City and County of San Francisco
Request for Proposals # 752
Employment and Vocational Training Services for Homeless Persons Residing in San Francisco
Date issued: April 25, 2017
Pre-proposal conference: 10:00 AM, May 3, 2017
Proposal due: 5:00 PM, May 26, 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. Introduction and Schedule 1
II. Scope of Work 3
III. Submission Requirements 5
IV. Evaluation and Selection Criteria 7
V. Pre-Proposal Conference and Contract Award 8
VI. Terms and Conditions for Receipt of Proposals 8
VII. Contract Requirements 11
VIII. Protest Procedures 12
IX. Standard Forms 1
X. San Francisco Human Services Agency RFP Cover Page 3
XI. San Francisco Human Services Agency Page Number Form 4
XII. San Francisco Human Services Agency Budget Forms and Instructions 6
P-590 (1-15) i April 2017
I. Introduction and Schedule
A. General
The San Francisco Human Services Agency (SF-HSA) announces its intent to seek proposals from agencies or organizations interested in providing Vocational Training and Employment services to currently and formerly homeless individuals residing within the City and County of San Francisco. The purpose of the contracted services is to increase the employability of the target population and place them in jobs. SF-HSA intends for grantees funded through this RFP to focus on serving the subset of homeless individuals who are best positioned to move to employment within a 6-8-month period.
Homeless Employment Services have been in place in San Francisco for over 20 years. This RFP reflects an effort to update and coordinate funded services to address the current needs with optimal efficiency and in accordance with best practices identified in the research literature. Two documents compiled by the SF-HSA Planning Unit are associated with this RFP for reference by respondents (see “Summary of Best Practices for Homeless Employment Programs” and “Lit Review of Employment Programs for Homeless Individuals”, provided as additional attachments on the RFP website). HSA is particularly interested in programs that take a sector-based approach to placing individuals in employment.
The respondents to the RFP can be individual agencies or collaborations. Successful applicants will have a clearly defined service model that can reasonably be expected to result in the desired service and outcome objectives. Services funded through this RFP will include job readiness, job training, job placement, job retention, subsidized employment, and vocational training. Respondents are encouraged to address intensive barrier remediation, remedial education and other supportive service needs through referrals and leveraging but such services will not be directly funded through this RFP. Respondents are encouraged to develop partnerships with other service providers – particularly operators of emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and rapid rehousing programs – in order to leverage the City-funded case management and supportive services already funded through those programs and for referrals.
The contract agreement shall have a tentative term from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020. In addition, the City shall have the option to extend the term for a period of two (2) years, for a total five (5) years, subject to annual availability of funds, annual satisfactory grantee performance, and need. SF-HSA has the sole, absolute discretion to exercise this option, and reserves the right to enter into contracts of a shorter duration. HSA also reserves the right to review services already funded by the City to avoid duplication of services, and to consolidate funding with other City departments for coordination of effort.
The source of funding for these services may include federal, state, and local funds. Payment for all services provided in accordance with provisions under this grant shall be contingent upon the availability of funds. The City shall not be required to provide any definite units of services nor does the City guarantee any minimum amount of funding for these services.
B. Schedule
The anticipated schedule for this procurement is:
Proposal Phase Date
RFP is issued by the City April 25, 2017
Pre-Proposal Conference May 3, 2017 at 10:00am
Deadline for submission of written questions May 5, 2017 at 2:00pm
or requests for clarification
Proposals due May 26, 2017 at 5:00pm
Dates and times subject to change
C. Definitions
ABAWDCAAP
CalFresh
CFET
Care Not Cash
CBO
DHS
HSA
HSH
Homeless
Job Placement
SNAP / Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents who are receiving CalFresh
County Adult Assistance Program
The California program formerly known as Food Stamps, Federally named the Supplemental Nutrition and
CalFresh Employment & Training
A program of the Human Services Agency County Adult Assistance Program (CAAP) in which homeless CAAP clients are offered housing/shelter and associated amenities as a portion of their benefit package.
Community Based Organization
San Francisco Department of Human Services, a division of HSA
San Francisco Human Services Agency
Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing
Individuals or families who are living in emergency shelters or in transitional housing, or who are formerly homeless and currently residing in City-funded permanent supportive housing programs, or who are formerly homeless and housed with a City-funded time-limited rental subsidy.
Participant placement in permanent unsubsidized employment for a minimum of 20 hours of employment in a 40 hour pay period.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps, or CalFresh in California.
D. Target Population
This grant will serve homeless individuals (as defined in Section I.C above) who reside in the City and County of San Francisco. Respondents may propose to target specific subpopulations within the homeless community.
II. Scope of Work
The Scope of Work is to be used as a general guide and is not intended to be a complete list of all work necessary to complete the project. Respondents should use this description when designing their proposed programs. However, respondents may suggest modifications and/or additions that will, in their estimation, make the program more feasible or effective. The description below outlines the key program elements and services the selected vendor(s) will provide.
A. Description of Services
Selected grantee(s) must 1) recruit and screen for eligibility and readiness for employment services, assess and enroll homeless participants in the program; 2) provide job readiness and job training services; and 3) provide job placement and job retention services. Respondents may also propose to provide targeted short-term barrier remediation services. Longer-term barrier remediation and other wrap-around supportive services may be leveraged and integrated into the service delivery model but not directly funded through this RFP.
1) Participant Recruitment, Assessment and Benefits Linkage:
· Recruit homeless participants (as defined in Section I.C) by accepting referrals from City-funded shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing providers, as well as CBO partners, the Human Services Agency and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Respondents may also recruit eligible participants from within their existing client base. Develop program guidelines and document eligibility for potential participants.
· Develop infrastructure for background checks, assessment, and medical clearance for employment of clients.
