Questions and Answers: Community Solutions for Healthy Child Development Grant

General

Question: Based on their programming and expertise, can an organization focus on specific developmental stages, say, from prenatal up to one year of age?
Answer: Yes, a qualified organization can submit an application that focuses on ages prenatal to one year of age. Page 14 of the RFP notes, “Proposals must address the needs of children of color and American Indian children from prenatal to grade three (pages 8 and 9) and their families. Applicants should define the community or communities within this population that they propose to engage and serve.”

Question: I have a question about the bidding rules for non-municipalities working with subcontractors. Our project includes a focus on fostering healthy eating habits among children in early care programs by providing them with a weekly box of locally grown fresh vegetables (several kinds of veggies per week). The cost of this would be $10,000-15,000/year, or potentially $60,000 for the full four years of the project. I'm wondering if the cost limit applies to annual contracts, or would it apply to our anticipated cost for the full four years of the project? My other question is what kinds of specifications we can include in the bidding process (for example, preference for vegetables grown on a farm within a 50-mile radius of St. Paul, which would limit the number of farmers/suppliers who could place a bid)?
Answer: There is no cost limit stated in the sample grant agreement for non-municipalities working with subcontractors. The clauses on Page 4 of the sample grant agreement apply to the full amount of the contract. A one-year contract for $10,000-$15,000 must be competitively awarded based on a minimum of two verbal quotes or bids or awarded to a targeted vendor (refer to #3 of the Contract and Bidding Requirements). A multiyear contract for $60,000 must be competitively awarded based on a minimum of three verbal quotes or bids (refer to #2 of the Contract and Bidding Requirements).
The specifications for bidding requirements for subcontracts are at the grantee’s discretion, as long they also comply with the requirements in the sample grant agreement (Page 4-5).

Question: Can we request funding for an existing program that fits the RFP guidelines, or is this funding primarily aimed at new projects or initiatives?
Answer: Yes, an applicant may request funds for an existing program that fits the RFP guidelines. Page 13 of the RFP notes, “Building on Current Work and Capacity: Applicants are encouraged to propose activities that complement or build on their existing work. Applicants may receive funding to continue their existing work.”

Question: In the budget template, on the tab labeled, “instructions,” the list of ineligible expenses notes that purchasing a vehicle is not covered. Is mileage reimbursement an allowable expense?
Answer: Yes, mileage reimbursement for grant-related activities is an allowable expense. If an applicant is requesting mileage reimbursement, they would list this under the “travel” category of the budget. Applicants should use the current standard mileage rate as issue by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Question: We are having conversations with [another agency] about this grant opportunity. Many of the community opportunities are in both Minnesota and South Dakota. Can funded activities or transportation costs be covered if the activity takes place in South Dakota? The state border is 5 miles from the [Minnesota-based agency], so for example, many Minnesota families obtain medical care in South Dakota, as opposed to Minnesota.
Answer: No, funded activities or transportation costs cannot be covered if the activity is outside of Minnesota. Page 6 of the RFP notes, “Applicants must be located in, and conduct grant activities in, the state of Minnesota ...”

Question: On the budget template instructions – ineligible expenses: One of the ineligible expenses listed includes "paying rent or other bills for community members." Can you please provide me with a refined definition of community members? From our perspective, we serve children and families and consider them "program participants." As such, we provide a "family stabilization" service that includes a one-time-a-year financial support, which may include paying a "communication or other type of bill" for a family. This supports stability for family, especially in regard to communication, with us as their childcare provider. A means of reliable communication is necessary for ongoing services. Thus, we define program participants as different from community members at large. Is this allowable?
Answer: Direct cash payments or financial support to program participants are not eligible under community solutions funds.

Question: If we do not include prenatal within the scope of our services, but do include from birth to age 9, can we still apply?
Answer: Yes, you are eligible to apply, as the age range mentioned in this question for a proposed project (birth to age 9) aligns with the age range specified in this grant (prenatal to grade 3).

Question: For multigeneration, do you consider parent/caregiver and child multigenerational?
Answer: A parent/caregiver and child can be considered multigenerational.

Question: Our focus is on schools with high poverty populations and 96% of the children we serve identify as being of color. One of schools serves the Native American population and 45% of their families are homeless and highly mobile. Would a dental organization be considered? Would we be a fit for this grant if our focus is children from one year to third grade and not prenatal and infancy? 
Answer: Based on the description and project focus provided, a dental organization serving children from one year through third grade may be considered an eligible applicant. For more information on eligibility, refer to Pages 6-7 of the RFP.

Question: Would you consider funding a multimedia outlet to share the story(s) of your grantee and the projects (research, data, events, challenges solutions) that support this RFP?
Answer: A multimedia outlet proposing to share stories of grantees and projects will not be eligible for funding, since the proposed project does not align with the objectives of the grant program (as outlined in the program description on Page 4 of the RFP) nor does it meet the eligibility criteria (specified under eligible applicants on Page 6 of the RFP).

