Invitation to Apply

WANTED: Applicants for

Building Stronger Centers (BSC)!

* What is BSC? A unique program to support providers of child care and/or school-age care who are planning to improve or expand their physical space.

* What does BSC offer?

An intensive 5-day training institute, with expert trainers in design of child care and after-school facilities, fundraising, financial management, project management, strategic thinking, and more;
12 months of follow-up technical assistance and support;
Access to loan and grant capital (within certain limits and guidelines) to help cover project planning and/or implementation expenses.

* What do prior BSC participants say about the training institute?

“The networking, the information, the variety of experts, the empowerment and validation – overall it was amazing, productive, and full of results for me!” Paula Perrier, BelchertownDay School

“Thanks for a really great week! Tons of information shared with a wonderful group.”Kate Doerr, Ohrenberger Community Council

“Best training I have ever done. Far exceeded expectations.”Deb Ansourlian, CooperCommunity Center

INTERESTED?

See reverse side for further program detail.

For an application packet, or more information, please contact:

Viki Bok, Theresa Williams, or Bronia Clifton @ the Child Care Capital Investment Fund: Phone: 617-727-5944; Email: , , or

APPLICATIONS are now available and are due back December 15, 2005. Check for RFP/app.

More Information on Building Stronger Centers…

* Who is eligible?Approximately 15-20 agencies from throughout Massachusetts are selected annually through a competitive application review process. To be eligible, agencies must be:

Non-profit, center-based, licensed providers of child care and/or school age care;

Based in Massachusetts;

In operation for 3 years or more;
Serving at least 25% low-income children;
Seriously planning to improve or expand their child care or school-age program space in some way within the next two years;
Willing to commit to an intensive, 12-month process to strengthen their capacity and develop a facilities project.

* Logistics: This will be the fourth time the Child Care Capital Investment Fund has offered the BSC program. Applicants will be selected in March 2006, and will attend the 5-day kick-off training institute in spring 2006 (projected dates: May 7-12), to be held at the Warren Conference Center & Inn in Ashland, MA. The training institute is targeted at executive directors and/or other senior managers at participating agencies: agencies typically send one and in some cases two senior staff members to attend.

* Additional comments from previous BSC participants:

“Oh my gosh – this week was huge! This institute laid out the steps, broke steps down, built my confidence and expanded my knowledge base. You (the FUND) have a wonderful energy and passion – workshops have been right on, location awesome, services superb. It was more than I could’ve imagined. I am SO fortunate to have attended. P.S. You will all be invited to the ribbon-cutting!”Karen Boisson, NorthShore YMCA., Salem
“I want to acknowledge on a personal note that I found the Institute the perfect antidote to the difficult challenges of my project. For me it kept hope alive for, as you know, three days before the Institute my project was not viable! Now, my project is alive again… Perhaps the Institute was responsible at least in a spiritual way.”Jerry Brown, Enable, Inc., Canton
“I don’t know how you did it, but I feel that this week has been a formative experience in my professional career. I have been inspired and motivated to do things I never would have considered before. My whole set of expectations, assumptions, and beliefs has been dramatically shifted. I now have a clear picture of where my program should be going, and a set of tools to get there. Thank you!” Corinna Frohock, YMCA of Greater Worcester

INVITATION TO APPLY

Building Stronger Centers:

A Technical Assistance Initiative

Sponsored by the Child Care Capital Investment Fund (FUND)

Funded by the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation and an anonymous foundation

* What is BSC? A unique program to support providers of child care and/or school-age care who are planning to improve or expand their physical space.

* What does BSC offer?

An intensive 5-day training institute in May 2006, with expert trainers in design of child care and after-school facilities, fundraising, financial management, project management, strategic thinking, and more;
12 months of follow-up technical assistance and support;
Access to loan and grant capital (within certain limits and guidelines) to help cover project planning and/or implementation expenses.

* What do prior BSC participants say about the training institute?

“Thanks for a really great week! Tons of information shared with a wonderful group.”Kate Doerr, Ohrenberger Community Council

“Best training I have ever done. Far exceeded expectations.”Deb Ansourlian, CooperCommunity Center

INTERESTED?

See attached information and application packet for further program detail.

APPLICATIONS DUE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2005

A.About the FUND

At the Child Care Capital Investment Fund (FUND), we believe that all children need to learn in physical environments designed to support their growth. We help non-profit organizations to develop high quality spaces for early learning and youth development in Massachusetts. We provide financing for facilities projects coupled with technical assistance and support. Founded 14 years ago, the FUND has worked directly with over 300 child care and after school care providers on their facilities projects, lending or granting $17.5 million, and helping to create, improve, or stabilize over 17,800 slots of high-quality child care and out-of-school-time care.