· Develop an individual service plan based on a thorough assessment which includes a vocational goal and the incremental steps towards achieving it, including linkage to separately funded public benefits, barrier remediation and support services as necessary. Note: CAAP and CalFRESH linkages in particular can help clients access other employment services and sources of income to support them while in training and job search.
· Perform other steps as needed to recruit and evaluate clients for placement in employment.
2) Job Readiness Preparation and Job Training:
· Provide job readiness preparation to include work/education history, resume, master application, on-line job search, interviewing skills.
· Provide vocational training that help clients obtain in-demand job skills that are marketable to employers from local/regional industries in need of workers .
3) Job Placement and Job Retention:
· Develop relationships with employers to identify job placement opportunities in high-demand sectors.
· Develop in-house knowledge of the range of barrier remediation and supportive services already available to program participants in the City of San Francisco, including the County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP) and JobsNOW.
· Develop marketing, outreach, and recruitment materials targeting potential participating employers.
· Develop a variety of employment opportunities to accommodate participants’ skills, interests and abilities.
· Provide training and technical assistance to employers and participants to ensure job retention after placement.
· Match participants with employment opportunities and coach them through the job search process.
· Mediate any disputes between employers and participants, assisting the participant to find another job if resolution cannot be reached.
B. Service and Outcome Objectives
Respondents should state in measurable, quantifiable terms the service and outcome objectives they will achieve in providing these services.The major purpose of objectives is to measure quantity, quality, and impact of services. The objectives should state the target quantities and match the program services as proposed.
Service Objectives
On an annual basis, the grantee will meet the following Service Objectives:
· Document the Homeless status of each participant enrolled in services
· Enroll at least TBD unduplicated participants in job readiness and/or job training services.
· Complete job placement for at least TBD unduplicated participants.
· Document the CalFresh enrollment status of all clients at intake and document that 80% of the program participants who are eligible and who do not have CalFresh submit an application through the MyBenefits CalWIN online portal or another channel.
· Document that at least 25% of clients served are enrolled in CalFRESH and/or are ABAWDs
· Document the CAAP enrollment status of all clients at intake and document that at least 80% of the program participants who are eligible but do not have CAAP submit an application through the MyBenefits CalWIN online portal or another channel.
· Ensure that at least 75% of program participants complete an annual Satisfaction Survey.
Outcome Objectives
On an annual basis, the grantee will meet the following Outcome Objectives:
· At least 75% of those enrolled in Homeless Employment Services will complete vocational training.
· At least 45% of those enrolled in Homeless Employment Services will be placed in employment of 20 or more hours per week.
· At least 60% of those placed in employment will retain the job a minimum of 90 days.
· At least 85% of program participants completing a Satisfaction Survey will report a positive experience. Respondents shall be given the opportunity to not only rate the program using Likert-type scales but also provide feedback in narrative form.
Grantee will be required to report progress towards meeting the Service and Outcome Objectives on an annual and as-needed basis.
C. Reporting Requirements
· Homeless documentation – All clients must be homeless as defined in Section I.C of this RFP. Documentation will be the personal statement of previous homelessness and a copy of a letter or contract from the Supportive Housing residence, transitional housing program or rental subsidy provider. Note: Grantee may be required to use, and able to confirm the status of homelessness for individuals, through the DHSH Online Navigation and Entry (ONE) data tracking system, currently under development.
· Grantee will provide a monthly summary report as well as individual client report of activities, referencing the tasks as described in Service and Outcome Objectives.
· Monthly reports must be entered into the Contracts Administration, Billing and Reporting Online (CARBON) system each month by the 15th of the following month.
· Grantee shall issue a Fiscal Closeout Report at the end of the fiscal year. The report is due to HSA no later than July 31 each grant year. This report must be submitted to the CARBON system.
· Grantee will provide an annual participant satisfaction survey report to HSA by March 15 each grant year.
· Grantee shall develop and deliver ad hoc reports as requested by HSA.
III. Submission Requirements
A. Time and Place for Submission of Proposals
Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m., on May 26, 2017.
Proposers shall submit one (1) electronic PDF copy of the proposal to and . The electronic pdf copy must be received prior to the deadline to be considered a timely submission. Proposals that are submitted by fax will not be accepted. Partial or late submissions will not be considered.
B. Format
For word processing documents, text should be unjustified (i.e., with a ragged-right margin) using a 12 point serif font (e.g., Times Roman, and not Arial), and page margins should be at least 1” on all sides (excluding headers and footers).
C. Content
Organizations interested in responding to this RFP must submit the following information, in the order specified below. All proposals for funding must be developed using the format below. This is necessary so that all proposals can receive fair and equal evaluation. Proposals not following the required format will not be considered for funding. Information must be at a level of detail that enables effective evaluation and comparison between proposals by the Proposal Evaluation Panel. The Agency must ensure that the proposal addresses the Selection Criteria.
1. Table of Contents
Each proposal package should contain a complete table of contents showing page numbers. All pages in the package must be numbered consecutively, and major sections must be indexed.
2. RFP Cover Page (use form provided in Section X)
Submit the cover page signed by a person authorized to obligate the organization to perform the commitments contained in the proposal. Submission of this document will constitute a representation by the organization that the organization is willing and able to perform the commitments contained in the proposal.
3. Minimum Qualifications (no more than 3 pages)
All agencies submitting proposals for funding must provide a Minimum Qualifications Narrative describing in detail how the proposing agency meets each of the Minimum Qualifications. Any proposals failing to demonstrate these qualifications will be considered non-responsive and will not be eligible for proposal review or award of grant. (refer to section IV, Item A)
4. Organizational Capacity (no more than 6 pages, not including resumes and job descriptions)
Description of your agency’s ability to deliver the services proposed in this RFP.
In addition, please address the following: