Timeline
Activities would begin on or before July 1, 2024, and continue through May 31, 2026.
Budget
An amount not to exceed $50,000 is available for this project.
Purpose
Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) seeks an organization to collaborate with CSH to co-create, host, and support a family-led network of parents and caregivers with lived experiences at the intersection of housing instability and child welfare involvement.
CSH envisions a “Families Network” that guides, informs, and supports those working and living at the intersection of housing instability and child welfare involvement. A Families Network can promote leadership opportunities and provide a space for healing and collaboration for families. CSH is excited to partner with an organization and with individuals with lived experience to co-create this Network’s design, infrastructure, and functionality.
CSH’s inspiration for creating a Families Network comes from a year-long body of work focused on exploring recommendations for authentically co-designing and co-creating work with individuals with lived experience. The goal was to inform CSH and our partners on how to move towards power sharing and family-informed decision-making so that families navigating the housing and child welfare systems experience more equitable outcomes. In 2022, CSH created a fellowship position for a parent with lived experience to participate in CSH’s families, children, and youth work; and partnered with additional lived experience consultants to identify existing parent/caregiver networks focused on housing. While many parent/caregiver networks were identified, none specifically focused on housing.
The Families Network will work in partnership with CSH’s One Roof and Keeping Families Together Initiatives and national sites implementing quality family housing and service interventions for families most impacted by child welfare and housing instability. CSH believes that a Families Network can help expand our collective learning and create opportunities for families to further develop their advocacy, empowerment, and impact at the intersection of housing instability and child welfare.
To stand up a Network that is driven by and responsive to families with lived experience, we anticipate co-creating with 2-3 individuals with lived experience and launching the Families Network with an initial cohort of 5-7 individuals. This process of co-creation can either build on or expand a current parent/caregiver network, or standalone as an independent network. CSH brings existing relationships with professional lived experience consultants, potential Network participants, national and local housing, and child welfare partners, and welcomes collaboration to leverage the selected agency’s existing contacts.
Description of Planned Activities
- Organize a series of working meetings for CSH staff, Families Network participants and related partners identified by CSH and selected agency
- Co-design with CSH and lived experience partners the initial functioning of the Network to inform and support the design and implementation of quality family housing interventions
- Collaborate with CSH, Network participants, One Roof and Keeping Families Together partners to implement and practice power sharing with the aim of improving the outcomes and quality of the housing interventions and reducing disparities of impacted families
- Create, promote, and ensure mechanisms and best practices are in place to meaningfully support Network participants with lived experience
- Ensure diversity of lived experience across systems, including child welfare, justice, and mental health systems
Desired Results
- To support a space for families, designed by families
- To create a space of healing and collaboration for families with lived experience of housing instability/homelessness and involvement with the child welfare/child protection system
- To create a space of shared learning and leadership
- To support systems-change efforts by cementing lived experience with a focus on reducing racial inequities in programs and systems
Qualifications
- Interest in working with CSH, a housing partner, to coordinate the facilitation and design of a Families Network
- Supporting families is central to your organization’s mission and decision making
- Organizational capacity to host and support a Families Network, including meeting coordination and technical support, providing pass through funding, working with families to ensure meaningful engagement and mutual benefit for their participation
- Practice trauma-aware approaches in relationships with families and CSH staff
- Acknowledge, understand, and work with intention towards addressing racial disparities and other intersectional disproportionate impact (including LGBT+)
Proposal Submission
Please submit a proposal of no more than 3 pages to 1roof@csh.org by June 21, 2024.
Proposals should include:
- Narrative highlighting your interest and readiness to bring a unique lens to the partnership and future Families Network trajectory
- Examples of past experiences and or staff bios providing similar expertise
- Brief budget summary and narrative
- Special consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate experience working with non-profits, are BIPOC (black, indigenous, and persons of color), LGBT+ and/or woman owned, and include people with lived experience of homelessness and/or supportive housing in leadership positions.
Evaluation
CSH will evaluate submissions and conduct one virtual collaborative planning conversation with valid applicant(s) before selecting an awardee, utilizing the following criteria:
- Demonstrated successful performance of similar work
- Alignment in values, collaborative spirit, track record to pay and support parents/caregivers, applicability/strength of existing relationships and reach
- Staff experience and qualifications
- Rate reasonableness and overall cost of services
Please note that CSH requires subcontractors, including individuals and sole proprietors, to carry workers’ compensation insurance while performing work under a CSH subcontract. CSH may ask for references during the selection process.
If you have any questions, please contact 1roof@csh.org.
