RFA 1278 Child Care Support Centers (Reissue)

The New York State (NYS) Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) mission is to serve New York’s public by promoting the safety, permanency, and well-being of the children, families, and communities of New York State (NYS). OCFS has released this request for applications (RFA) to solicit competitive applications from child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agencies to establish child care support centers (CCSC). CCR&R agencies are established not-for-profit, community-based organizations that provide services to support the child care infrastructure. CCR&Rs awarded under this procurement will receive funding to establish a CCSC. Each CCSC will administer a regional child care substitute pool to support the daily operations of OCFS licensed/registered child care programs. The addition of child care substitute pools will provide qualified professionals to licensed and registered child care programs. This will allow providers to utilize substitute caregivers to fill in when necessary to provide continuity of care for families and maintain child care operations. The CCSCs will receive technical assistance and relevant technology to support the implementation of the substitute pools from the Early Care and Learning Council (ECLC). Up to four awards will be made statewide with a maximum of one award per OCFS-defined region to an established CCR&R currently serving that region. The total funding for this project is anticipated to be $12.5 million over five years ($2.5M per year), which will be divided equally among the awarded contractors, anticipated to be $625,000 per awardee annually. Awardees will be required to apply for and obtain a CCSC operating certificate from OCFS. Operating certificates issued remain valid unless surrendered by the CCSC or revoked by OCFS. OCFS may revoke an operating certificate at any time upon a determination that the CCSC has not operated in accordance with applicable state or federal law. The CCSC will be responsible for recruitment and verifying the qualifications of an individual interested in participating in the child care substitute pool. The CCSCs must develop and maintain a substitute pool so individuals may be placed in child care programs on an as-needed basis. These substitute caregivers can provide care when necessary to maintain child care program operations. The purpose of the CCSC is to administer a regional substitute pool to support the daily operations of licensed/registered child care programs by providing qualified and vetted substitute caregivers to programs when staffing assistance is needed. Please see Section 4.0 Program Requirements for full and detailed specifications and requirements. Eligible applicants must: Be a not-for-profit organization. Be operating as a CCR&R agency, as listed on the OCFS public website: https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/referral-agencies.php as of the deadline for submission of applications, as denoted on the Calendar of Events. Be prequalified, if not exempt, on the application deadline. (See RFA Section 7.8 for additional information.) RFA Section 4.0 Program Requirements has more detailed information regarding the specific scope of work. Please see the RFA document located on the "Documents" tab for additional information and submission requirements. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: None. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 0.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 0.00% WBE Goal: 0.00% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contracting goals (DBE) DBE Goal: 0.00%