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The Children’s Trust does not provide direct services to children and their families, but instead financially supports the agencies, organizations, programs and helpers in the Miami-Dade County that do so. We are mandated to conduct a fair and open competitive application and selection process for services, programs and initiatives that support our mission. Applications, released periodically throughout the year, are available on our Web site. Within the application for funding is a complete description of the outcomes desired, the population to be served, and a description of the best practice models that we expect to be used. The Children's Trust strives to achieve significant outcomes for children and continuous quality improvement for service providers, which is why significant resources are committed to evidence-based research and tools to measure accurately the positive effects funded programs are having on children and families. Research helps us to identify areas for program improvement and to apply lessons learned to benefit other organizations. Each funded provider is challenged to measure their progress and to look for ways to improve services. In partnership with selected providers, The Children’s Trust works to develop realistic and meaningful program outcomes to be achieved by funded agencies, based on best practices and national standards for each respective investment strategy. Qualified applicants for funding may be governmental entities, for-profit or not-for-profit organizations incorporated or faith-based organizations exempted from state regulation - each must be qualified to do business in the State of Florida at the time the application is submitted. Applicants are not required to be a 501(c)3 entity. The Trust is prohibited by statute from contracting with programs that are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the public school system. However, collaboration and/or use of school resources by applicants are encouraged when appropriate. To support our operation, The Trust also contracts with vendors for services - training, consultation, attorneys and other expertise or services. Procurement for these types of services must adhere to special guidelines.
The Foundation Center
REFERENCE All our policies strive to ensure that the selection process is conducted in an open and fair environment providing all potential applicants equal opportunity to reply to funding proposals and to access funds. Minority firms (holding Florida Certificate) are granted preference. Each funding opportunity is openly advertised, and a "Cone of Silence" shields each competitive selection process from undue influences prior to the recommendation for contract award. Types of Competitive Solicitation Request for Qualification (RFQ) - is used by The Children's Trust to select service providers based on specific qualifications prior to issuance of a final solicitation. Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) - is issued when The Children's Trust seeks to enter into negotiations with one or more vendors for the procurement of commodities or contractual services and a written competitive solicitation is required. Request for Proposal (RFP) - is issued by The Children's Trust as a written proposal that follows specific guidelines is requested in order to participate in a competitive and fair process of awarding funds. Training workshops are often provided by The Trust (see Community Calendar) to assist candidates with the proposal requirements. Key Concepts: Cone of Silence - begins at the time of advertisement of the RFP and ends when the chief executive officer makes his written recommendation to The Children's Trust board. Helps ensure an impartial and fair process for all candidates. Funding Application - grants to fulfill non-programmatic functions or non-service proposals that benefit children and families through other means such as public awareness, events, and training. These grants are not subject to the cone of silence and are not competitively bid. Steps in the Funding Application Process: Not all steps apply to every funding type. Bidder's Conference - generally held three weeks after a funding application is publicly announced to answer questions and communicate details regarding timeline and other requirements. Letter of Intent - Interested candidates submit their letter of intent to participate in competitive process. Question-and-Answer Period - Questions are submitted and answers communicated via email to all candidates. Receipt - Proposals are received and receipt acknowledged. Review - Designated Children's Trust staff review request-for-funding proposals. Rating - Proposals are assigned a rating based on requirements and qualification. Recommendation - The Children's Trust communicates its decisions regarding proposals. For more detailed information, please submit
FREE SOFTWARE Documents on thechildrenstrust.org are available in a variety of formats. Please choose the appropriate link below to download and install the program you require.
Note: Some files on thechildrenstrust.org are large and may take several minutes to download.
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