Download Positive Alternative RFP Questions - Week 3 (PDF)

Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
12/31/15
1. Can organizations help women who are pregnant only and not offer services once she has the
baby and still be eligible for PA funding?
An organization can choose to assist women who are pregnant only. An organization must
provide information on, referral to, and assistance with securing the following necessary
services: medical care, nutritional services, housing assistance, adoption services, education and
employment assistance, including services that support the continuation and completion of high
school, child care assistance and parenting education and support services. In addition, an
organization may directly provide one or more of the identified necessary services to a pregnant
woman.
2. In our current grant we give out need based cards for gas and food. I am assuming that this is
allowed because is not an incentive or reward card. Also I believe the $50.00 limit does not
apply for need based cards.
Reward or incentive based cards have a $50 limit per year per client. Need based cards do not
have the same $50 limit but the same accounting procedures are to be used when purchased
and issued to clients. You must include in your Budget Justification Sheet the amount of gas or
food cards you are anticipating purchasing and the total number of unduplicated clients you
intend to serve with those cards. These need based or emergency based cards should be
provided only for an emergency situation, women in need of financial assistance should be
referred to appropriate programs such as SNAP, WIC, MFIP or in the case of assistance for
medical care or transportation to medical care to Medical Assistance. An organization must
have a written policy in place outlining how “needs based” or “emergency” food and gas cards
will be distributed and monitored.
3. I have a question about the rule of only $50 of gift cards per person per year. Is that if you are
giving them a gift or Evaluation reward/gift? Our cards are an incentive they have earned. The
gift cards were how many of our clients get their car seats. I require they produce a receipt to
prove it was used on pregnancy or baby item before I would allow them to get anymore gift
cards. Also does this apply to gas cards? We are so remote and Gas cards are huge for a client
who needs to see OB/GYN or a specialist out of town. Right now we have a high risk mother
who has to drive 100 miles one way to see her OB every week.
Reward or incentive based cards have a $50 limit per year per client. Need based or emergency
based cards do not have the same $50 limit that cards used as incentives do. You must include
in your Budget Justification Sheet the amount of need based (gas or food) cards you are
anticipating using and the total number of unduplicated clients you intend to service with those
Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
cards. These need based or emergency based cards should be provided only for an emergency
situation, women in need of financial assistance should be referred to appropriate programs
such as SNAP, WIC, MFIP or in the case of assistance for medical care and transportation to
medical care to Medical Assistance. An organization must have a written policy in place
outlining how “needs based” or “emergency” food and gas cards will be distributed and
monitored. If you are providing items such as car seats or pack and plays, diapers or formula as
rewards/incentives for completing specific programming your organization must purchase these
items directly and then make them available to the client.
4. The RFP states we must give out booklets: If you are Pregnant, which talks about abortion. Are
we required to give that booklet out? As a Catholic organization I'm not sure we can do that.
Also mentioned WRTK. What is that?
The RFP requires that if you are counseling a woman on the developmental characteristics of
babies and unborn children you must provide accurate information and offer the Women's Right
to Know (WRTK) booklet, "If you are pregnant: Information on fetal development, abortion and
alternatives,". The WRTK booklet can be found at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/wrtk/index.html
If you are counseling a woman only on the developmental characteristics of babies, you do not
need to offer the WRTK booklet.
5. Is this an ALL or NOTHING award? For example, if we submit the RFP request for $75,000, will
we either be awarded that amount or nothing at all?
Funding awards are made based on the number of applicants, the total amount of funding
requested, and the total amount of money available. Modifications of budgets may also occur if
the organization has included items in their budget that are not coverable by the grant or are
above the maximum allowed.
6. Can you please clarify indirect and direct expenses in regards to salaries?
If a position (whether full time or part time) is directly providing services under the grant
program their salary and fringe should be billed on the invoice under the Salary and Fringe
Benefits line. If the staff position is working on more than the Positive Alternatives grant
activities then they must do a time study accurately reflecting the time to be charged to Positive
Alternatives grant. Indirect is used when the costs cannot be easily attributed to a specific
program. These costs are then usually allocated proportionately across the entire agency and
are covered by all programs within the agency. When time studies would reflect the time such a
position (supervisory staff, Human Resource staff, financial management staff, etc.) actually
spends supporting the program they should be directly billed as program costs. You cannot
include the same staff under both direct and indirect line items.
7. For Form B (Due Diligence Form), can you please clarify what you mean by bonded officials,
question 19?
Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
Bonded official’s means that a bonding company has secured money that is available in the
event that a claim is filed against the organization. It is not a requirement for PA grant funding.
8. When submitting my budget, do I need to allocate for Indirect Costs?
No, applicants are encouraged to directly expense all of their costs for supporting the grant
program on the line items provided on the budget forms. If an applicant is unable to directly
attribute the costs of doing business to the grant (time studies, proportion of rent, phone, etc.
attributable to the grant), they may cover these costs through indirect. Items that are included
in an applicant’s indirect charges cannot also be included under a line item.
9. I have a quick question regarding the new grant application and submitting a certified
financial audit. Epiphany Caring for Life is a pregnancy resource center within The Church of
the Epiphany. When asked in the new application for a financial audit, the church’s last
Independent Auditors report was 6/30/12 & 2011. However, we do have an Independent
Accountants Review Report dated June 30, 2015 and 2014 that is more recent. Which one
would you rather be included in the application? I would have just included both, but they are
each 22 pages long and make our application quite lengthy.
Submit the most recent Independent Financial Audit if you are under the 501 (3) (c) status of
Epiphany Church and indicate the date of the church’s last audit. If you have your own nonprofit status you would be asked to submit your most recent 990.
10. Life Coaching Options – We are aware of a $6,000 certification class in the Twin Cities – Is that
required for us to have life coaching? Can life coaching be considered the same as mentoring
and done by staff at the pregnancy center?
All grantees must ensure that any medical services provided meet standards defined by the
appropriate professional organization or are broadly recognized within the medical community.
Life Coaching has its own professional criteria for training and practice. It would not be
considered the same as the typical mentoring provided by some Pregnancy Centers.
11. New Program Risk: If we want to add a new eligible service, but the grant reviewers do not
want to fund that service in our application for any reason, could that service cause the rest of
the application to be turned down?
It would not necessarily cause the rest of the application to be turned down. Applicants should
fully research, explain and justify their community’s needs when proposing new services. This
will be considered in the scoring process.
12. A new question for you on the 2016 application: we are considering contracting with a
wellness-based clinic (an MD and chiropractor team) to help address pre-term delivery and
post-partum depression that uses an integrated approach. They provide a multitude of health
care services which includes primary care, chiropractic, pain management, stress
management, rehabilitative services, massage, addiction assessment and referrals, health
Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
13. coaching, weight loss/management and mental health screening and referrals. We are talking
about 6 visits, 3 during pregnancy and 3 post-partum. They have stated that their costs to
cover their providers will be fixed whether the client chooses to attend all 6 visits or not. Is
that something we can pursue or are their some guidelines to consider? Would a baby
chiropractic visit be acceptable?
Contracting with a local health care provider as part of your program proposal would require
following the contracting guidelines outlined on page 29 in the PA RFP. The applicant must
ensure that any medical services being considered meet standards defined by the appropriate
professional organization or are broadly recognized within the medical community.
14. I’ve been working on my logic model for the new grant application, and I’m struggling a bit.
Mainly, I’m struggling with the fact that Earn While You Learn spans across all of the activity
categories, and that makes it very long and complicated. The Earn While You Learn program,
which is primarily funded by the PA grant, goes across all of the activity categories (Services to
Support Healthy Pregnancy Behavior, Support in Carrying Baby to Term, Support to Women to
Increase their Knowledge and Skills as Parents, and Support to Women to Increase their
Ability to Become Self-sufficient). Do I need to list EWYL under each activity category, spelling
out short and intermediate outcomes that fit each activity category? My preference in writing
the logic model would be to use the 3 areas of concern our grant proposal is addressing, and
take each of those out to short, intermediate and long-term outcomes. But the predetermined
activity categories seem to make that model incorrect.
The Logic Model is a guide to help applicants demonstrate and describe the expected outcomes
for their proposed programs. There are several ways to use the model. Applicants should choose
an approach in using the Logic Model that would best describe their own unique program and
further clarify their grant proposal.
15. We are thinking of establishing some sort of fund (emergency needs fund) that could help the
mothers. Please let us know of any ideas you may have.
Applicants cannot set up an emergency fund. All needs that they plan to serve with the grant
should be included in their budget and Budget Justifications Sheets.
16. Could we use an emergency needs fund for day care/child care costs before and after leaving
Philomena house?
Applicants should plan to use appropriate community resources whenever possible.
Organizations should take a role in referring their clients to appropriate programs that are
already in place in their community.
17. We would like to advertise throughout the State in a small newspaper for funds AND to tell
people about our organization. We have not done newspaper advertising because of the
expense. Can we put that NEW item on our budget? I read that it could be up to $7000/year
or 7% of our annual budget.
Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
Yes, you may budget for promotion of your PA program as part of your budget. You will need to
list the type(s) and frequency of promotion that you would like to use and the amount each type
of promotion will cost.
18. We have a fabulous new Treasurer, she is now on our Board of Directors. She is a volunteer
but we would like to pay her for her many hours of work for us. Can I contract her to do all
our financial business including invoice? Can this contract be paid for by our grant? If she is
our “money manager” and getting paid can she still be a member of our Board of Directors?
The 2016 RFP states it is strongly suggested that grantees incorporate into their budget
the costs of appropriate financial staff to provide oversight to the grant. This could be
through contracting with an individual or organization or a direct hire. Paid staff
generally are not voting members of non-profit Board of Directors because of the
potential conflict of interest. This decision should be made by your organization’s Board
of Directors.
19. As we move our moms out of our house we are giving them their bed - they have no bed. Can
we add this new cost on our grant? One set of twin is around $250 each. Perhaps
$1500/year?
Yes, an applicant could list this expense under the supplies category.
20. When our volunteers are needing to ask us for gas money - Must they ALWAYS record mileage
on their car OR can they tell us “14.5 total miles to and from my home to Philomena House”?
If reimbursement is being requested though grant funds volunteers should be required to
record their mileage for all trips during agency’s business with established forms and
procedures.
21. Some of our doulas pay for babysitting when they are with our guests in the hospital. Can we
charge this cost to the grant?
Generally speaking if someone is receiving a salary for their work they wound not receive the
additional benefit of reimbursement for child care.
22. I do need some clarification on the indirect expenses as well. I do not see anything that helps
us decide whether expenses should be listed as direct or indirect (many can be either, but
which is better, or what is affected by our choice). Also, we can charge up to 10% in indirect
costs, but is there some way of calculating what rate we should use?
Indirect costs are defined as the costs of doing business that cannot be directly attributed to a
specific grant program or budget line item. If you are able to determine program costs directly
or by fair share it is highly suggested you do so. Please check page 31 of the 2016 RFP for further
clarification of indirect costs.
23. Page 7 of the RFP states all pages should be numbered consecutively. In the original RPF, Form
A is page 14, Form B is page 15, 16, & 17, Form C starts on page 18, and so on. In the unbound
Positive Alternative RFP QUESTIONS – Week 3
original and copies that we send, should Form A be numbered page 1, Form B be numbered
page 2, 3 and 4, or should Form A be numbered 1, and Form B be numbered 1, 2 and 3. I guess
I mean, should each individual attachment start over at 1.
When compiling the PA application all pages and forms should be numbered in the order the
applicant assembles them in their individual application.
Community and Family Health Division
Women and Health Unit
Positive Alternative Grant Program
85 E. 7th Place, Suite, 220
St. Paul, MN 55164
651-201-3581