Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care – FY 2015 EEC Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant – Fund Code 237
PROCUREMENT INFORMATIONCoordinated Family and Community Engagement
FY 2015 EEC Grant Fund Code 237
Grant Application Due Date and Time:
May 1, 2014
4:00 PM / Number of Pages included in this Grant Application:
22 pages plus Appendices
Content Expert:
Gail DeRiggi, Senior Policy Analyst / Issue Date: March 21, 2014
Issuing Agency: EEC
Funds Type: 2015 State Funds
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS
Electronic Submission Information:
All electronic submission information for this grant must be sent to:
Please include name of grant and name of your agency on the subject line of the email. Example: FY 2015 CFCE, XYZ Community Program / Mail in Submission Information:
One (1) original and three (3) copies must be sent to:
Label Envelope/Package:
Department of Early Education and Care
FY 2015 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement
Agency Name, Program Name
Attention: Michele Smith, Grants Administration
51 Sleeper Street, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02210
Grant Application Due Date: May 1, 2014 - 4:00 PM
Intent to Bid:
EEC asks that all applicants intending to apply for this funding please send an intent to bid email with the name of the applicant agency and “FY 2015 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant” in the subject line by April 4, 2014 at 4:00 PM to .
Failure to submit an intent to bid will not preclude an entity from being able to submit a grant application.
Any and all questions regarding this Grant Application must be submitted in writing to by April 7, 2014 at 4:00 PM with the Grant Application Title/Fund Code in the subject line.
EEC expects to post responses to written questions on or around April 11, 2014.
About EEC /
The work of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) is steeped in the notion that brain building is in progress for young children in enriching environments with caring adults and meaningful and engaging interactions. The latest science shows that these early experiences actually build the architecture of the developing brain much like a house is built from the bottom up.
When you understand the sequence and process by which brains are built, it’s easy to understand why it’s wiser to start every child out strong. Trying to change behavior or build new skills on a weak foundation requires more work and is less effective than providing brain building interactions and environments early in life. Brain building is an investment that yields high returns, an investment in the economic prosperity of everyone in Massachusetts as the next generation will pay that back through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship.
We know that children's earliest experiences are especially important because building the human brain begins even before birth; a strong foundation in early years greatly increases the chance of positive outcomes. Massachusetts estimates that as many as 135,000 children from birth to age five face one or more risk factors each day that could lead to toxic stress, with as many as 20,000 (15%) facing three or more risk factors that without intervention are likely to lead to developmental delays.[[1]]
EEC is focused on strengthening the system of early education and care in Massachusetts as a critical element of the education pipeline from cradle to career. The system EEC is building includes all children, not just those who are subsidized or in formal care. To that end, EEC provides services for children in Massachusetts through a mixed delivery system which includes group and center based programs, out of school time programs, family child care homes, public preschool programs, private preschool programs, kindergarten, and Head Start programs. EEC is also responsible for licensing over 10,500 early education and care and out of school time programs throughout Massachusetts and for providing financial assistance to eligible families seeking early education and care or out of school time programs that serve approximately 55,000 children, birth to fourteen (14) years of age, from low-income families.
EEC strives to bring together a growing community of early education and care providers, educators, academic researchers, business leaders, families and individuals to raise awareness of the critical importance of fostering the cognitive, social, and emotional development of young children. By giving a strong start to our youngest citizens we create a stronger, more prosperous future for all. Massachusetts is dedicated to increasing coordination in our system of early learning and development and aims to prepare children for school success, especially those with the highest needs.
Purpose of this Grant / Through this competitive Grant Application, EEC may award grants to one or more vendor(s) who will provide all families with access to locally available comprehensive services and supports that strengthen families and promote optimal child development.
Priorities / EEC’s mission, vision and strategic plan are built on the recognition that families are essential partners in the agency’s work. To this end, EEC continues to build and strengthen a local infrastructure of supports and services across the Commonwealth to ensure that all families with young children, especially those with the greatest educational need, experiencing multiple risk factors, and in hard to reach populations, have access in their community to the supports that are essential to their success. Research shows that children are more successful in school in their social-emotional development when families are engaged in their children’s learning and development.[1]
Coordinated Family and Community Engagement priorities are:
· Universal and Targeted Outreach Strategies – Reaching and meeting the needs of children, especially those with multiple risk factors and/or are hard to reach
· Linkages to Comprehensive Services – ensuring that families have access to services that support their families well being and children’s optimal development
· Family Education – strengthening the capacity of families as their child’s first teacher through:
o Child development education (all domains -including social emotional)
o Evidence-based early literacy and family literacy opportunities
· Transition Supports – Coordinating activities and resources that maximize families’ access to supports promoting successful birth to eight transitions, with a specific focus on Kindergarten transitions.
Eligibility / This is a competitive grant open to all vendors that are able to demonstrate through the submission of a successful grant application that they are able to meet the priorities and required services as outlined in this grant application.
EEC expects to award funds to a vendor(s) providing the best value to the Commonwealth with the goal of identifying a vendor or vendors capable of providing coordinated family and community engagement services across all EEC regions, cities, towns, and communities.
Vendors may apply to cover specific cities, towns, and communities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. See Appendix E for a list of towns by EEC region.
The number of grants that will be awarded will be based in part on the number of responses submitted and the proposed service delivery areas. To ensure statewide coverage, EEC reserves the right to: (1) re-post this grant if it does not receive sufficient applications to cover the entire state, and (2) negotiate with vendors to determine if they will be willing to provide services to other cities or towns not included in their original grant applications.
