548875 - RFP58825002 for Pick a Better Snack
Funding Opportunity Details
Nutrition and Physical Activity
Final Application Deadline: Apr 23, 2024 4:00 PM
Status Closed
Posted Date Mar 26, 2024 11:00 AM
Award Amount RangeNot Applicable
Project Dates 10/01/2024 - 09/30/2027
Award Announcement Date 05/30/2024
Categorical Area
Recurring Opportunity No
Program Officer John McMullen
Phone (515) 416-8565 x
Description
It is the responsibility of the Applicant to review all Attachments listed below for additional details regarding this Funding Opportunity.
The issuance of this Funding Opportunity in no way constitutes a commitment by Iowa HHS to award a contract.
Excerpts from the RFP:
Purpose
The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) # 58825002 is to solicit applications that will enable the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (referred to as Agency) to select the most qualified applicant to provide nutrition education, physical activity and obesity prevention programs to elementary-age children in school buildings with high participation in free and reduced priced meals.
The Agency is actively working to strengthen our capacity to address health inequities in Iowa. Health equity is defined as supporting opportunities for everyone to live the healthiest life possible through the reduction of barriers in environmental, social, economic and other conditions which impact health. This program promotes health equity by focusing on a population that experiences health disparities. Specifically, the program is aimed at individuals with low-incomes in urban and rural communities.
Schedule of Important Dates (All times and dates listed are local Iowa time.)
The following dates are set forth for informational purposes. The Agency reserves the right to change them.
EVENT
DATE
RFP Issued
March 5, 2024
Applicant’s Conference
March 20, 2024, 10:00 - 11:00 am
Written Questions and Responses
Round 1 Questions Due:
Responses Posted By:
March 19, 2024
March 26, 2024
Final Questions Due:
Responses Posted By:
April 2, 2024
April 9, 2024
Applications Due
April 23, 2024 by 4:00 PM Local Iowa Time
Post Notice of Intent to Award
May 30, 2024
| Description | File Name | Type | Size | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. RFP#58825002 Pick a Better Snack | A. RFP58825002 Pick a Better Snack .docx.pdf | 332 KB | 03/01/2024 01:48 PM | |
| B. New System Login Process For All Users | B. New System Login Process For All Users.pdf | 89 KB | 04/17/2024 08:27 AM | |
| C. HHS Application Instructions Guidance New IG | C. HHS Application Instructions_Guidance New IG.pdf | 2 MB | 03/01/2024 01:41 PM | |
| D. Pick a Better Snack Draft Contract | D. Pick a Better Snack Draft Contract .docx.pdf | 723 KB | 03/01/2024 01:48 PM | |
| E. Pick a Better Snack Draft Score Tool | E. Pick a Better Snack Draft Score Tool .pdf | 98 KB | 03/01/2024 01:49 PM | |
| F. Eligible School Buildings | F. Eligible School Buildings.docx.pdf | 64 KB | 03/01/2024 01:49 PM | |
| G. Pick a Better Snack School Agreement Form | G. Pick a Better Snack School Agreement Form.docx | docx | 20 KB | 03/01/2024 02:04 PM |
| H. RFP#58825002 Pick a Better Snack Amendment #1 | H. RFP58825002 Pick a Better Snack Amendment 1.pdf | 80 KB | 03/26/2024 09:35 AM | |
| I. Questions and Answers RFP#58825002 and Applicants Conference | I. Questions and Answers RFP58825002 and Applicants Conference.docx.pdf | 49 KB | 03/26/2024 09:46 AM | |
| J. Link and Passcode to the Applicants Conference for RFP58825002 | J. Link and Passcode to the Applicants Conference for RFP588250.pdf | 62 KB | 03/29/2024 10:49 AM |
| Description | Link |
|---|---|
| A. General Terms and Contingent Terms | https://hhs.iowa.gov/contract-terms |
| B. Pick a Better Snack Program Materials | https://hhs.iowa.gov/pick-better-snack/materials |
| C. SNAP-Ed Connection | https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/ |
| D. SNAP-Ed Toolkit: Pick a Better Snack | https://snapedtoolkit.org/interventions/programs/pick-a-better-snack/ |
| E. Applicant?s Conference Link | https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1600323878 |
| Submitted Date | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2024 1:11 PM | A school that has received funding for PABS for a long time, is not listed on attachment F: eligible rural and urban school buildings. Will attachment F be updated at any point in time? | No, attachment F will not be updated for this RFP. |
| Mar 12, 2024 1:12 PM | How do we go about inquiring about verifying specific eligible schools for PABS? | See Attachment F for the list of eligible schools. |
| Mar 18, 2024 3:07 PM | Are we required to stay at or below the estimated FTE approximation on page 26 of the RFP when setting the budget? | Page 25 of the RFP states that The Estimate of Total FTEs Needed for PABS table is “to provide guidance to applicants for staffing and budgeting purposes” and is not a requirement. Page 25 also states that the application must include a minimum of 0.15 total FTEs. |
| Mar 18, 2024 3:07 PM | Is the only budget guidance provided on pages 25-30 of the RFP related to the FTE approximation table plus any Subcontracted or Other expenses? | RFP sections 2.04 on pages 28-30 provide information about the budget. The table of Estimate of Total FTEs Needed for PABS on page 26 is also intended to provide guidance for the budget. |
| Mar 18, 2024 9:23 PM | Wanted to double check that only School’s listed in attachment F of the RFP for PABS are the districts that are eligible. The school that we’ve been doing PABS with isn’t on the list and didn’t want to miss something then come to find out later that this district could have applied. | Only the schools listed in Attachment F are eligible for this RFP. |
| Mar 18, 2024 9:30 PM | Are only the School’s listed in attachment F of the RFP for PABS the districts that are eligible? East Mills the school that we’ve been doing PABS with isn’t on the list and didn’t want to miss something then come to find out later that this district could have applied. | Only the schools listed in Attachment F are eligible for this RFP. |
| Mar 20, 2024 11:49 AM | Does the self-paced educator training and civil rights training need to be done prior to submission of application, or after an applicant is awarded funding? | The contract has a start date of October 1, 2024, at which time funded applicants can begin the training. |
| Mar 21, 2024 11:52 AM | Richardson Elementary in Fort Madison is one of my qualifying schools for the upcoming RFP. It currently has three classes per grade. Starting in August for the 2024-2025 school year Richardson will be combining with Lincoln Elementary in a brand-new school building in Fort Madison. Each grade level will now have six classes. How will this work for the upcoming RFP? Will the free and reduced lunch count for Lincoln and Richardson be combined and averaged out since they will be combining, or will this school district no longer qualify? | RFP Section 1.04, page 5, states: Each year, school eligibility will be reviewed using the report from DOE. Schools falling below these thresholds may no longer be eligible to participate. Schools falling below 50% participation in free and reduced-price meals or Factored ISP will no longer be able participate. |
| Mar 26, 2024 10:25 AM | We are working with the school district however, in the past, they have not allowed paper newsletters or flyers to be handed out from any organization. The district utilizes a virtual backpack and individual school websites as well as teacher emails. Are these resources acceptable forms of distributing the newsletters? | RFP Section 2.03B, #2, states that applicants must obtain the newsletter from the Agency’s website and print/copy it for each student to take home. |
| Mar 26, 2024 10:32 AM | Given the quantity needed for 2,000 youth it may be challenging to source local produce for the performance measure in year 3. We are not in a food hub service area and will need to work with farmer market vendors to see if they will have produce available during the winter that fit the fruit or vegetable of the month. Will there be flexibility in sourcing local in that not every grade in one month will get local, it may be spread throughout the year? | Amendment #1 states that for the Year #3 Performance Measure, successful applicants will source the fruit or vegetable locally for all classrooms for a minimum of one monthly PABS lesson tasting. Local is defined as grown within the state of Iowa or a bordering county. |
| Apr 1, 2024 9:55 AM | Our question is regarding the FRL data that was used to decide whether a school building was eligible for this PABS grant period. In looking at the FRL data provided by the Iowa Department of Education for 2023-2024 (link: https://educate.iowa.gov/media/9345/download?inline), we found the following numbers for Moravia Elementary School in Appanoose County: K-12 Enrollment: 137 Number Eligible for Free Lunch: 58 Number Eligible for Reduced Price Lunch: 18 Number Eligible for Free or Reduced Price Lunch: 76 Based on our understanding, 76 out of 137 students eligible for FRL comes out to 55.47% eligibility for the building, and the metric for grant eligibility is 55%. Could you help us to understand why this school is not included in Attachment F of the RFP? | According to Amendment #1, Section 1.04 Service Delivery Area and Attachment F is amended to provide a title of the report and a Bureau name at the Iowa Department of Education. School building eligibility is based on the 2023-2024 free and reduced-price meal participation percentage and the Factored Identified Student Percentage (ISP) as reported in the Site Enrollment Report of the Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services at the Iowa Department of Education (DOE). |
| Apr 1, 2024 12:25 PM | During the first round of questions, an attachment was referenced that explained where the data came from for attachment F, eligible schools. Where can we find information to share with school districts that are not eligible this upcoming year, but have been in the past so they know what needs to be submitted annually for reporting purposes? | School building eligibility is based on the 2023-2024 free and reduced-price meal participation percentage and the Factored Identified Student Percentage (ISP) as reported in the Site Enrollment Report of the Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services at the Iowa Department of Education (DOE). |
| Apr 2, 2024 10:29 AM | Should the School Agreement Form be uploaded into the application as a scanned PDF with written signatures or as an electronically signed document? | Either written or electronic signatures are allowed on the School Agreement Form. |