09/29/2021

Contracting Opportunity: Partnering With Tribal Communities To Develop Supportive Housing Recommendations for Native American Families Impacted by Child Welfare

Description:

CSH is seeking a consultant with demonstrated experience within Native American communities, and working with tribal experts and leaders to assist in facilitating collaborative development of supportive housing recommendations that respond to the needs of Native American families impacted by child welfare. The consultant will work with CSH and project partners to successfully organize, guide and record meetings and interviews, synthesizing and incorporating findings into a report and related materials which will help inform the end goal of fostering collaboration focused on identification of needs, assessment of promising approaches, and development of recommendations for development or adaptation of culturally responsive and appropriate housing and supportive services for Native American families with children who are living in or at risk of homelessness and involved with state, county or tribal child welfare systems. In partnership with CSH, the consultant will help bring together and facilitate a national group of Native American leaders and organizations with expertise related to Indian child welfare to think through the key questions, partnerships and strategies to strengthen families, ensure housing stability and advance racial equity.

With the support of a consultant, CSH seeks to achieve the following goals:

  • Expand and strengthen relationships with Native community leadership and key stakeholders.
  • Identify engagement opportunities to understand the biggest needs facing Native American and Alaska Native families connected to child welfare systems of states, counties and tribal nations.
  • Connect peers to explore supportive housing approaches for Native families involved in the child welfare system.
  • Bring in expertise on the Indian Child Welfare Act, tribal sovereignty and culture.
  • Lift up the voices of tribal families with lived experience to learn strengths and assets as well as unmet needs. CSH places a high value on integrating lived experience to inform housing and services approaches.
  • Explore compatibility of existing supportive housing models with the unique cultural and sovereignty needs of tribal nations and their members living both on and off reservations, such as Keeping Families Together (KFT), CSH's two-generation approach to supportive housing for families at risk of recurring involvement with child welfare. It integrates supportive services and affordable housing with a focus on ensuring that families are unified or reunified and helping parents and their children thrive.

CSH Mission and Services:

CSH is the national champion for supportive housing, demonstrating its potential to improve the lives of very vulnerable individuals and families by helping communities create over 335,000 real homes for people who desperately need them. In addition to affordable supportive housing, CSH funding, expertise and advocacy have generated nearly $1 billion in community investment and local economic activity. Building on 30 years of success developing multi and cross-sector partnerships, CSH engages broader systems to fully invest them in solutions that drive equity, help people thrive, and harness data to generate even greater outcomes. By advancing supportive housing as a platform for stability and services, CSH is optimizing public resources and ensuring healthy communities.

Background:

CSH has had the honor of collaborating with tribal nations on a variety of work to address housing instability and homelessness for tribal members in Minnesota for the past 15 years. Based on these relationships, CSH believes a supportive housing approach similar to the KFT model could have strong potential to create opportunities for all members of tribal communities throughout the country. According to national data cited by the National Indian Child Welfare Association, “Native children are overrepresented in state child welfare foster care systems, sometimes at rates as high as 12 times their overall population.” The long and horrific history of removing native children from their families affects the impact of current removal as well. Helping connect systems and establish housing and services resources that are culturally responsive and adaptive for tribal communities is essential in ensuring that family supportive housing solutions such as KFT can be successful with Native American and Alaskan Native families and children.  

Planned Activities and Deliverables:

The anticipated project activities to be completed in partnership with CSH include:

  • Participate in planning meetings with CSH to determine details and tasks for two national virtual meetings including objectives, target participants, and determine location and dates of national meetings.
  • Work with CSH project liaison(s) in crafting materials, correspondence, invitations, agendas, content, roles and approach that are appropriate for each meeting or task.
  • Conduct outreach and engagement efforts with target participants.
  • Support facilitation of initial and follow-up virtual national meetings of tribal leaders and experts, including preparation of all meeting follow-up and notes.
  • Conduct individual interviews with attendees after initial national meeting to gather additional feedback and recommendations.
  • Draft actionable framework report and accompanying presentation materials that incorporates and synthesizes themes from stakeholder meeting and interviews, including a set of recommendations and potential next steps for review by the group.
  • Support planning and facilitation of a second convening of initial attendees to review and discuss recommendations and determine direction and next steps.

Funding Available:

An amount not to exceed $25,000 is available for the project. The contract duration is expected to be 6 months. No travel is anticipated under this contract.

Application Process and Vendor Requirements:

To apply for this opportunity, please email 1Roof@csh.org on or before November 10, 2021, with a minimum of two pages and no more than five pages outlining the information below Applications received before the deadline will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Suggested approach in addressing goals outlined above
  • Demonstrated successful performance of substantially similar work
  • Relevant project work
  • Experience and expertise 
  • Years of relevant experience
  • Rate reasonableness and overall cost of services
  • An understanding of the families sector including state, county and tribal child welfare and/or supportive/affordable housing systems preferred.
  • Special consideration will be given to small, disadvantaged, minority or women-owned businesses, including those owned by Native American or Alaska Native tribal members.

CSH understands that the scope of work requested may be conducted by a single consultant, a consultant group, or by an organization. The proposal should provide the name, title, address, telephone number and email address for each person engaged in the project.  If an organization, consultant group, or partnership of consultants is involved, the proposal should indicate who will serve as the point person for the work.

CSH understands the need and is committed to a broader focus on race equity in order achieve greater progress in the field of supportive housing. The work demands that CSH look internally as well as externally through our work and the work of our partners to bring marginalized voices and perspectives to the table. As such, CSH encourages applications from people and organizations led by Native American tribal members, people of color and people with lived experience.

Please note that CSH requires subcontractors, including individuals and sole proprietors, to carry workers’ compensation insurance and commercial general liability insurance (CGL) while performing work under a CSH subcontract. CSH subcontractors cannot have existing, pending or expired debarments that preclude them from doing business with the United States government and cannot have convictions for, nor have any pending indictments for, fraud or a criminal offense in connection with a public.

If you have any questions, please contact 1Roof@csh.org.

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