Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care – FY11/FY12 Physical Environments – Fund Code #107

PART I
PROCUREMENT INFORMATION
Proposal Due Date and Time:
June 18, 2010
4:00 pm / Number of Pages included in this RFP: 45 plus attachments
Content Expert:
Nicole Lessard, Policy Analyst
/ Issue Date: Monday, May 10, 2010
Issuing Agency: EEC
Funds Type: CCDF ARRA Funding
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS
Submit Proposal(s) to:
Grants Management
Department of Early Education and Care
51 Sleeper St., 4th floor
Boston, MA 02210 / Label Envelope/Package: “Supporting Improvements in Physical Environments for Early Education and Care Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers RFP”
RFP Title/Number: FY11/FY12 Physical Environments - Fund Code 107
Proposal Due Date: June 18, 2010, 4:00 pm
Special Instructions:
Intent to Bid:
EEC requests that all applicants intending to bid on this RFP send an “intent to bid” email to by May 21, 2010 with the RFP Title/Number in the subject line of the email.
In the intent to bid email please state the following: The name of the intended applicant, i.e. lead agency name; and the program you intend to implement with this funding, i.e. PCHP.
Applicants must submit one original and three copies of their complete Response package with all parts in numerical order (Part I, Part II etc.).
This is a competitive RFP bid. Any and all questions regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing to by May 21, 2010 at 4:00 pm with the RFP Title/Number in the subject line. EEC expects to post responses to written questions on or around May 28, 2010. The Q&A document will be posted with this RFP posting.
Part I
Procurement Information (continued)
APPLICANT INFORMATION
Please fill in the information below and return with your RFP response. It is EEC’s expectation that the person listed as the contact on this grant application will be the one to receive any and all pertinent information from EEC regarding this RFP and will forward such pertinent information on to relevant parties within their agency.
Applicant Name/Address/Website:
Vendor Name
12345 Main St. 7th floor
Anytown, MA 00000 / Authorized Applicant Signatory:
Sample Name
X______
(please type name, and then sign in blue ink)
Applicant Contact Name for this RFP: Sample Name
Phone Number: 000-000-0000
Email:
Applicant Federal Tax I.D. Number:
00-0000000 /
Indicate (circle) whether this proposal is:
Original Copy
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Purpose / The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) provides services for children in Massachusetts through a mixed delivery system, which includes child care centers, out-of-school time programs, family child care homes, public preschool programs, private school preschool and kindergarten, and Head Start programs. EEC is responsible for licensing early education and care and out-of-school time programs throughout Massachusetts and for providing child care financial assistance to low-income families with children birth to 13 years of age. In addition, EEC provides support for information and referral services, inclusive programming for children with special needs, parenting and family support, and professional development opportunities for educators and programs in the early education and out-of-school time fields. These efforts affect thousands of early education and out-of-school time educators, who serve more than 275,000 children each day. In its broadest role, EEC also serves as a source of information to the families of more than one million children in Massachusetts.
EEC is committed to supporting early education and care and out of school time programs to advance their quality in order to best serve children in their programs. This grant initiative focuses particularly on improving the quality of the physical environment of programs that serve infants and toddlers.
Research indicates that “the quality of a physical environment can either contribute to children's development and support staff and parent goals or create a permanent impediment to the operation of a high quality program. The design and layout of the physical environment, which includes the building, interior finishes, outdoor spaces, selection of equipment and room arrangement has a profound impact on children's learning and behavior and on teachers' abilities to efficiently do their jobs”.[1]
Children need age-appropriate physical environments that support and promote child-directed and child-initiated play. The environment must promote and positively support the child's interaction with space, materials and people. Educators also need highly functional, easy-to-use environments. When the environment supports both and is working for children and adults, it is easier for adults to focus on facilitating each child's learning and play.[2]
Investing in high quality early learning has proven to be effective in addressing the educational disparities faced by children at risk, but quality is a crucial component and one factor that lacks funding supports is the condition of the facilities housing these programs. In preparing children for academic success the impact of facilities can impact the quality of an appropriate learning environment.
Priorities / EEC recognizes early education and care programs as key partners in promoting development in children’s first three years, and beyond, as they serve a significant portion of children enrolled in child care at these ages. These programs often lack professional development opportunities focused on the link between improvements in their physical environment leading to increased outcomes in children and would benefit from additional training, support and funding for these enhancements.
This initiative focuses on improving programs that serve infants and toddlers by providing professional development to increase quality via enhancements to the physical environments and funds to support the purchase of equipment that focuses on health and safety and curriculum improvements for infants and toddlers.
There is a growing body of research on the impact of the environment on children’s learning and on staff commitment and productivity. Other studies have shown that good facilities lead to:
·  Children exhibiting more exploratory behavior, more positive social interactions and more cooperation in classrooms with well-defined activity areas;
·  A positive relationship on children’s later cognitive development when space is available for children to retreat from the larger group for a portion of the day;
·  Reduced conflict and anxiety as space is designed to support children’s development; toddlers need low partitions that allow them to see playmates or teachers. Rooms in which partitions restricted younger children’s view of other children or teachers showed reduced time in positive interactions and increased conflict and anxiety;
·  Better staff engagement with children and more effective interactions and teaching;
·  Reduced teacher fatigue, more patience, better morale and commitment; and
·  Longer tenure in the field and more successful recruitment of qualified teachers.
The goals of this grant are to:
·  Increase early education and care educators’ awareness, knowledge and ability regarding:
o  The importance of their program’s physical environment as it relates to positive interactions, relationships and behaviors;
o  Making informed decisions about quality improvements that would enhance the program’s quality; and
o  How to sustain these improvements and plan for future enhancements.
