Request for Proposals: Consultant for SIF Pay for Success 2 - Due 2/24/17

In December 2016, CSH was awarded its third Social Innovation Fund grant and its second focused on Pay for Success. Through this award, CSH and its partners will provide data readiness and developmental support to governments and service providers, building their capacity to successfully harness Pay for Success (PFS) to improve outcomes and reduce costs for high-cost vulnerable populations. This work will also strengthen and support the mission of the White House DDJ Initiative, in which CSH is a technical assistance (TA) partner. CSH sees great opportunity to build upon and accelerate our work with communities to effectively use data as a tool to expand supportive housing (SH) opportunities and as a lever to shift systems toward a focus on investing in what works and collaborating across the multiple entities that have a shared role in improving the lives of vulnerable populations.

Under this initiative, we will (1) Work with governments to streamline and improve access to data that can be used to accelerate PFS initiatives that would result in improved outcomes for vulnerable populations. (2) Build the capacity of service providers and local jurisdictions to collect and use cross systems data to better target, serve and share meaningful outcomes related to high cost, high need populations and enhance readiness to engage in PFS (3) Use evidence to determine target outcomes and price the value to be created. (4) Continue to build the PFS field by creating and producing knowledge sharing resources.

Through this initiative, CSH is seeking a qualified consultant to support us in developing and delivering the training and technical assistance to service providers to build their capacity to participate in PFS. The appropriate subcontractor will be able to assist with various items, including curriculum development, training delivery and customized technical assistance as further outlined below.

The subcontractor’s work will mainly comprise of the following:

Curriculum Development
The subcontractor and CSH will work closely together to develop an integrated training curriculum to prepare services providers to successfully participate in Pay for Success transactions. Building on expertise of the selected consultant as well as CSH’s extensive body of training on supportive housing, the consultant and CSH will create a cohort based PFS preparation curriculum focused on supportive housing as the intervention. It is anticipated that the curriculum would include but not be limited to:

• An overview of the PFS model and implications for service providers
• Intellectual Capital such as investments in data and metrics
• Financial Capital such as the impact of outcomes-oriented funding on capitalization, planning and financial health
• Human/Social Capital including how PFS impacts staff, boards, and partners and what’s expected in a PFS contract
• Designing a quality supportive housing intervention.

Training Delivery
The subcontractor and CSH will also collaborate to deliver the training curriculum developed in item 1. This includes coordination to determine the most effective methods through which to deliver each element of the curriculum including activities and other interactive methods. The consultant will also develop and administer a readiness assessment to be given to each participating organization prior to the start of a given session of the curriculum.

The full curriculum will be delivered twice. The first time is anticipated to begin in late 2017 and the second time in early to mid-2018.

Technical Assistance Provision
The consultant will build upon the initial assessments of each participating service provider organization to develop an individualized coaching plan and support. As relevant, this will include the provision of follow up technical assistance customized based on the needs of each specific organization. The consultant and CSH will design these coaching plans in collaboration and coordinate TA delivery based on the identified capacity building needs.

Subcontractor and CSH coordination
The subcontractor and CSH will work closely together to merge the expertise of each organization in order to ensure that the work outlined in items 1-3 above is conducted in the most comprehensive, complete, and high quality manner possible. Coordination will occur via in-person meetings, e-mail, and phone.

Milestones and Deliverables:

Dates and exact deliverables will vary based on project timeline and selected communities.

• June to August 2017: CSH and the consultant collaborate to create the Supportive Housing Pay for Success Readiness Academy.
• October 2017 (Cohort 1) and April 2018 (Cohort 2): Consultant conducts PFS readiness assessment with each organization to flag key areas of support needed.
• November 2017 and May 2018: Service providers convene in person to participate in the first session of the Supportive Housing Pay for Success Readiness Academy.
• December 2017 to February 2018 and June-August 2018: Consultant provides intensive follow up support to Service Recipients.
• September 2018: Service providers convene in person to participate in the 2nd session of the Supportive Housing Pay for Success Readiness Academy.

Through the provision of the services outlined in this RFP it is expected that participating services providers will have a significant opportunity to improve operations, data collection and utilization, financial management and service delivery to ensure the best possible outcomes can be achieved and documented, successfully accelerating the work underway in communities across the United States to launch supportive housing for specific target populations using the PFS model.

Funding Available:
An amount not to exceed $175,000 is available for this project.

Match Funding:
CSH requires respondents to this RFP to match the federal dollars to be provided using non-federal sources on a one to one basis.

Application Process:
Complete and return an application and required form(s) no later than Friday, February 24, 2017.

 The following forms or attachments should be included:

• Application Letter
• Subcontractor Information and Budget (including billing rates)
• Financial and Administrative Requirements (form provided)

• Verification/certification that subcontractor will match funds provided through this RFP on a 1:1 basis up to an anticipated $175,000 in non-federal matching funds for the project.

Application information and forms must be completed and submitted to Tom Haskin (tom.haskin@csh.org) no later than Friday, February 24, 2017. The application should include billing rates, a project budget, completed copies of the form(s) referenced above, resumes for up to six proposed staff members, and a narrative description (limited to 5 pages) of your organization's core competencies and accomplishments.

Evaluation:

CSH will evaluate applications utilizing the following criteria and will select the highest-scoring valid proposal: 

• Demonstrated successful performance of substantially similar work (up to 20 points);
• Relevant project work, including Pay for Success project work (up to 25 points);
• Experience and expertise, including: (up to 25 points)
  • Curriculum development on topics similar to those outlined in this RFP
  • Experience working with service providers in a Pay for Success context
  • Provision of individualized technical assistance to nonprofit organizations
• Years of relevant experience (up to 10 points);
• Knowledge of supportive housing (up to 10 points); and
• Rate reasonableness and overall cost of services (up to 10 points).

 

Please note that CSH requires subcontractors, including individuals and sole proprietors, to carry workers' compensation insurance while performing work under a CSH subcontract.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail Stephanie Mercier at stephanie.mercier@csh.org.