Eligibility

To apply for the Building Stronger Centers initiative, organizations must:

Be non-profit and tax-exempt;
Be based in Massachusetts;
Have operated licensed, center-based early care and/or out of school time care for at least three years;
Serve low-income children: at least 25% of children served must be receiving or be qualified by income for some form of subsidy, via DEEC, Head Start, internal scholarship*, or some other source;
Be seriously considering a facility improvement or expansion project of some kind.

* Note: To count towards the 25% threshold, internal scholarships or other subsidies must go to families earning less than median income, and must representa discount of at least 20%.

In addition, a higher priority will be given to applicants that can demonstrate:

Strong commitment of the board and management to participate fully in the program;
Ability to utilize technical assistance effectively and make the most of a program like this;
Good fit between what this initiative offers and what the organization needs at this stage in its development;
Reasonably sound financial condition;
A higher percentage of low-income children currently served;
Proposed facility project which appears feasible, likely to have a significant impact, closely connected to the agency’s programmatic goals, and likely to happen within the next two years.

Training Institute

What:The FUND will offer 5 full days of training in spring 2006, covering both general business management and facilities development topics. Trainers are selected both for their expertise in specific business areas and also for their familiarity with the early care and education and out of school time field. The training curriculum, still being refined, will include topics such as:

Facilities Project Planning:

Understanding the overall facility project development process
Finding architects, project managers, and other members of your development team
Quality child care facilities design (including outdoor play space design and “green” design) and working with an architect
Facility project budgeting
Fundraising for facilities projects

General Business Management:

General budgeting and financial management
Improving your financial performance
Strategic thinking and/or planning
Leadership skills development (communicating your vision, building a team, etc.)

Trainers will use information from the actual applicant organizations and their training needs in shaping and finalizing their training curricula.

During the training institute, using what they learn in the various training sessions, each provider will create an action plan for moving their facility project towards implementation, laying out the specific steps needed to implement the project, and identifying the support and assistance they will need along the way to overcome the inevitable obstacles.

When: The training institute is scheduled to begin in the late afternoon of Sunday, May 7, 2006, and to run through lunch on Friday, May 12.

Where: The training institute will be held at the Warren Conference Center & Inn in Ashland, MA (near Framingham). The institute is residential: participants will stay at the Warren Conference Center & Inn during the week of the training. The FUND will pay for participants’ accommodations and meals.

Who: The training is targeted at key management staff, who have budget and supervisory authority and who would play a major role in planning and implementing the proposed facilities project. Typically, this will be the executive director or a center director, but in some cases, larger or multi-purpose agencies may suggest that an early care and education program director, a school-age care director, or other staff person attend instead. It may be possible, space permitting, for an agency to send two people – this will depend on the overall number of applications received. The application asks for providers’ suggestions about who should attend the training. The FUND will make final decisions about who to invite. Note: Having a diverse group of participants is important to us; therefore, we particularly encourage providers from outside the metro Boston area as well as people of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds to apply.

Cost: The weeklong training costs $495 per participant ($295 for the second participant if a team of two is proposed). As mentioned above, the full cost of accommodations and meals will be covered by the FUND. In return, however, participants are expected to make a commitment to the whole training, participating in all sessions.

Note: There will be a limited number of scholarships available to cover the $495 training fee in cases where an organization is unable to afford it – please see application for more details.

Continuing Education Unites (CEUs): We will be submitting an application to MAEYC for CEU approval, and expect to hear in early April if we have been approved.

Follow Up Support

During the 12 months following the training institute, the FUND will help providers to move forward with their action plans and their facilities projects, by providing:

Individualized, one-on-one or small group technical assistance in areas identified by providers, such as fundraising, hiring development team members, assessing a potential new site’s feasibility, putting together budgets, securing financing, addressing poor financial performance, etc.

Seed money to help kick-start project planning: the FUND will offer providers who need it small seed money grants or 0% loans of approximately $5,000 to cover project planning costs like site feasibility analysis, preliminary architectural design, help creating a fundraising plan, or other early project costs.

Ongoing opportunities to meet as a group with other participants in the initiative: hopefully, participants will find it helpful to keep in touch as a group, share information, and offer each other support. The FUND will periodically host lunches, seminars, and/or other get-togethers, to help the group stay connected.

Access to financing: For those providers whose projects move to the implementation stage, the FUND will offer priority access to the loan and/orgrant resources which it has available at that time. Over the past three years, the FUND has committed a total of $360,000 in grant funds and $919,000 in loan funds to BSC participants’ projects. Loan funds are typically available to qualified projects throughout the state on a continuous basis. Grant funds are made available as the FUND is able to raise them, typically via competitive funding rounds, and often with geographic or other limitations, depending on the funding source. In addition to FUND resources, we also help providers to identify other funds to cover project costs.

