.m.)
Notice of Award April 09, 2009
Formal Grant Packages Due April 23, 2009
Grant Effective Date May 1, 2009-April 30, 2010
Self-Evaluation Report Due 60 pays prior to the conclusion of the funding year.
A timeline for the entire grant process is attached, Attachment B.
Program commencement date may be negotiated with the DOR but shall be no later than June 1, 2009.
VI. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION
All applications submitted for funding consideration are subject to the conditions specified in this RFA. The applicant whose initial application is selected for funding based on the items described in Section III, using the criteria in Section XII, will be notified of the grant award. A formal grant application package containing additional forms and information will then be required to finalized the executed Standard Grant
Agreement.
Instructions for the submission of the formal grant application package will be provided to the successful grantee after the award has been made. Training on compiling the formal grant application package and fundamental grant requirements will be provided to the successful grantee if they have not had a recent grant award from the Independent Living and Assistive Technology Section.
The State reserves the right to reject any and all applications.
The Department of Rehabilitation reserves the right to negotiate final budget, program, and/or service area changes prior to making the final award.
VII. SUBCONTRACTORS REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must identify the method by which they will provide statewide coverage in their application. The use of subcontractors is one option available to accomplish this. Applicants utilizing subcontractors in their application are required to conduct open, competitive application and award processes for all subcontracts. Reviewers/evaluators of applications to subcontract must have experience working with persons with diverse disabilities. No reviewer/evaluator shall have a direct relationship as a staff member or member of the Board of Directors or similar body of ANY entity submitting an application for a subcontract. No reviewer/evaluator shall have a family member who would directly benefit financially from ANY entity submitting an application for a subcontract.
Applications in response to this RFA are required to include a detailed plan on the solicitation and selection process for subcontractors as well as the plan for management and evaluation of subcontractors’ activities.
VIII. FUNDING PARAMETERS AND REQUIREMENTS
One grant of up to $150,000 will be awarded. Funding is for two (2) years at $75,000 per year. Funding is available for the purposes described in Section II above, and for no other purpose.
The successful grantee and their subcontractor(s) may each utilize up to no more than 15% of the funds for administrative activities performed as a part of the application. The budget submitted by the successful applicant will reflect a balance of programmatic needs and sufficient staffing to successfully complete the project. The grantee may include up to 1.0 FTE assigned to this project. Allocations must be included to assist training recipients with travel costs and disability related accommodations.
This must be documented actual expenses subject to approval by the DOR staff.
Reimbursement will be made monthly in arrears, upon submission of a correct and complete billing on designated DOR billing forms. The usual time elapsed between the receipt of a billing by DOR and the issuance of payment by the State Controller’s Office is four to six weeks. The successful grantee selected for funding must demonstrate that it can maintain sufficient cash flow to await reimbursement; the successful grantee will be required to submit income and balance sheets as a part of the formal grant application package.
The successful grantee may request advance funding. The advance funding request may be for an amount not to exceed 25% of the grant amount. The actual amount of the advance, however, will be determined by DOR staff reviewers who will review the successful grantee’s fiscal statements and required documentation and, when required, determine the need factor. Approval, including the amount approved for the advance, will be determined in accordance with §11019 of the California Government Code and applicable regulations and policies.
IX. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS - FORMATS AND LOCATIONS
All initial applications must be submitted in hard-copy (paper) format and certain elements of each application must also be submitted electronically following the instructions in this RFA – SEE X. ELEMENTS FOR HARD COPY APPLICATION.
ONE copy of the complete initial application must be submitted in hard-copy (paper) format and must be in the actual possession of the Contract and Procurement Office, Department of Rehabilitation, no later than 4:00 p.m., on March 25, 2009. The hard-copy (paper) application must meet the final filing deadline for hard copy applications stated in this paragraph. Faxed applications will not be accepted.
NOTE: Both hard-copy (paper) applications and electronic submissions must meet the deadlines outlined in Section V. to avoid disqualification.
Mail or hand carry completed hard-copy applications to:
Sandy Cook, Contract Analyst
Department of Rehabilitation
Contracts and Procurement
721 Capitol Mall, 6th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Identify the application on the lower left corner of the outside envelope as “TITLE VII B APPLICATION - RFA IL-08-4".
Identifying the envelope in this fashion will assure that it is not opened prior to the deadline date and time. Any application opened prior to the designated deadline because the outside envelope was not marked as instructed will be disqualified if, in the judgment of the DOR Contract Officer, there is any possibility that the competitive process was compromised by the early opening.
X. REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR HARD COPY (PAPER) APPLICATIONS
Hard copy applications that do not contain all of the items listed below (A – I) and/or do not comply with the instructions or criteria given for grant applications will not be considered for funding.
Note: Applications must be in narrative, Microsoft Word format only. Do not submit charts, brochures, graphs, tables, maps or any other format as a part of the application. This is necessary in order to submit accessible applications electronically to reviewers.
Each application in response to this RFA must contain the following items, in exactly the format identified in the “Note” above and must be assembled in the order listed below:
A. A letter of application signed by the Board president/chair identifying the amount of funds requested.