·  Increase the quality of physical environments for participating programs via the implementation of grant funded enhancements, to increase positive interactions as well as staff engagement.
·  Decrease EEC health and safety licensing citations.
Eligibility / This is a competitive grant to provide professional development services to the Massachusetts early education and care workforce. EEC seeks a vendor with established expertise in implementing professional development opportunities regarding enhancements to the physical environments of early education and care programs and distributing grants to these programs to make appropriate quality improvements. All vendors able to meet the requirements of this grant are eligible to apply. EEC expects to award funds to one vendor able to provide services to the entire Commonwealth.
EEC reserves the right to prioritize vendors if they are able to negotiate bulk purchasing discounts with approved vendors where possible. EEC reserves the right to prioritize vendors if they are able to leverage funds (e.g. private investment in training development and resources for connecting programs to other resources, utility company subsidizing models, or loans to programs statewide to extend the impact of the EEC ARRA grant funding).
Funding / The funds supporting this initiative are Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds received by the Commonwealth, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and are available for one vendor to provide professional development opportunities and to disseminate funds through a competitive process to support the improvement of physical environments of early education and care programs serving infants and toddlers.
EEC seeks a vendor to provide the services as outlined in this RFP and will accept proposals up to, and not to exceed, the amount of $500,000. Of the $500,000, vendors may allocate :
o  Up to $94,000 to provide a minimum of ten trainings across the state (two in each of the five EEC regions); and
o  Up to $406,000 shall be spent on the award and administration of grant funds to programs.
§  Please note, the administration of grants must be limited to a maximum of 20% of these funds and the remaining funds (minimum of $324,800) must be spent to provide program level grants to eligible programs.
If additional funds become available during the grant duration period, EEC reserves the right to increase the maximum obligation to some or all contracts executed as a result of this RFP or to execute contracts with vendors not funded in the initial selection process, subject to available funding, satisfactory contract performance and service or commodity need.
Required Services / EEC proposes to fund a two part model focusing on early education and care programs serving infants and toddlers. The chosen vendor will offer a minimum of two professional development opportunities to the program participants regarding making quality enhancements to their programs’ physical environments. This same cohort of program participants, or subset of this cohort, will later be eligible to apply for grant funds to implement a physical environment improvement project.
Applicants must provide the following services with this funding:
1.  Provide trainings focused on improving the quality of the physical environment of early education and care programs that serve infants and toddlers.
l  Between July 2010 and December 2010, the selected vendor must hold at least two trainings in each of EEC’s five regions (Western MA, Central MA, Northeast MA, Southeast MA and Cape Cod and Islands, and Metro Boston), for a minimum of 10 trainings total, offered to the mixed delivery system statewide (for 5 regional cohorts). Participating educators/programs in the regional trainings should be considered a cohort and should attend both of the two-part training sessions.
l  The two (minimum) trainings must be spaced out appropriately to offer participants the opportunity for reflection.
l  The trainings must be offered in multiple languages, as needed.
l  The first training should include:
o  components of high-quality indoor and outdoor infant-toddler environments.
o  discussion of significant issues related to infant-toddler care: group size and ratios, primary caregiver vs. multi-caregiver staffing models, mixed age groups, parent needs and concerns, the scale of space and furnishings, and how space can either support or interfere with the quality of care.
Ø  how the environment supports children’s healthy development and learning, and how to adapt an environment to support children with special needs.
Ø  how to ensure health and safety for children and adults using the space (child-proofing, sanitation, ergonomic considerations for adults working with young children, as well as “green elements” such as indoor air quality, day-lighting, access to nature).
Ø  how to develop a comfortable and welcoming environment for all users: children, program staff, parents, and others.
Ø  how to lay out space for both function and convenience: furnishings, feeding, sleeping, diapering and toileting, storage of children’s belongings, staff needs, and other storage.
Ø  aesthetic considerations: lighting, color, display, scale, etc.
o  strategies for incorporating family and staff culture into the environment.
o  guidelines for purchasing quality equipment to enhance a program’s physical environment.
l  The second training must include a focused module on Financial Management Training that addresses capital spending, sustainability, depreciation and capital reserves.
·  Conduct site visits to at least 20% of grantees to provide technical assistance and to verify the use of grant funds is appropriate and is linked to the improvement of the physical environment.
l  Outreach for all trainings must include posting on EEC’s Professional Development Calendar.
l  An on-line training component that can be accessed by all early education and care educators/programs (not just those participating in the trainings).
l  Evaluation of training sessions and resulting changes the participants have made in their physical environments as a result of this funding.
l  Quarterly reporting will be required through the lifetime of the grant.
2.  Approve and award grant funding and provide on-going technical assistance to early education and care programs to implement physical environment improvements.
The selected vendor must:
l  Have a plan to serve the entire mixed delivery system statewide (center based providers, Head Start providers, family child care providers affiliated with a System and independent family child care providers; profit and non-profit).
l  Have an established, but flexible, process for awarding grant funds to eligible programs within the mixed delivery system statewide, including:
o  A Request for Proposal (RFP) and proposal review process.
o  Providing technical assistance to educators/programs until their project is complete (including site visits).
o  Providing a list of approved vendors for grantees to use when purchasing materials.
·  Have expertise regarding child care facility improvement project management (e.g. awareness of the costs of projects, equipment, etc.; access to experienced advisors as needed).
·  Be able to provide training by December, 2010 and ensure all administered grants funds are spent by, and all services received by August 1, 2011. Ability to implement a Train the Trainers model to realize efficiencies and additional impact in training.
·  Plan for return and reallocation of equipment purchased with grant funds and/or if a participating program closes before August 1, 2011.
·  Have a process for monitoring grant use by participating educators/programs.