Question: Could we schedule a brief virtual meeting to discuss the grant in detail, its specific requirements as it relates to our work, and how we can prepare a strong application?
Answer: To ensure no applicant has an undue advantage, our staff cannot meet with any applicants individually to support their application process.

Question: Are previous awardees of MDH community solutions grant funding eligible for this new RFP?
Answer: Yes.
Funding and project dates

Question: Can this funding support a position that bills for services, for example a family nurse practitioner?
Answer: Yes, this funding could be used to support a position like you are describing. It must be used to support a position for activities that focus on promoting racial and geographic equity around healthy child development and reducing health disparities experienced by children of color and American Indian children from prenatal to grade three and their families. However, ongoing medical care or treatment of disease(s) or disability is not an eligible expense under this grant funding. For more information, please refer to the RFP Pages 14-15 for eligible activities and Pages 17-18 for ineligible activities.

Question: Can this funding be used for general operating expenses?
Answer: This funding can be used for general operating expenses that support grant activities as indirect costs. Please refer to the Budget template and refer to the tab labeled “indirect guidance” for more detailed information.

Question: Is this grant a one-time grant?
Answer: This is an ongoing grant. For the upcoming grant cycle, we expect the grant to begin in May or June 2024, and to end on June 30, 2027. We anticipate that a new RFP will be released for the next grant cycle to begin on approximately July 1, 2027.

Question: Funding is prioritized and awarded to organizations and entities located in areas with a higher proportion of people of color and American Indians than the state average. Does this exclude organizations located in areas where averages are not higher?
Answer: If an organization is located in an area of the state that does not have a higher proportion of people of color and American Indians than the state average, they are still eligible to apply for the Community Solutions grant.

Application review and selection process

Question: The RFP says priority will be given to "organizations that propose to focus primarily on the population of prenatal to age 3 (though projects focusing on prenatal through grade 3 - usually ages 8 to 9 - are eligible). If the primary focus is prenatal to ages 8-9, does this mean we absolutely cannot serve older children with this funding, or a position supported by this funding?
Answer: An applicant should not propose activities or the use of budget funds to serve children that are outside of the population of prenatal to grade 3 (usually ages 8 or 9).

Question: Our organization is private, and we partner with the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) and several public health and nonprofit agencies to improve health equity in community. For this project, we are partnering with [x] county public health and social services as well as several nonprofits, the ministerial association, community leaders, and more. They have a goal to develop a family resource center (FRC) to improve child well-being outcomes in [x] county, and this grant application would be focused on funding the development and implementation of the FRC.
Since we would be leading the work locally for the grant if approved, we are wondering if we could be a direct applicant because it would be a cost savings to MDH to work with us directly versus having a fiscal host and allocating additional management costs and it would alleviate the time commitment from the county to manage those pieces. We were curious, given the language of the grant, as typically a private organization is not listed as being eligible.
Answer: A private organization may apply as the lead applicant as long as they meet the eligibility requirements on Pages 6-7 of the RFP. If the organization does not meet eligibility requirements, then a different partner organization should be the lead applicant.

Question: How is the due diligence form evaluated and scored? Are higher scores evaluated as a lower ranking?
Answer: The due diligence review is a component of MDH's pre-award assessment. These reviews enable MDH to assess applicant capacity and identify opportunities for technical assistance for grant recipients. It is important to note that this form does not contribute to the application scoring criteria upon which grant award decisions are made. Its purpose is solely to ensure appropriate levels of technical assistance are provided if the applicant is selected for funding.

Application instructions and submission

Question: The RFP states that "Applicants must be located in, and conduct grant activities in, the state of Minnesota ..."; however, we are a 501c3 partnering with another 501c3 based outside of Minnesota who would be the lead applicant for this RFP. They will be hiring staff within the Twin Cities in order to expand their work and conduct grant activities within the Twin Cities. Are they eligible to apply even though they are registered in another state?
Answer: Page 6 of the RFP (Eligible Applicants) states: “Applicants must be located in, and conduct grant activities in, the state of Minnesota, but fiscal agents may be located outside of Minnesota.” For this grant, the partnering organization outside of Minnesota cannot serve as the lead applicant for this grant.

Question: Please define multigenerational. What is the difference between mutigenerational and intergenerational?
Answer: We appreciate that the terms mutigenerational and intergenerational are sometimes used interchangeably. We use the term “multigenerational” to refer to more than one generation. A generation is a group of people of about the same age. On Page 38 of the RFP (Attachment A: Application Scoring Criteria), scoring question #7 asks the applicant and reviewers to consider if “The proposal has a strong focus on multigenerational solutions to improve child development outcomes and/or includes opportunities for sharing knowledge, skills, and wisdom across generations.”