The Office of Community Services (OCS) is seeking applications for its Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Regional Performance and Innovation Consortium (RPIC) Capacity Building and Quality Improvement (CBQI) Region IV-A.
Donor Name: Office of Community Services (OCS)
States: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $400,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
Under the 3-year cooperative agreement, OCS will fund one (1) RPIC in Region II to serve as the regional leader for T/TA for building the capacity of state and territory CSBG lead agencies, the CSBG State Association, and CSBG-eligible entities. The increased capacity will ensure high-quality, far-reaching services and supports outcomes for individuals, families, and communities towards improving and sustaining economic self-sufficiency. The T/TA will improve the performance of and enhance the efforts of the CSBG Network to ensure better outcomes. As part of this cooperative agreement, the recipient will be expected to identify and align the training needs of the region on capacity building and quality improvement. T/TA should be focused on but not limited to the following areas: organizational self-assessment, strategic planning in service delivery, fostering strategic partnerships, leveraging existing resources, worker training models, standardization of processes and procedures, and Community Needs Assessment. The T/TA provided through this cooperative agreement will be driven by a collection and analysis of emerging and promising practices in capacity building. T/TA provided may include regional or in-person or virtual convenings, direct one-on-one T/TA, webinars, training modules, podcasts, presentations, and other learning and capacity building activities. The recipient will assess the effectiveness of the T/TA provided through this cooperative agreement. The cooperative agreement will require a close working partnership with OCS to ensure deliverables and outcomes align with the purpose of CSBG and the priorities of OCS. The recipient will communicate information about the implementation and progress of the initiatives throughout their duration.
In order to strengthen service delivery models, build and expand agency capacity, advance equity across programs and services, leverage funds and other resources, enhance relationships across the region, and develop a robust regional T/TA strategy, the RPIC CBQI Lead will develop and execute T/TA that focuses on the following:
- Service Delivery Models, Strategies, and Partnerships;
- Build and Strengthen the Knowledge, Capacity, and Ability of the Region to Implement Effective Programs and Activities;
- Regional Activities Designed to Address the Collaboration, Capacity Building, Quality Improvement, and T/TA Needs of the Region;
- Relationship-building, Collaboration, and Information-Sharing Efforts with CSBG state lead agencies;
- Regional CSBG Performance Management Framework Efforts; and
- Storytelling and Messaging to Demonstrate the Impact of Collective CSBG Regional Efforts.
OCS-funded programs are vital in addressing persistent poverty and pervasive disparities and inequities. To achieve the vision, OCS has established several overarching priorities to ensure that goals are achieved across the CSBG Network. Award recipients must ensure that the following three goals are considered throughout the planning and execution of the activities outlined within this NOFO.
- Ensuring the programs OCS administers are of the highest quality possible and reach those most in need.
- Lifting voices from the field and using lessons learned to be thoughtful, inclusive, and innovative in the approach.
- Identifying opportunities to break down silos and implement cross-cutting initiatives within OCS and ACF and across the federal government.
Objectives
Service Delivery Models, Strategies, and Partnership
- The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following:
- Identifying services, service delivery models, and case management/tracking tools that effectively assist an individual and family in becoming self-sufficient.
- Providing T/TA to CSBG-eligible entities to support the needs of low-income individuals and families through the use of rapid-cycle learning (RCL) methods to test, adapt, and/or enhance innovative programs and service models to effectively respond to urgent community-based needs.
- Identifying protocols for monitoring and managing the quality and effectiveness of services and tracking service delivery outcomes.
- Establishing, cultivating, and enhancing national, regional, state, and local partnerships that are instrumental to addressing poverty.
- Building, maintaining, and enhancing partnerships across the CSBG Network and cultivating unique partnership opportunities that can help advance the CSBG Network’s mission
- Prioritizing the role of strategic organizing and planning to ensure community collaboratives are in place to efficiently deliver effective services to low-income individuals and communities.
- Identifying and addressing challenges to advancing equity across programs, services, and processes, with a focus on individuals who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.
