Newcap, Inc. Requests for Proposals Community Needs Assessment and Three-Year Strategic Plan 

 

Newcap, Inc. 

Request for Proposals 

Community Needs Assessment 

and 

Three-Year Strategic Plan 

for Newcap, Inc. 

January 2022 

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BACKGROUND and ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW: 

Newcap, Inc. has been in operation since 1965 . It has an up to 33-member Board of Directors. Currently the Agency administers over $22 million in grants and contracts to provide the following programs and services: 

 

  • Weatherization 
  • Furnace repair/replace 
  • HOME homebuyer program & housing rehabilitation 
  • Housing counseling 
  • Permanent Support Housing for individuals and families 
  • Rapid Re-Housing, including for youth and survivors of domestic violence & human trafficking 
  • Emergency Shelter operations and services for families and unaccompanied youth 
  • Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers 
  • Affordable Housing development and ownership 
  • Housing for youth exiting incarceration and those being diverted from incarceration 
  • Housing for technical college students 
  • Emergency Rental Assistance & eviction prevention 
  • Foreclosure prevention and emergency mortgage assistance 
  • Transportation (car purchase and repair) 
  • Community Health services (primary care, family planning services and education, Mental Health/AODA counseling, COVID testing, vaccinations & education, SDOH/Community Health Workers 
  • Employment and training 
  • Small business development assistance & micro-lending 
  • Micro-lending to individuals 
  • Food Pantries 
  • The Emergency Food Assistance Program 
  • Tenant Based Rental Assistance 
  • Financial Capabilities Training 
  • Construction services via our social enterprise, Newcap Builds Community 

 

Newcap, Inc.’s Mission Statement is:  

Newcap, Inc., a private, non-profit Community Action Agency in Northern and Northeastern Wisconsin, our mission is to move people from poverty to opportunities and economic security while enhancing community development. 

 

Newcap, Inc.’s Vision is: 

Our Vision is a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice where poverty has been overcome, people are met where they dream, and all live with dignity and security 

 

Newcap Inc.’s Community Needs Assessment will provide in-depth information regarding and analysis of community needs in the following ten Wisconsin counties for which our Agency provides services: 

 

  1. Brown 
  1. Shawano 
  1. Langlade 
  1. Vilas 
  1. Oneida 
  1. Oconto 
  1. Marinette  
  1. Menominee 
  1. Forest  
  1. Florence 

 

Approximately 90% of Newcap Inc.’s customers reside in the Eastern quarter of northeastern Wisconsin:  Brown, Shawano, Oconto, Marinette counties.  

 

Newcap, as part of the national Community Action network, also shares the national goals developed by the office of Community Services related to families and communities:  

  • Helping low-income people become more self-sufficient. 
  • Improving the conditions in which low-income people live. 
  • Helping low-income people own a stake in their community.  
  • Creating and maintaining partnerships among supporters and providers of services to low-income people.  
  • Increase agency capacity to achieve results.  
  • Strengthen family and other supportive systems in low-income people’s lives, especially vulnerable populations so they achieve their full potential.  

 

In 2017, Newcap began use of an agency-wide integrated database and we are now in the process of transferring from our current system, Captain, to empowOR to support our transition to a Whole Family Approach.  Current Agency Priorities are as follows: 

  1. Housing and housing services 
  1. Employment & training 
  1. Whole Family Approach transition 
  1. Health Care 
  1. Transportation 
  1. Agency Capacity and Accountability 

 

Funding for Newcap, comes from various local, state and federal sources, as well as from various private organizations and foundations. 

As a Community Action Agency, Newcap is required to complete a needs assessment every three years for our Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) service area. This assessment will be used to guide planning and service provision to communities and low-income families in our service area. In the 2019 Needs Assessment the identified needs were as follows:  

Rank Need  

Increasing awareness of existing services and community organizations;  

Expanding affordable housing for low-income individuals and families;  

Increasing employment training opportunities;  

Providing greater access to heating assistance;  

Expanding affordable housing for seniors;  

Expanding access to mental health services;  

 

 

INQUIRIES 

Proposals must be submitted to Newcap, Inc. via email with “Community Needs Assessment Proposal” in the subject line by 4:00 p.m. on February 1, 2022. Receipt of proposal will be acknowledged by e-mail. Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered. The consultant/firm that offers the proposal acknowledges the right of Newcap to accept or reject any or all proposals and to waive any informality in any proposal received. 

 

Deadline:  By 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 

E-Mail to:  Cheryl Detrick, President/C.E.O. 

      [email protected] 

Subject:  Community Needs Assessment Proposal 

 

INVITATION TO BID 

Newcap, Inc. is seeking proposals from consultants/firms (Awardee) for the development of both (1) a comprehensive Community Needs Assessment, and (2) a Three-Year Strategic Plan. 

 

  1. COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
  1. The selected party will gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources, integrate primary and secondary data, match causes and conditions of needs and trends, assess community services gaps, comment on intersection of demographic characteristics and poverty in the Newcap, service areas of Brown, Shawano, Langlade, Vilas, Oneida, Oconto, Marinette, Menominee, Forest, and Florence counties. Newcap, Inc. will form a Strategic Planning Committee consisting of staff, board members, and consumers. The Awardee will report and disseminate information to the committee and the Board of Directors, and produce a professionally finished document.  

 

Regular meetings with Agency staff and status reports are expected to keep the project on schedule. 

 

PURPOSE 

The Community Needs Assessment will assist the Agency in strategic planning and programming decisions in relation to relevancy of programming, service delivery and design, resource allocation, geographic distribution of services, and community needs. 

 

PROJECT PHASES 

 

Development of Community Needs Assessment: 

Part I – Project Introduction 

  1. a.  Meetings with Agency leadership and Board Strategic Planning Committee to define the boarder framework and community needs and assets the Agency wishes to assess, discuss organization of data, and map process for compiling this information.

 

  1. b. Data research and assessment, during which respondent will communicate with Newcap, I regarding existing Agency derived data and secondary data sources.

 

Part 2 – Community Profile 

Develop community profile with an emphasis on the causes and conditions of poverty impacting low-income individuals and families. Profile shall encompass the following: 

 

  1. a. In-depth explanation on the conditions and underlying causes of poverty and its effect on the residents of Newcap’s service area in keeping with CSBG and ROMA-Next Gen requirements

 

  1. b. An analysis of demographic data across race/ethnicity, age, and gender, in addition to an analysis of economic trends in and their effect on the residents of Newcap’s service area, (Brown, Shawano, Langlade, Vilas, Oneida, Oconto, Marinette, Menominee, Forest, and Florence counties counties) including but not limited to:

 

  • Poverty analysis 
  • Basic needs trends (i.e., housing, food, childcare, health costs, and transportation) 
  • Health (including pre-natal care, infant mortality, health insurance, immunizations, oral health, etc.) 
  • Household composition 
  • Aging trends 
  • Educational attainment and literacy levels 
  • Labor force/employment/unemployment trends; job opportunities, sector trend and forecasts 
  • Nutrition trends 
  • Unmet social service needs 
  • Saturation of social services and gap areas in geographic areas 
  • Foreclosures/Tax default 
  • Management of finances, ability to budget and save money 
  • Legal needs 
  • Transportation 
  • Foster care populations 
  • Digital access and literacy 
  • Crime/safety 
  • Veteran population data 
  • Homelessness-youth and adult 
  • Disabilities 
  • Children and adult 
  • Types of disabilities 
  • Service providers 
  • Housing data; rental vs. ownership, affordable housing availability, safe and sanitary housing 
  • Identify emerging populations who may need our services 

 

Part 3 – Community and Client Input 

 

  1. a. Convene no fewer than three (3) focus groups, with at least one each for Newcap customers; other services providers; and board members. Likely multiple versions in multiple locations

 

  1. b. Compile and present feedback from focus groups to Strategic Planning Committee.

 

  1. Summarize key findings to develop recommendations that can be implemented through a strategic planning process.

 

  1. Presentation and refinement, during which respondent will meet with Newcap, to present interim products, discuss potential changes, and refine the product based on the feedback received from Agency.

 

Part 4 – Identification of and Analysis of Gaps in Needed Services 

  1. Identify resources in the Agency and in the community which can be used to address  community needs.

 

  1. Identify community needs that are not met.

Part 5 – Final Steps in Producing Community Needs Assessment 

Provide full draft of document, followed by internal review and editing within designated timeline. After the final edits have been submitted by Newcap, the final version of the document will be submitted by agreed upon completion date and time. The final document will be presented to the Board of Directors on the designated date and time. 

 

The draft and final documents shall include: 

  1. Executive summary 
  1. Customer, staff and community input of the impacts of poverty, needs within the communities and recommendations for further addressing those needs. 
  1. In-depth explanation on the impact of poverty and its effect on the residents of Brown, Shawano, Langlade, Vilas, Oneida, Oconto, Marinette, Menominee, Forest, and Florence counties and in compliance with CSBG and ROMA-Next Gen requirements 
  1. An analysis of demographic, data and economic trends in the Counties.  
  1. Process approach 
  1. Key findings 
  1. Strategic recommendations 
  1. Conclusions 
  1. Additional sections as agreed upon by Newcap 

 

The Awardee will be required to: 

  • Meet with Agency administration prior to the project’s start. 
  • Complete all work on time as outlined in Vendor contract. 
  • Submit a project outline with timelines to the President/C.E.O. 
  • Participate in regular project update meetings. 
  • Submit ongoing drafts of work sections and the final document. 
  • Submit the document in its entirety on the due date by means of an electronic copy and one (1) professionally-produced hard copy. 
  • Share the process, content and conclusions of the final Community Needs Assessment document in a presentation to the Strategic Planning Committee and Agency Board of Directors at times to be determined. 
  • The CNA must meet the CSBG Organization Standards. The needs assessment must be ready for presentation to the Newcap Board of Directors at the Directors meeting on August 11, 2022 

The CNA must include certain elements to meet CSBG Organizational Standards. These standards are:  

  • Standard 1.2: The organization analyzes information collected directly from low-income individuals as part of the Community Assessment. Data can be collected through a variety of ways including, but not limited to, focus groups, interviews, community forums, customer surveys, etc. Documentation that this standard is being met includes data summaries, review of low-income data in the with notation in the appendix of the assessment, community forum summaries, interview transcripts.  
  • Standard 2.2: The organization utilizes information gathered from key sectors of the community in assessing needs and resources, during the community assessment process. These sectors would include at minimum: community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, private sector, public sector, and educational institutions. Documentation is needed to demonstrate that all five sectors have been engaged: community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, private sector, public sector, and educational institutions. CCA prefers that survey data is used for this portion of the assessment but focus groups can also be utilized.  
  • Standard 2.3: The organization communicates its activities and its results to the community. The final document must include an Executive Summary or other abbreviated document that can be distributed electronically. A 15-minute power point presentation could be part of the final product that can be used for community events.  
  • Standard 3.2: As part of the community assessment, the organization collects and includes current data specific to poverty and its prevalence related to gender, age, and race/ethnicity for their service area(s).  
  • Standard 3.3: The organization collects and analyzes both qualitative and quantitative data on its geographic service area(s) in the community assessment. This will be documented in the analysis section of the assessment.  
  • Standard 3.4: The community assessment includes key findings on the causes and conditions of poverty and the needs of the communities assessed. Conditions of poverty may include items such as: numbers of homeless, free and reduced school lunch statistics, SNAP participation rates, etc. Causes of poverty may include items such as: lack of living wage jobs, lack of affordable housing, low education attainment rates, etc. This will be documented through analysis section of the assessment.  
  • Scope of Work:  

The components of the community needs assessment are:  

Statistical Profile: Use of secondary data to create both county and regional profiles. Information will be used in the analysis to understand the extent of and causes of poverty in the service area. At a minimum it will include poverty in relation to age, gender, race and ethnicity in the service are and by county.  

Information from Low Income individuals and families: The assessment will include primary data from surveys, focus groups or other means that demonstrated that the needs assessment has directly involved the low-income community.  

Information from key stakeholders: The assessment will include primary data from surveys, focus groups or other means that demonstrate the needs assessment has directly involved the key stakeholders listed above.  

Results: The data collected during this needs assessment will be the property of Newcap. All raw data will be given to Newcap in a format that can be used for further analysis and to be considered in future assessments to track trends. All Secondary data will be referenced so data can be updated. All qualitative data will be summarized in a narrative text. This data does no need to be included in the actual Needs assessment document but will be provided to Newcap separately.  

Analysis: The Needs assessment will include the analysis of the information that lists at least five areas of need in order of severity. The Needs assessment will identify needs at the individual and community level.  

Final Document: At a minimum, Newcap is looking for a final document that can be disseminated to the public and stakeholders. It must be in a format that can be distributed electronically or printed. Newcap is also interested in a PPT Presentation that can be shared at meetings and seminars.  

The selected applicant will have access to Newcap’s 2019 needs assessments and survey tools. They will also have access to Newcap staff for focus groups or interviews. Newcap will help distribute any online surveys through our email lists, but it is the responsibility of the awardee to make sure the sample pools are adequate to get enough responses to ensure confidence in using the information for decision making. Newcap cannot provide access to our client lists for low-income surveys.  

 

NEWCAP, will: 

  • Secure adequately-sized meeting rooms. 
  • Recruit customers for project participation. 
  • Be responsible for providing meeting locations, supplies, and materials for meetings. 
  • Provide statistical data on Newcap, customers, except as detailed above/indicated in Vendor contract. 

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  1. THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

Based on the community needs assessment, the Awardee will be expected to develop a three-year strategic plan. The work will also include engaging Agency board, staff and community partners/stakeholders in the development of short and long-term Agency goals, objectives and strategies.  

 

Part 1 – Organizational Assessment and Preparation  

  1. Newcap, desires a process that is inclusive and collaborative. The Awardee will be responsible for working with key board and staff members to review necessary organizational documents (mission, vision, values, goals, priorities); and conducting internal evaluations of the organization that include an assessment of immediate issues to be addressed and SWOT and/or gap analysis.

 

Part 2Organizational Planning 

  1. The Awardee will engage Agency board, staff and community partners/stakeholders to:
  • Review and revise, as necessary, the Agency’s vision and mission statements, priorities, and goals 
  • Develop short- and long-term goals and objectives 
  • Develop key strategies 
  • Review current key indicators and outcomes that can serve as the basis for performance measures; revise any indicators or outcomes as necessary 
  1. The Strategic Plan will include an implementation plan with a defined implementation timeline that ensures the identified strategies become an active and integrated part of the Agency’s operations and the projected outcomes are measured and evaluated.

 

Part 3 – Strategic Plan Document 

  1. The Awardee will be responsible for preparing a draft strategic plan document for review and presentation to the Newcap. Inc. Strategic Planning Committee, Board of Directors, leadership team, and staff.
  2. The Awardee will review proposed changes with the President/C.E.O. The Awardee will then make final changes to the document.
  3. The Awardee will be responsible for presenting Newcap, with the final version of the Strategic Plan, along with an executive summary.

 

 

INFORMATION REQUIRED WITH PROPOSAL  

Bidder’s response must include the following information in the same order and format sequence: 

  • Cover Sheet 
  • References 
  • Cost sheet of estimated costs with estimated completion time 
  • Written description of the anticipated process approach of the project based on this document 
  • Prior experience and qualifications 
  • A work sample(s) or a web-link of a related piece(s) 

 

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE 

 

The qualified bidder must satisfy the following requirements: 

  • Experience in providing a high-quality Community Needs Assessment and strategic planning; 
  • Experience, familiarity and expertise in understanding the requirements of the CSBG legislation and ROMA Next-Gen; 
  • Familiarity with Community Action and Newcap, demographics, human services, and the community development industry; and  
  • Expertise in statistically-valid data gathering, interpretation, analysis, and communication of findings.  

 

TIMELINE   
E-mail bids out:  January 4th, 2022 
Deadline for bids to be submitted to Newcap:  February 1st, 2022, 4 p.m. 
Bid awarded:  February 15th, 2022 
Project completion:  October 15th, 2022 

 

RIGHT TO REJECT AND WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSALS 

 

Newcap, reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals in whole or in part and to waive any informality therein, or accept any proposal it may deem in the best interest of Newcap, 

 

OFFER PERIOD 

 

Proposals will remain firm for a period of 90 days upon receipt. This RFP and bidder’s response will become part of the Service Agreement. The intent of this RFP document is to include all items necessary for proper execution and completion of the work described in this document. 

 

EXECUTION OF CONTRACT  

 

Newcap, reserves the right to consider proposals based on their relative merit, risk, and value to the organization, and reserves the right to negotiate with all service providers. Contracted service offers will be based upon the Vendor’s responsiveness to the RFP and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. 

The successful Vendor may be asked to participate in negotiations and may be asked to make revisions to their proposals based on negotiations. In submitting a proposal, each Vendor acknowledges that they have read and understand these requirements. 

 

TERM OF SERVICE  

 

The term of contract will begin February 20, 2022 and end in October, 2022.