Open Solicitation for Community Justice Co-Creation Initiative

Release date: September 18th, 2023

Purpose and Goal

Montgomery County is dedicated to advancing community-led planning in collaboration with local government. This shift aims to empower frontline community members to identify fundamental issues and develop comprehensive solutions to promote racial equity, health, high quality of life, and inclusive climate resilience.  Utilizing as their guiding framework the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership developed by Facilitating Power, the Montgomery County government and the Montgomery County Collaboration Council are organizing a space for the community to create new norms, attitudes, practices, and processes so that impacted communities are adequately supported and positioned to co-define the problems affecting them and co-design solutions for long-term viability. 

Initiative Name

Community Justice Co-Creation Initiative

Program Description

The Community Justice Co-Creation Initiative presents an opportunity for community-driven empowerment toward practical solutions. Its vision is to establish an anti-racist, climate-resilient region where every individual not only survives, but thrives.

This transformative journey necessitates collaboration, experimentation, resource sharing, vulnerability, and trust. The County Government, the Collaboration Council, and community organizations and members have jointly endeavored to co-create a sustainable community infrastructure for climate resilience and community justice. This initiative will involve community leaders collaborating with their communities to conceive and co-create comprehensive health, equity, and high-quality life solutions, contributing to a resilient, climate-ready region for all.

Timeline

Community-based organizations and community leaders will receive compensation for their expertise as co-creators and co-learners of the process. This commitment extends throughout the fiscal year until June 2024, with a flexible timeline guided by the pace of trust-building.

Compensation

Compensation will vary according to the level of responsibility and time commitment of each partner. We will compensate organizations at a minimum of $50/hour. This project will require an investment of at least 6 hours/month from the organization. Still, the final details of the CBO's scope of work, including the anticipated level of effort, will be developed in partnership with the Montgomery County government and the Collaboration Council. Regardless of the level, Community-Based Organization (CBO) co-creators will act as a bridge to represent frontline community members and encourage their active leadership in this transformative work.  

Contractor Competencies

Core team members are pivotal in co-creating and designing the Community Justice Initiative. They should:

• represent grassroots, base-building entities working within historically and/or currently marginalized communities
• be able to mobilize and engage their communities in addressing the climate crisis facing frontline communities. 
• have a strong orientation towards co-learning and popular education
• have a willingness to collaborate with local government
• have a deep awareness of the climate crisis and its connections to lived experiences, as well as profound empathy and an ability to identify root cause

Review Process

Submissions will undergo review by DEP staff, the Collaboration Council, and community partners. Co-creators will be selected based on their alignment with the initiative's goals and principles.

Deadline

Submissions will be reviewed, and co-creators will be selected on a rolling basis.

Overview & Purpose

Funding will be awarded to increase accessibility to quality youth programs, focused on the positive development, social-emotional, and overall well-being of the County’s youth. 

The Collaboration Council seeks Letters of Interest from organizations and qualified individuals to serve as a pre-approved pool of potential youth program vendors to serve Montgomery County youth.

Vendors are strongly encouraged to secure non-MCPS /non-Montgomery County Recreation Department program facilities for all program services. Qualified applicants will be selected for the Open Solicitation Vendor List and remain on the list to receive priority announcements of future funding support. Selection for the Open Solicitation Vendor List is not a commitment by the Collaboration Council to contract with each vendor for these services. The Open Solicitation process allows the Collaboration Council the flexibility to secure specific services on a short-term or continuing basis from vendors who meet pre-established requirements.

Select respondents to the Open Solicitation may be considered for available funding contract awards based on the demonstration of capacity, commitment to positive youth development, and quality in delivering programming services to youth in a successful letter of interest.

The following criteria will be considered in determining eligibility for a contract award and award amount:

1. Demonstrated and authentic connections to the proposed target community for programming

2. Program approaches and models rooted in Positive Youth Development and effective community engagement principles

3. Number of youth/families to be served,

4. Level of services, e.g., frequency, duration, and length of session,

5. Program focus and scope,

6. Other sources of funding;

7. Geographic location of the program; and

8. Reasonableness of budget/cost items.

Eligible Providers can be

• Non-profit organizations based in Montgomery County, MD with certification of their 501(c)3 status

• Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)

• Sole Proprietorships

Identifying Vendors for 

Community-Based Solutions for Community Needs Assessment  

“Profiles in Impact”  

 Date of Release: November 20, 2023 

Due Date: December 11, 2023 

Background 

As the County’s Local Management Board (LMB), the Montgomery County Collaboration Council has historically played a significant role in convening local government agencies and nonprofit organizations to work in collaboration to promote the well-being of children, youth and families.  We are called to effect change not just in the immediate, but also in the long-term for the residents of Montgomery County.  A vital aspect of an LMB’s role is to lead a Community Needs Assessment process every three years, which enables us to identify needs and barriers faced by our children and families and then system-build through program funding/oversight, convening, and leveraging partnerships and collaboration to bring about positive change. We are currently embarking on the 2023 needs assessment. 

For information regarding the Montgomery County Collaboration Council, its initiatives, and programs, visit our website at www.collaborationcouncil.org  

An information session will be held on Tuesday, November 30, at 12:00 p.m. via Zoom.   

To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAldOyqqDMiGNO8aFa7cYOXtycRq_XFny_j

Questions may be submitted through the registration form or asked at the session.  That is the only opportunity to have questions about this Open Solicitation answered.  

The session will be recorded and will be sent to anyone who registers for the session whether that person attended the session or not.  

Community Needs Assessment:
We are working to transform policies, systems, and culture in Montgomery County via the amplification of authentic community voice and engagement.

There are several underlying assumptions that guide this project: 

• Black and brown communities in Montgomery County face significant disparities in outcomes across a range of socioeconomic indicators, with persistent lack of access to quality housing, childcare, food, health care, transportation, safe neighborhoods, educational opportunities, and out-of-school time programs. 
• Status quo approaches and incremental attempts at addressing these disparities will not lead to meaningful change over the long-term. 
• Long-term, meaningful change requires a paradigm shift that will only be accomplished by engaging a robust community-based network to ensure that community members are front and forward in deciding on solutions to the many challenges the county faces. 
• True partnership with community requires shifting from top-down decision making and tokenistic community engagement to collaborative governance  
• Collaborative governance with and for community requires increased investment in the building of a grassroots infrastructure so impacted communities can be integrated into decision-making, and community-led solutions can be activated and supported 
• Community challenges will be remedied by community-based solutions. 

Funding will be awarded to individuals and organizations engaged in game-changing, community-based solutions to address the disparities in outcomes in the following priority areas (this is not an exclusive list and offerors may include other focus areas): 

• Family Economic Stability 
• Connection to work/education and belonging to community for young people 
• Climate Justice and environmental safety 
• Early Education and Maternal Health