If an applicant proposes subcontracting some of their required services, the applicant must submit the proposed subcontracted services for any subcontractor as part of its grant application response. Please note that all such subcontracts must be in writing and approved by EEC prior to their execution.
Required Services / CFCE grantees shall provide comprehensive support for children and their families through family support programming and referrals to comprehensive service providers. Grant activities must promote the Strengthening Families Protective Factors[2]. By building these protective factors in families through the CFCE required services, grantees will support family stabilization and optimal child development which link to school readiness and school success.
Applicants must provide the following services with the grant funds they are awarded.
I. Act as a community-based, information and resource hub for all families in order to increase knowledge of and accessibility to high-quality early education and care programs and services for families with children birth through age eight (8), including information and resources that address a wide range of transitions.
A. Outreach
1. Conduct universal and targeted outreach through a variety of methods and languages, ensuring that all populations of children and families are provided with opportunities to receive information and other supports.
2. Work with appropriate local partners to disseminate outreach and engagement information, maximizing all channels of access to families. In addition to universal outreach, implement intentional targeted outreach strategies to reach and engage the following:
a. Families that are the most socially isolated, “hard to reach,” and hence at greatest risk for developmental delays;
b. Families with children not participating in the mixed delivery system;
c. Families for whom the Ages and Stages Questionnaire can be used to support their understanding of the developmental needs of their children at multiple points;
d. Families to participate in evidence-based literacy programming;
e. Fathers and grandparents;
f. Families with newborns or newly adopted infants; and
g. “Family, Friend and Neighbor” caregivers.
B. Information and Resources
1. Employ methods for maintaining up-to-date community resource information and documentation of gaps in comprehensive services. This information should be inclusive of resources, such as, mental health consultation, supports for families in crisis, resources for child medical screenings and assessments, supports for basic needs, and children’s activities at libraries and museums.
2. Provide families with high quality, specific and up-to-date consumer information and referrals about early education and care, family support options and applicable community resources reflective of their needs.
3. Act as local point of entry to assist families in accessing EEC financial assistance for early education and care. Update/manage the Kinderwait financial assistance wait list on behalf of families, including placement on the waitlist, removal from the waitlist, and modifications or renewals of waitlist records, in accordance with EEC policy.
4. Work in Partnership with Massachusetts Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agencies on behalf of families.
a. Participate in individual meetings with the CCR&Rs that support families in grantee’s service area at least four times per year.
b. Collaborate with the CCR&Rs in providing resource information to families.
c. Participate in the creation of a partnership plan with the CCR&Rs regarding what and how information will be shared to best serve families.
d. Participate in follow-up calls with the CCR&Rs to review and adjust partnership plan as needed.
5. Provide current CFCE grant program information to Mass 2-1-1 to be shared with families who contact Mass 2-1-1 for programs and services.
C. Focused Support: Continuity through Early Childhood Transitions
1. Coordinate activities and resources, which maximize families’ access to supports promoting successful birth to eight transitions between and among home and early education and care programs in the mixed delivery system, (e.g. family child care, center based programs, public schools, out-of-school time settings, early intervention, and early childhood special education).
2. Maintain current information of available community resources that address a wide range of transitions for families with children birth to eight, including program descriptions, eligibility requirements and contacts.
3. Provide families with information about specific birth to eight transition activities, including timelines and specific contacts for transition processes.
4. Collaborate with public elementary schools to promote connections with families of three year olds (for child find), families of five year olds (for kindergarten entry) and families of five to eight year olds (for out-of-school time opportunities), in order to:
a. Reduce the numbers of children and families that arrive at Kindergarten with no prior early childhood experience and/or arrive unregistered for Kindergarten.
b. Develop a targeted outreach and engagement plan for these families.
5. Collaborate with early intervention and public schools to ensure that all families with children who participated in early intervention have access to specific information and support to promote successful transitions from early intervention to appropriate early education and care options, which may or may not include special education.
6. Support families in the shift from family engagement and involvement opportunities in the early education and care mixed delivery system to the opportunities for families in multiple educational settings, including public schools.
7. Support children, including those with disabilities or special needs, by providing enhanced referrals[3] where necessary and conducting follow-up regarding placement and services provided.
D. Measuring Impact and Satisfaction
1. Employ specific methods for measuring satisfaction with CFCE programs and services.
2. Utilize measurement tools to gauge the impact of CFCE programming, with particular focus on evidence-based early literacy programming.
3. Conduct the Strengthening Families self-assessment.
4. Use impact and satisfaction data to improve quality of programming and services.
E. Family Education
Promote evidence-based education, family engagement, and literacy support through activities that:
· recognize parents as their child’s first teacher;
· build on family strengths;
· bolster parental leadership;
· create parental opportunities for mutual support and social connections; and
· build early and family literacy skills, while supporting the development of home language and the needs of Dual Language Learners.[4]
1. Create intentional family engagement activities and connections that create trusted relationships with families. Activities must meet CFCE goals and connect to a larger family engagement and education strategy, providing repeated opportunities for family engagement and participation. [5] Activities should be strategic and in the context of ongoing programming.
2. Support early and family literacy through evidence-based programming, small group activities, and community wide initiatives in order to strengthen the quality of parent-child verbal interactions and support school readiness.
3. Implement EEC approved, evidence-based early literacy models[6]/practices[7] that will ensure focus on home language development and includes: