FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

 

Request for Proposals for Out-of-School Time Programming

Release Date: February 28, 2023

Download a pdf of the RFP HERE

RFP Addendum with corrections. Download HERE.

To request to have a physical copy of the RFP mailed to your address, click HERE.

On behalf of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families and Department of Human Services (City of Philadelphia), Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) invites high-performing youth-serving non-profit and for-profit organizations operating in neighborhoods across the City of Philadelphia (City), to apply for funding through this competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process to provide developmentally appropriate afterschool and summer programs for the following service: 

Out-of-School Time Programs (OST)

The OST program: 

  • Serves youth enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade and is a competitive solicitation.
  • Is delivered by community-based organizations.
  • Is part of the City of Philadelphia's continuum of prevention programs and activities designed to contribute to the overall well-being and safety of youth through access to services that promote their healthy, physical, social, educational, and emotional development.
  • Provides programming designed for all youth, particularly those who need to be diverted from or have current or previous involvement in the child welfare system. 

For fiscal years 2024 to 2027, the City of Philadelphia envisions an OST system that delivers the highest quality services to Philadelphia's most vulnerable youth and their families, via a well-prepared and appropriately compensated workforce.

There are two programmatic strategies included in this Request for Proposals (RFP): 1) General Out-of-School Time Strategy and 2) Specialized Activities Strategy, further defined in the RFP document. Refer to Section II: OST Program Content & Delivery for more information.

The City of Philadelphia is committed to supporting and sustaining an OST system built on the following tenets:

  • Building on practices that increase quality and connect to national best practices in OST
  • Diversifying high quality opportunities available to youth across the city
  • A well prepared and appropriately compensated workforce
  • Equitable access to programming that ensures children, youth, and families thrive
  • Working in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) by aligning with their goals for every student to read on or above grade level and every student to graduate ready for college and career.
  • Working in partnership with SDP by supporting with their guardrail that every student has a well-rounded education including arts, athletics, and other co-curricular opportunities, integrated into the school experience.

Download a PDF of the full RFP HERE. 

Sections 

> Applicant Eligibility

> Key Dates

> OST Program Site Identification

> Optional Bidders Conference (via Zoom - Registration Required)

> Submit a Question about the RFP

> Application Process

> Application Materials

> Online Resources and Links

 

RFP Applicant Eligibility

To be considered for funding under this the competitive solicitation, an applicant must be: 

  • A private for-profit organization or private non-profit organization and cannot be a government agency. Organizations that are tax exempt under Section 501[c]3 of the Internal Revenue Code must submit a copy of their most recent IRS Determination Letter.
  • Must have at least one or more years or more of experience running youth development programs that serve youth and their families residing in Philadelphia's most underserved communities.

In addition, organizations awarded funding through the RFP will be required to:

  • Offer awarded OST programs to participants at no cost to families and youth attending.
  • Offer programming to the contracted participants for the program hours at the site identified for funding.
  • Provide programming that aligns and fully complies with the City of Philadelphia's Out-of-School Time Standard Operating Procedure aligning with the strategy, model, and site type awarded.
  • For awarded sites that serve children in K through 8th grade under the General Strategy, the provider organization will need to have a Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Certificate of Compliance prior to program operations.

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Key Dates

Activity

Date

RFP release

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

RFP Bidder's Conference (via Zoom)

Monday, March 6, 2023

Deadline for Provider Questions

Friday, March 10, 2023

PHMC to post final questions and answers document

Friday, March 17, 2023

Proposals Due

5:00 p.m. Friday, March 31, 2023

Award Notifications

 Early June 2023

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OST Program Site Identification

1) For this RFP, the City of Philadelphia has identified Priority Zip Codes and Priority Sites within those Zip Codes.

Priority Zip Codes

19104

19120

19121

19122

19124

19126

19132

19133

19134

19138

19139

19141

19144

    

 

a. Targeted School Sites within the Priority Zip Codes
The City of Philadelphia is prioritizing those School District of Philadelphia Schools in the priority zip codes that do not have other public investments in OST programs. A list of these priority school sites can be found HERE.

b. Community-based Sites within the Priority Zip Codes
Organizations identifying their own community-based sites in these priority zip codes in their application will also be considered as priority sites.

2) Priority Community Schools
The City of Philadelphia will continue to prioritize OST services within the 20 City of Philadelphia Community Schools. A list of community schools can be found HERE.

3) Non-priority OST Program Sites: School and Community Based
The City of Philadelphia is seeking city-wide OST programming. As such, sites that are not included as priority sites above will still be considered for funding. These include:

  • Community-based and School District of Philadelphia locations outside of the priority zip codes
  • Charter, parochial, and private schools
  • School District of Philadelphia schools within the zip codes that are NOT included in the list cited above.

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Optional Virtual Bidder's Conference

March 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

  • Bidder's Conference was conducted on March 6th at 10:00 a.m.
  • Registered attendees will receive a zoom link prior to the session.
  • A recording of the Bidder's Conference will be available by Tuesday, March 7th HERE.

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Submit a Question about the RFP

  • Applicants are required to thoroughly review the PDF of the full RFP and all Appendices, which can be downloaded HERE.
  • Interested applicants may submit question through our Question Form through Friday, March, 10, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.
  • Submissions must identify the applicant organization, the person who is making the inquiry and the appropriate email address for the response.
  • Responses to all submitted questions will be posted HERE on or before Friday, March 17, 2023.

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Application Process

All RFP responses must be submitted via the web based application platform at https://outofschooltimerfp.secure-platform.com by March 31 at 5:00 p.m.

No late submissions will be accepted. The application portal will prohibit proposal submission after the deadline.

PHMC strongly recommends that you make your submission well in advance of the deadline. PHMC also recommends that providers begin their submission as early in the application period as possible – applicants can save their work and return at a later date. Please expect the system to operate more slowly closer to the submission deadline, as more users will be logged in simultaneously.

The online submission process will include:

  • All applications must be submitted via https://outofschooltimerfp.secure-platform.com/. The application link can also be found on www.philaOCFost.org beginning Monday, February 27th. 
  • Create a login on the above referenced website by selecting "My Account" or by clicking on "Start Application."
  • Organizations may have multiple user logins. Collaboration on applications is available by selecting "Manage Collaborators" after initiating the application. Only one user may be editing an application at any given time. Only "Primary Collaborators" can finalize and submit applications. 
  • Instructions for completing the application can be found in the RFP. The Bidder's Conference will also include a demonstration of the on-line system. A recording of that presentation will be available HERE on Tuesday, March 7th.

Important Details

  • Applicants must identify a specific site for which they are applying to provide OST programming.
  • Applicants must identify a strategy and program model for each site application.
  • If applying to operate an OST program in a K-8 School, applicants must offer to provide both elementary and middle school programming and will be required to respond to questions for both models.
  • Applicants may submit multiple applications if requesting to serve more than one site.
    • Each application submitted for a site will be reviewed and scored individually and as such, organizations may not be awarded for all sites for which applications were submitted. Applicant organizations should not consider their requests for multiple sites to be linked or considered as an expansion of an existing program or site.

Required Documents

Applicants will be required to submit the following with their applications:

  • Two most recently completed Fiscal Year budgets
  • Most recent audited financial statement
  • Most recent income statement (Profit Loss) for entire organization
  • Most recent Balance Sheet (Assets/Liabilities) for entire organization
  • List of current board members or Owners for for-profit entities
  • Tax identification letter (501[c]3 letter) from the IRS for non-profit organizations
  • Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Certificate of Compliance (for general Out-of-School Time providers serving Elementary and/or Middle School youth) if available
  • Minority, Women, Disabled Owned Business Enterprise Certificate (MWDSBE), if applicable 
  • Signed attestation from the Board/owners detailing organization's long-term commitment to providing high quality Out-of-School Time programming
  • Organizational chart
  • Signed Letter of Support using the provided template (see appendices)
    • For School District of Philadelphia Schools, the form must be signed by the School Principal
    • Not required for applications to provide programming within the agency's own buildings/sites
  • City of Philadelphia Tax & Regulator Status and Clearance Statement for Applicants

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Application Materials

Download and review the full RFP document HERE.

Download documents from the Appendices through the following links:

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Online Resources and Links

School District of Philadelphia

City of Philadelphia

State and Federal Resources

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