- Identifying and sharing promising practices, evidence-based practices, and evidence-informed practices across the region. I. Identifying and sharing long-term planning approaches for changing community conditions.
Additional T/TA focus areas may include:
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- Determining strategies to empower customers living in low-income communities to respond to the unique problems and needs in their communities through maximum feasible participation with CSBG-eligible entities and state associations.
- Developing and implementing training activities and curriculums for CSBG eligible entity staff and board members, including understanding the importance of how their roles and responsibilities impact the services provided to communities.
- Identifying strategic planning processes to successfully plan, develop, and implement strategic plans; track progress; and evaluate results, including approaches for CSBG-eligible entities to share strategic plans with CSBG-eligible entity staff and community members.
Build and Strengthen the Knowledge, Capacity, and Ability of the Region to Implement Effective Programs and Activities
- The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following:
- Identifying, enhancing, implementing, and promoting capacity building and quality improvement efforts to meet the T/TA needs of the region.
- Collaborating with the national CSBG T/TA providers to provide coordinated T/TA to improve knowledge management and promising practices across the region.
- Strengthening programs and activities by identifying and implementing tools and resources to assist with collecting and analyzing regional CSBG data.
- Identifying and implementing T/TA for new CSBG-eligible entity staff including Executive Directors, Program Managers, and financial staff, as well as board members to become acclimated to their new roles.
- Additional T/TA focus areas to consider may include:
- Increasing the capacity of CSBG-eligible entities to provide and sustain services that enhance equity amongst low-income families and communities and, in turn, transform communities and identify improvement areas to enhance services and outcomes.
- Engaging with CSBG state lead agencies, state associations, and CSBG-eligible entities to implement succession planning efforts for employee retention; identify and fill positions as staff retire or exit key positions; implement staff leadership development programs; and create a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Engaging with directly-funded tribes and tribal organizations and CSBG-eligible entities to develop a Local Theory of Change that can help validate how agencies
Regional Activities Designed to Address the Collaboration, Capacity Building, Quality Improvement, and T/TA Needs of the Region
- The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following
- Spearheading the development of a comprehensive and integrated system of regional T/TA activities by coordinating, implementing, and collaborating with CSBG state lead agencies and state associations to develop an annual T/TA Needs Assessment template. The T/TA Needs Assessment template will be used to collect and analyze data to identify high-priority technical assistance needs and establish community-level goals and outcomes. The T/TA Needs Assessment template must be reflective of each state’s needs, including those identified through the FY 2022 CSBG T/TA Needs Assessment Survey. OCS published the results of the survey in a publicly accessible dashboard: CSBG Needs Assessment Dashboard. The T/TA Needs Assessment template will be disseminated to the state associations within the region for distribution to CSBG-eligible entities within their respective states.
- Convening with state associations to analyze data from the completed state specific T/TA Needs Assessment to determine regional T/TA priorities.
- Collaborating with state associations to develop and disseminate an annual regional T/TA report, which captures the identified priority T/TA needs across the region and the regional strategy for addressing the needs. The report will be disseminated across the region.
- Collaborating with state associations, national CSBG T/TA providers, and external training providers to coordinate and implement T/TA. E. Convening (e.g., monthly or quarterly) the state associations to coordinate and implement regional T/TA and discuss the status and impact of T/TA within the region.
- Additional T/TA focus areas to consider may include:
- Facilitating regional presentations to provide a clear understanding of the role of the RPIC CBQI and the T/TA resources available to CSBG-eligible entity staff within each region.
- Engaging with CSBG state lead agencies and CSBG-eligible entities to identify and eliminate barriers to growth and opportunities for CSBG-eligible entity staff, allowing staff to deliver innovative, effective, and culturally relevant services.
- Coordinating with CSBG-eligible entities to provide T/TA to CSBG-eligible entity staff and board members to determine and prioritize areas for capacity building and quality improvement
Relationship-building, Collaboration, and Information-Sharing Efforts with CSBG State Lead Agencies
- The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following:
- Cultivating strong collaboration and recurrent communication with CSBG state lead agencies to build and strengthen relationships across the region and establish a culture that facilitates trust, collaboration, timely sharing of information, and, ultimately, advance the achievement of CSBG outcomes.
- Providing support for collaboration with CSBG state lead agencies across the region to plan, coordinate, and deliver effective, relevant, and timely T/TA to territories, directly-funded tribes and tribal organizations, CSBG-eligible entities, and state associations.
- Supporting engagement with CSBG state lead agencies to develop and sustain partnerships to leverage funds and other resources to improve outcomes and drive community-level transformation, including identifying opportunities to braid (coordinate two or more funding streams toward one purpose while separately tracking and reporting on each source of funding) federal, state, local, and private funding streams and implementing strategies to improve the coordination of resources across ACF-administered programs.
- Encouraging regular convening (e.g., monthly or quarterly) between state associations and CSBG state lead agencies to exchange the sharing of strategic goals, priorities, opportunities, and expectations.
- Additional T/TA focus areas to consider may include:
- Coordinating collaborative workgroups with CSBG state lead agencies and state associations to problem solve around shared issues, including procedural changes with program administration, strategic planning, and content for Community Needs Assessments (CNA) and Community Action Plans (CAP) to maximize the utility of community strategies.
- Engaging with CSBG state lead agencies to identify and overcome obstacles in distributing CSBG funding in an efficient and timely manner
- Working closely with CSBG state lead agencies to determine approaches to improve the timeliness of data sharing to state associations
Regional CSBG Performance Management Framework Efforts
- The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following:
- Engaging with CSBG state lead agencies and CSBG-eligible entities to build capacity to meet the organizational standards to advance CSBG-eligible entities beyond compliance to ensure mission-driven operations.
- Utilizing the information learned through the annual regional T/TA report to implement regional performance management T/TA.
- Additional T/TA focus areas to consider may include:
- Supporting a culture of learning that encourages successful performance management systems to ensure continuous improvement across the region.
- Sharing promising practices with CSBG lead agencies and CSBG-eligible entities on developing strategies to improve performance.
- Facilitating regional presentations to provide an overview of the CSBG Performance Management Framework to CSBG-eligible entity staff and board member
- Storytelling and Messaging to Demonstrate the Impact of Collective CSBG Regional Efforts The RPIC CBQI award recipient must focus T/TA efforts on the following: A. Highlighting CSBG success stories and effectively communicating compelling storytelling with CSBG data.
- Sharing achieved impact, outcomes, and success stories with CSBG-eligible entity staff, board members, and internal and external stakeholders.
- Leading the collection of data in response to OCS data calls, including collaborating with CSBG lead agencies, state associations, and CSBG-eligible entities within the region, to gather accurate responses in a timely manner.
- Additional T/TA focus areas to consider may include
- Engaging with CSBG lead agencies and CSBG-eligible entities to determine strategies to use data to develop narratives to exhibit the success and impact of programs and services.
- Utilizing success stories to educate the community about the effectiveness of CSBG community-based anti-poverty organizations.
- Leveraging storytelling and messaging to showcase the strength of CSBG and Community Action
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Funding: $400,000
- Award Ceiling: $400,000
- Award Floor: $400,000
Project Period
36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods.
Eligible Applicants
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Additional Information on Eligibility
Eligible applicants are CSBG-eligible entities, or statewide or local organizations or associations, with demonstrated expertise in providing training to individuals and organizations on methods of effectively addressing the needs of low-income families and communities. Eligible applicants must be physically located in ACF Region IV-A (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi). In Region IV, awards will be made for two separate service areas. One award will be made to serve Region IV-A (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi) and a separate award will be made to serve Region IV-B (South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky). For the purpose of this funding opportunity, eligible applicants within the region or service area may coordinate efforts and apply as a consortium, identifying a single applicant organization to serve as the recipient. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.