The FUND’s central goal is to help 50% of BSC participants to complete their proposed projects within three years of the training institute, and 70% to complete projects within five years of the institute. We are meeting or exceeding these goals for the providers in the first three cohorts of BSC: 20 former participants in BSC have completed their projects, with new or improved spaces serving nearly 2,000 children.

Other

Ongoing monitoring: As part of our grant requirements from our funders, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of this program, trying to measure the impact that the training, technical support, financing, and other assistance offered has on providers’ organizational strength and ability to offer high-quality care. We plan to follow up with participants annually for a period of 5 years – checking progress on facilities projects; financial condition; staffing turnover; enrollment; accreditation; and other indicators. Participants must agree to assist the FUND in collecting this information.

Schedule: Applications are due Thursday, December 15, 2006 at 4 PM at the FUND (see following application form for details). Applications will be reviewed during the months of January and February, and FUND staff will follow up with applicants either by phone and/or with a site visit during this time. The FUND will notify applicants by the end of February 2006 about whether or not they have been selected to participate. The training institute, as noted above, is scheduled to take place starting late afternoon on Sunday, May 7 through early afternoon on Friday, May 12, 2006, at the Warren Conference Center & Inn in Ashland.

For More Information: Please contact Viki Bok, FUND Program Manager, or Theresa Williams or Bronia Clifton, FUND Senior Project Managers, if you have any questions about this initiative. You can reach them at (617) 727-5944, or at , , or .

APPLICATION FORM

Building Stronger Centers:

A Technical Assistance Initiative

Sponsored by the Child Care Capital Investment Fund (FUND)

This application must be signed by the provider’s Director and Board President, and must be received no later than 4 PM Thursday, December 15, 2006.

Please send or deliver (note: NO FAXes) one complete original and one complete copy of the application packet, including all attachments, to:

Viki Bok

Program Manager

Child Care Capital Investment Fund

18 Tremont Street, Suite 1020

Boston, MA02108

I hereby certify that all the information contained in this application is true and correct to the best of my information, and if selected as a participant, I agree to abide by the terms of the Invitation to Apply:

(Name of Organization)

(Signature of Director)(Date)

(Signature of Board President)(Date)

Organization: Basic Information

Name of Organization: ______

Address: ______

Director: ______

Chief Fiscal Officer, (or if no fiscal person on staff, name of person/agency who

prepares financials): ______

Primary Contact Person, (only if not Director): Name: ______

Title: ______

Director (or Primary Contact Person’s) Telephone: ______

FAX: ______

Email: ______

Is the organization a non-profit 501 (c) 3? ______

Date the organization first began offering licensed child care: ______

Enrollment Information:

Note: Please fill in the attached “Enrollment Form” for each center or location the organization currently operates (please photocopy the form in case of multiple sites and fill out one form per site.)

Totaling the enrollment information for ALL your sites, please fill in the following:

How many children are you currently licensed to serve in total? #: ______

How many children do you currently have enrolled in total #: ______

Of the total currently enrolled, how many children are low-income and/or receiving some form of subsidy (including subsidy via internal scholarship* as well as via DEEC, Head Start, etc.)?

#: ______

* Note: To count towards the program’s 25% low income threshold, internal scholarships or other subsidies must go to families earning less than median income, and must representa discount of at least 20%.

Training Needs

Note: We require that BSC training institute participants be key management staff within their organizations, who have budget and supervisory authority and who would play a key role in the proposed facilities project. Because it is so important that the individual(s) who attend the institute be those most suited to get the most out of it, FUND staff may want to discuss the suggested attendee(s) with providers during the application review process, and in some cases, suggest alternatives.

Give the name and position of theprimary person who you would like tohave participate in the training institute in May 2006. If the person is not the agency’s director, please explain why you feel they are the most appropriate person for the training.

1a. If you would like to suggest a second person to attend the institute, please list their name and position. If space is available, we will consider the request to have the second person attend as well.

In what areas are you particularly interested in receiving training and technical support?

Please rank 1 to 4: 1 = most urgent need

General Business Management

____ General budgeting and financial management

____ Improving your financial performance

____ Strategic thinking and/or planning

____ Leadership skills development (communicating your vision, building a team, etc.)

Please rank 1 to 6: 1 = most urgent need

Facilities Project Planning

____ Understanding the overall facility project development process

____ Finding architects, project managers, other members of your development team