Equity Corps Statewide Navigation Contract – Request for Proposal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Equity Corps of Oregon is a collective effort of community-based organizations, facilitating universal representation through non-profit legal service agencies, and providing every eligible Oregonian in removal proceedings with an attorney to end unjust and unfair deportations. The selected awardee of the following Request for Proposals (RFP) will receive $200,000 over the course of twenty-one months – with a projected start date of October 1, 2019 – to provide the following:
- Targeted outreach/education to immigrant communities across the state;
- Regular and accessible legal navigation services to Equity Corps Clearinghouse;
- Training and accreditation for community navigators;
The deadline to submit a proposal is 11:59pm, Thursday September 19, 2019.
PART 1. OVERVIEW
The ongoing, massive buildup of immigration policing, anti-immigrant sentiment, and the weaponization of our immigration court system has fueled an unprecedented deportation and detention crisis that is devastating immigrant families and immigrant communities of color. It threatens to undermine the safety of our community and its foundational principles.
The State of Oregon has provided Equity Corps of Oregon with the directive to pilot the nation’s first statewide Universal Representation Program for immigrants threatened with deportation. With this directive, Oregon demonstrates that the most powerful way to fulfill the promise of inclusion and sanctuary, and further our collective prosperity, is to join—and lead through an innovative, comprehensive plan—the movement of cities and states that are establishing equitable access to justice for immigrant residents. Through the Equity Corps of Oregon, we aim to provide universal representation to all immigrant Oregonians threatened with deportation.
In order to do so, we must scale existing Equity Corps standards and protocols to blanket our state with immigration defense services and connect with all eligible clients. This requires a robust and creative program for navigation outreach across the state of Oregon. The following Request for Proposals (RFP) outlines the criteria for a statewide navigation program.
PART 2. BACKGROUND
Equity Corps of Oregon is a collective effort of community-based organizations, managed by Innovation Law Lab, to make universal representation a reality in Oregon. Universal representation is the concept that no individual should have to face the risk of deportation without an attorney, and Equity Corps aims to provide universal representation by engaging nonprofit legal service providers with an ultimate aim of providing every eligible Oregonian in removal proceedings with an attorney to end unjust and unfair deportations.
The Equity Corps program launched in October 2018 with funding from the City of Portland and Multnomah County. Recent support from the State of Oregon will enable Equity Corps to expand pro bono legal services to immigrants and people fleeing persecution throughout the rest of the state. In this expansion and in the current work of Equity Corps, community navigator organizations play the crucial role of connecting immigrants to Equity Corps services and member organizations.
PART 3. RFP DESCRIPTION – SCOPE OF WORK
Through legislation enacted on June 30th, HB5050 provided $2,000,000 in statewide expansion resources to Equity Corps of Oregon. Of this overall budget, disbursed over two fiscal years (October 1, 2019-June 30, 2020 & July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021) Innovation Law Lab will contract with a Navigating Community Organization (NCO) for navigation and management of navigation services throughout the state of Oregon. Innovation Law Lab anticipates contracting with a single NCO for the entire contract; however, the NCO may be expected to subcontract with other NCOs to meet the program deliverables around the state. Deliverable numbers listed below are meant to be a baseline. Assuming compliance with the contract, the selected community organization will receive $200,000 (see award summary below); distributed quarterly, in order to minimally achieve the following deliverables:
Deliverable No. 1: The NCO will conduct no less than 30 linguistically-specific outreach presentations to affected immigrant populations. Outreach presentations will include, at a minimum, information about the Equity Corps program and how to get connected with legal services. At least 20 presentations must take place outside of the Portland metro area. and presentations must occur at, but are not limited to, locations within 15 miles of Salem, Eugene, Tillamook, Medford, The Dalles, Hermiston and Bend. The exact number of outreach presentations will be set by the final contract.
Deliverable No. 2: The NCO will ensure the completion of no less than 200 navigations of program-eligible immigrants. Navigations may be completed by NCO staff, or by volunteers trained by the NCO and under the NCO’s supervision. Navigations are legal screenings conducted on Innovation Law Lab software that identify program eligibility and basic facts about an immigrant’s legal case. At least 125 of these navigations must be of program-eligible immigrants who reside outside of the Portland metropolitan area. The exact number of navigations will be set by the final contract.
Deliverable No. 3: The NCO will conduct no less than 20 navigator training sessions wherein new navigators will be accredited and qualified to submit navigations to the clearinghouse thereafter. At least 14 presentations must take place outside of the Portland metro area, and presentations must occur at, but are not limited to, locations within 15 miles of Salem, Eugene, Tillamok, Medford, The Dalles, Hermiston and Bend. NCO will clearly define the scope of navigation services to participants, and will clearly state that Equity Corps navigation is for legal services and does not include case management. The exact number of navigator training sessions will be set by the final contract.
Award Summary
| Funding Mechanism: | Contract |
| Anticipated Total Available Funding: | $200,000 |
| Anticipated Number of Awards: | 1 |
| Anticipated Award Amount: | $200,000 in total direct costs |
| Project Period: | 21 months: 9 months from award date (October 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020) for base year with an option year (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021) renewal contingent upon completion of core activities and reporting |
Administration of Award
The award period is for twenty-one months beginning when the contract agreement is signed. Funds will be administered by Innovation Law Lab. Awardee will enter into a contracting agreement directly with Innovation Law Lab for a base year period. Awards will be disbursed quarterly over the course of the award period. Progress criteria (completion of reporting and communication requirements as outlined in the contract) must be met to qualify for the option year. Awardees will be required to submit a mid-point progress report and a final report at the end of the award period.
| Schedule | |
| Anticipated Award Announced | September 27, 2019 |
| Signed Contract and First Payment | Within one week of award announcement |
| Kickoff Celebration | Date tbd |
| Second Year Renewal | After evaluation of mid-point progress report, which must be submitted by June 15, 2020 |
| Award Completion | June 30, 2021 |
Funding is not available for the following:
- Any activity that violates local, State, or Federal laws
- Payment for professional services not directly related to the proposed activities
- Costs for the creation of new organizations
- Fundraising
- Re-granting (pass-through awards): subcontracting permitted in alignment w/ final contract
- Lobbying activities
PART 4. NAVIGATOR ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to serve as a navigator in statewide implementation of Equity Corps services, an organization must meet the following criteria:
- Is a 501(c)(3) organization or is fiscally sponsored by one;
- Has a mission and/or programming that includes services to immigrants and/or culturally specific services;
- Has a history of providing services to members of the immigrant community, including undocumented people, for three or more years (or, if a newer organization, since the organization’s launch);
- Occupies a position of community trust;
- Is culturally competent; as demonstrated by staff and board representation by communities affected by immigration enforcement, or by other factors;
- Does not restrict service by immigration status;
- Provides bilingual services, with prioritization of Spanish language capability and encouragement of other language capacity;
- Agrees to be trained to avoid the unlawful practice of law and to sign an agreement to do so;
- Agrees to follow the guidelines of the Universal Representation project as delineated by the Equity Corps of Oregon and the Defend Everyone Report.
- Commitment and ability to provide services to target populations free of charge.
To implement statewide universal representation for immigrants and persons fleeing persecution, Equity Corps requests a no more than 10-page proposal; font size no smaller than 11-point; margins no less than .75 from NCOs. The proposal and application must be received by Thursday September 19th, 2019; 11:59pm for Equity Corps consideration. Equity Corps anticipates selecting an NCO by Friday, September 27th, 2019 with an anticipated program start date of October 1, 2019. .
Proposals must include the following features:
- Organization Description: A brief overview of the organization’s services for immigrants, mission, communities/regions served, board of directors and relevant partnerships.
- Organizational Capacity: A description of the organization’s infrastructure and capacity to carry out the proposed initiative, including current or anticipated staffing, statewide contacts, insurance and administration. If a proposal depends on subcontracting, that plan should be described here.
- Program Proposal: A program proposal for your organization’s services, strategies, and goals in partnership with Equity Corps, including a timeline for the fulfillment of those services.
- Program Budget: A budget for the proposal, with expense breakdowns for all relevant material and programmatic needs.
- Proposed Reporting Timeline: A proposal for reporting navigation services, outcomes, and successes to the Equity Corps on a regular basis.
- List of Community Partners: A list of community partners, and their corresponding geographic locations, with whom the NCO anticipates collaborating. If the NCO anticipates subcontracting with other organizations, that information should be included here.
- Summary of Quality Control Measures: to ensure effective and consistent service provision that respects clients’ needs and privacy.
PART 5. HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
- Proposals must be received before 11:59pm, Thursday September 19, 2019 to be considered.
- If you intent to apply for funding under this program, please send an email by Monday, September 9th to Benjamin Grass, Legal Programs Coordinator at Innovation Law Lab, at benjamin@innovationlawlab.org. Although submission of a notice of intent to apply is not mandatory, your email will help us plan more efficiently for the application review process. In your email, please simply include the name of your organization, address, contact person, title, email, and phone number.
- RFP Informational Call (Question and Answer Session): Thursday September 12th, 2019; 3:30pm-4:30pm. Organizations are strongly encouraged to attend the Informational session as it may be the only opportunity for questions and answers about the RFP.
- If planning to attend informational call please RSVP to Benjamin@innovationlawlab.org in order to receive meeting information.
- All proposals must be submitted in one PDF to Equitycorps.org/statewide-navigation-rfp. Click the Submit Proposal button and follow the instructions. If you have issues with the submission process, please contact Benjamin@innovationlawlab.org.
- Anticipated Selection Date: Friday, September 27, 2019.
This RFP is not a contract or a promise of a contract. If Innovation Law Lab and selected NCO fail to reach agreement on contract terms within a time determined solely by Innovation Law Lab, then Innovation Law Lab may commence and conclude contract negotiations with other NCOs. Innovation Law Lab may decide at anytime to start this RFP process again.