NCOA Request for Proposals - Funding Opportunity: 2024-2025 Equity Contract for Consulting

NCOA REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 

Contract Invitation and RFP Instructions 

Funding Opportunity: 2024-2025 Equity Contract for Consulting  

Contract Amount 

1 Contractor to be awarded $500-$700,000 

Introduction  

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) Center for Benefits Access (CBA), under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), is seeking a firm to support the implementation and expansion of equity-based practices within five existing Benefit Enrollment Centers (BEC). The goal of this work is to increase the capacity of BECs to operationalize equity: 1) within their organizations from the executive level through staff, and 2) into their programmatic work with a focus on more equitable programming and distribution of services in their communities. 

During the most recent BEC funding cycle (January 1, 2024-August 31, 2025), NCOA awarded 90 community-based organizations funding to operate BECs across the country. Organizations that operate as BECs assist with screening, application, and enrollment in federal government benefit programs. BECs can be non-profits, local government organizations or Tribal Communities that work with Medicare beneficiaries. Funded BECs are expected to focus on completing applications for clients in at least one of the five core benefit programs: Medicaid, Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), Medicare Savings Program (MSP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Programs (LIHEAP). Organizations may also provide application assistance in other benefit programs such as housing assistance, transportation, etc.  

For this opportunity, only BECs who have been funded at the $125,000+ level and those that have previously been funded during the past funding cycle are eligible to apply. NCOA has released an RFP to BECs that meet the criteria to apply for this opportunity. NCOA will review proposals and award five organizations $100,000 each to participate in this pilot project. NCOA plans to select a diverse group of organizations that represents variety in demographics of clients served, the type of organization (non-profit/governmental/etc.), location across the country, as well as other characteristics that will allow for the deliverables of this project to be replicated by other BECs. At least one organization will be chosen and awarded funding for its direct engagement with Tribal Communities.  

The funding for this project comes from the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) program. ACL provides MIPPA funding to NCOA that supports the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment (NCBOE), which provides technical assistance to support organizations that work with Medicare beneficiaries.  

NCOA Commitment to Equity  

Through NCOA’s equity promise, NCOA: 

• Demands equity in aging;  
• Advocates for change in the public policy sector; 
• Empowers economic security and financial stability for older adults;  
• Commits to listen and act on the needs of older adults;  
• Will deploy resources and supports to increase economic security;  
• Will use a community-driven and diversity-first approach at every turn; and 
• Will fight for equitable aging alongside others that are working to make this paradigm shift.  

In alignment with NCOA’s equity promise, equity grants are a pilot project that NCOA has developed to address recommendations associated with an equity assessment conducted by ACL. The assessment highlighted a need for: 

• Successful outreach to and support of beneficiaries (including those experiencing inequity). This requires direct communication and partnerships between trusted community representatives and significant investment of time and resources to build trust. 
• Connections with community members with lived expertise (i.e. personal knowledge about the world gained through direct, first-hand involvement in everyday events) pertaining to equity issues, including those who have not interacted with a BEC or enrolled in benefits, is key to understanding underlying reasons why one may not have interacted with a BEC. 
• Operationalization of equity within an organization. This is a culture shift and requires commitment from all levels of an organization.  

Scope of Work 

In the first phase of the work, the selected contractor will conduct onsite and virtual assessments and technical assistance (TA) that helps organizations build a tailored equity roadmap. The contractor will then use lessons learned from participating organizations to develop a tool kit with best practice documents that other organizations in NCOA’s network can use to build their own equity road maps. In addition to the creation of materials, the contractor will assist with the promotion and dissemination of materials. Lessons learned from this pilot will inform future programming, tools and resources that will be developed and widely shared. 

Grant Expectations and Deliverables 

• An equity assessment that includes pre and post testing that will inform the formation of the organizational roadmap for operationalizing equity, self-guided toolkit, and final report. 
• An organizational roadmap for each of the five equity grantees that prioritizes their individualized key equity actions. 
• A self-guided toolkit to help other organizations reach their own equity goals that could include templates, organizational assessments, workshop facilitation guides, discussion questions, draft outreach materials, etc. 
• Facilitation and coordination of a mid-contract meeting, in-person in Crystal City with participating BECs to discuss initial outcomes, successes, challenges, and lessons learned. 
• A webinar to the BEC network on identified best practices and an introduction to the self-guided toolkit. 
• A presentation and/or panel discussion at 1-2 conferences identified by NCOA to discuss the work and initial insights. 
• A monitoring and evaluation plan for the life of the project. 
• A final report outlining accomplishments of each organization, initial evaluation findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for future funded pilots and organizations that may take on this work via the self-guided toolkit.  

The selected contractor will engage in the following activities:  

1. Administer an equity assessment that will be used during the contract period for all five organizations. 
2. Administer pre and post testing with the selected BECs and provide findings. 
3. Visit each of the BEC sites in-person periodically throughout the contract period cycle (1-2 in total per site). 
4. Meet regularly with the workgroup members identified by each BEC and facilitate working groups and provide TA support. Selected BECs have been notified that the workgroups should consist of organization decision makers, front-line staff, key community stakeholders, individuals with lived expertise, and others that the organization deems necessary members to include. 
5. Meet with the selected BECs monthly for virtual meetings (these meetings may be held one on one or may be in combination with the other grantees based on contractor discretion). 
6. Keep NCOA staff apprised of project updates and meet with NCOA staff regularly, but a minimum of monthly.  
7. Provide BECs with required assignments between visits and calls and make meaningful progress toward overall project objectives.  
8. Consult with participating BECs on the development of the self-guided toolkit. 
9. Identify required data, client stories, budgets, contact information and other necessary items needed to meet the goal of the project.  
10. Meet with key stakeholders in the BEC community that the contractor deems necessary to discuss the project and long-term implementation (including those in the workgroup).  
11. Conduct surveys, focus groups, or other information gathering activities that support the monitoring and evaluation plan. 
12. Facilitate, coordinate, and participate in an in-person meeting held in Crystal City midway through the contractor's period. This meeting will include all equity grantees, NCOA staff, ACL staff and will be facilitated by the contractor. Contractor will work with NCOA staff to coordinate the event.  
13. Facilitate, coordinate, and participate in one webinar to the BEC network. 
14. Present and/or participate in panel discussions at 1-2 conferences identified by NCOA to discuss the project and initial insights.  

Eligibility Criteria  

Consulting and government service firms are eligible to apply.  

The ideal applicant will have the following qualifications, experiences, and capabilities: 

• Demonstrated understanding and proven experience working with organizations to build equity-based organizations, that prioritize equity within all levels of the organization.  
• Ability to develop processes to strengthen and support the internal systems of organizations. 
• Experience creating best practice documents and toolkits to be used by other organizations. 
• Experience presenting on key-findings and common threads when building more equity driven organizations.  
• Ability to design innovative programmatic solutions. 
• Experience working with Tribal communities.  

Proposal Guidelines and How to Apply 

Applicants are required to submit an electronic proposal describing their organization’s commitment and responses to the request for proposal questions. This proposal must include narrative responses to the questions below along with an attached budget.  

• All proposals should be emailed to centerforbenefits@ncoa.org with subject line EQUITY GRANTS 2024 by 5pm EST, May 24, 2024. No late applications will be accepted.  All sections of the proposal must be submitted by this deadline; NCOA will not accept any materials submitted late, and we will not be able to review incomplete proposals.  

Please respond in narrative form to each of the questions below.  Please keep each response to the word counts listed below: 

1) Describe your organization’s background including experience working with organizations to build and operationalize equity and equity driven practices (specifically highlight your experience of working with nonprofit or governmental entities, as well as your knowledge of the five core benefit programs listed in the RFP). (1,000 words or less) 

2) Describe your organization’s commitment to equity and equity driven practices and provide clear implementation examples. (1,000 words or less) 

3) Describe the approach you would take in working with the BEC grantees to achieve the contract deliverables. (1,000 words or less) 

4) Describe the evaluation plan you would use to assess the impact of this project. Please provide details regarding what the evaluation tool would measure along with your plan for administration of the evaluation tool. Explain how you would provide those findings to NCOA. (1,000 words or less) 

5) Describe the staff that will work on this contract and their relevant experience and skill sets. (500 words or less) 

6) Provide workplan with timing of deliverables;   

7) Provide references including name and contact information for two organizations that your organization has provided equity building and/or other consultant work for;  

8) Create a budget document including narrative comments regarding each line item; and 

9) Attach copies of key staff(s) resume/CV. 

Proposed Budget  

Applicants are asked to submit a budget including the cost to visit locations of the five grantees at least once during the contract period. Applicants are also asked to estimate expenses for participating in 1-2 conferences/panel discussions/presentations. Estimated funding for this work is $500,000-$700,000. Please provide a detailed budget including costs associated with all contract deliverables. 

Use of Grant Funds 

This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS.  The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.  

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/grants/grants/policies-regulations/hhsgps107.pdf 

Selection Criteria  

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria, adding up to 100 points: 

Selection 

Criteria 

Scoring 

Background: 

Describes organization’s background and experience with similar projects: 

• Experience working with organizations to operationalize equity and provides 2 references; 

10pts 

Internal Practices:

Describes organization’s commitment to equity: 

• Provides organization’s equity promise and/or philosophy to equitable drive practices  
• Provides clear examples of implementation within the organization  

10pts 

Approach: 

Clearly defines the approach organization would take working with selected grantees. Understands the contract deliverables.   

25 pts 

Monitoring & Evaluation Plan:

Provides a clear description of the evaluation plan.  

• Articulates what and how the evaluation tool would measure impact 
• Explains how they would provide those findings to NCOA  

20 pts 

Experience:  

Describes the role of those who would be working on the contract and provides resume(s) and CVs that show  experience relevant to this project.   

15 pts 

Workplan: 

Provides a detailed workplan and includes time frame projections for all deliverables.  

10 pts 

Budget: 

Organization has provided a clear budget with narrative justification. Budget must: 

• Include all noted expenses including travel to all grantee sites and the Age + Action conference; 
• Clearly justify the expenses listed. 

10 pts 

About the National Council on Aging  

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is the national voice for every person’s right to age well. We believe that how we age should not be determined by gender, color, sexuality, income, or ZIP code. Working with thousands of national and local partners, we provide resources, tools (online and in community), best practices, and advocacy to ensure every person can age with health and financial security. Founded in 1950, we are the oldest national organization focused on older adults. NCOA has a goal to improve the health and economic security of 40 million older adults by 2030. Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging.