REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) : Consultancy Framework and Monitoring Tool for CTWWC US2518 at Catholic Relief Services

Complete TOR on below link:

https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/framework_and_monitoring_tool_for_ctwwc.us2518.pdf

1.Organization Overview and Background

Catholic Relief Services – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (CRS) was founded in 1943 to serve World War II survivors in Europe. Since then, CRS has expanded in size to reach more than 130 million people in more than 100 countries on five continents.

For over 75 years, our mission has been to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people overseas, working in the spirit of Catholic social teaching to promote the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person. Although our mission is rooted in the Catholic faith, our operations serve people based solely on need, regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. Within the United States, CRS engages Catholics to live their faith in solidarity with the poor and suffering people of the world.

Trusted and globally respected, CRS partners with people, organizations, and governments around the world to end poverty, disease, hunger and injustice—always based on need, not creed. We put our faith into action to help the world’s poorest people create lasting change. Guided by the belief that we are all one human family, CRS invites you to witness what together we can do.

2. Clarifications

RFP related questions can be submitted via e-mail to regina.hill@crs.org with CC to FY20RFPMail@crs.org, no later than June 17, 2021**.** The solicitation number, RFP #US2518 Framework and Monitoring Tool for CTWWC must be included in the subject line. Responses will be provided to all known bidders. CRS is under no obligation to respond to questions that are not received prior to the deadline.

3. Proposal Deadline

All proposals must be received by CRS no later than [11:59 PM for electronic submission] July 11, 2021. The solicitation number must be included in the email subject line.

4. Modification

If at any time prior to award CRS deems there to be a need for a significant modification to the terms and conditions of this RFP, CRS will issue such a modification as a written RFP amendment to all competing offerors. No oral statement of any person shall in any manner be deemed to modify or otherwise affect any RFP term or condition, and no offeror shall rely on any such statement. Such amendments are the exclusive method for this purpose.

5. Resulting Award

Any resulting agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions contained in Annex A.

6. SCOPE OF WORK

Purpose

The *Changing The Way We Care*SM (CTWWC) team seeks a short-term expert consultant to develop and test a conceptual framework and monitoring tool to support CTWWC progress towards becoming a family care champion.

Overview

*Changing The Way We Care*SM (CTWWC) is an initiative designed to promote safe, nurturing family care for children: those reunifying from institutions or those risk of child-family separation. This includes strengthening families and reforming national systems of care for children, including family reunification and reintegration, development of alternative family-based care (in keeping with the United Nations Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children). CTWWC is a consortium of Catholic Relief Services, Lumos and Maestral International, and key partners like Better Care Network, Faith to Action and others, joined by donors. CTWWC is operating in the context of growing interest in care reform, and as a result of a growing global understanding that institutional care of children is a significant problem that will be best addressed through collaboration between national, regional and global stakeholders to develop alternative care systems supportive of family care.

CTWWC has three main components: (1) Governments promote family care through improvement and uptake of policies, investment in social workers, therapists, and other social service staff and the national and community systems that serve vulnerable children and families; (2) Children stay in or return to families through family strengthening that includes the voice of children, community engagement, and transitioning institutions to family support initiatives; and (3) Family care promoted globally, through global, regional and national advocacy to advance policies, best practices and redirection of resources by multi-lateral, bi-lateral, corporate, philanthropic, faith-based and secular organizations and individuals, increasing the demand from other countries to support family care. These objectives are underpinned by cross-cutting objectives around participation of those with lived experience such as children, care leavers and care givers, and by an internal and external commitment to learning. CTWWC uses learning and evidence from CTWWC demonstration areas in targeted countries to influence care reform at scale and using the learning from those demonstration countries to influence regionally and globally around policies and practices that will lead to redirection of resources to support family care over institutions.

7. Background

CTWWC defines “champions” for care reform as individuals who are in a position to contribute directly to influencing changes in policy, programs, services, attitudes and/or funding to prevent child-family separation and improve alternative family-based care. Individual champions may have influence among care-leavers, government, civil society, etc. within a demonstration country and/or policy-making bodies, funders, faith leaders, etc. globally. Champions would be in a position to influence one or more groups of actors to shift policies, programs and/or funding towards family-based care.

Further champions are not often born champions for an issue, rather individuals move towards championing an issue at different speeds. In other words, “champion-ness” is sometimes a progression in which people develop to become champions over time. In this way, “champion development” is the process to recruit and support individuals to adopt an issue and publicly advocate for it. This change in development towards champion-ness – whether it happen quickly or slowly – is essential to monitor to a) understand the effectiveness of fostering champions and b) document learning for CTWWC, SPC5 and beyond to scale-up champions who are effectively influencing care reform around the world.

Various frameworks and best practices exist on fostering champions for different subjects, but there is no documented framework specific to the care sector. Further, tools to monitor progress of individuals becoming champions are sparse and also not contextualized to the care sector. SCP5 and CTWWC will develop a framework for developing champions within the care sector, and a tool to monitor individual progress towards becoming an effective champion. These efforts will provide strategic information for CTWWC and SCP5 to develop and retain champions who are influencing care reform globally and eventually promote learning for other actors in the sector to scale-up effective influence through fostering champions.

The Care Reform Champion Framework and Monitoring Tool will build off of existing best practices and lessons learned from other sectors. This includes Save the Children’s extensive work with champions for international nutrition programs, and the Center for Evaluation Innovation’s Measuring Efforts to Create Champions for Police Change and The Advocacy Strategy Framework, which is based off of research from The Aspen Institute, and other efforts to develop and monitor individual progress towards championing an issue. Through participatory processes, we will develop a Care Reform Champion Framework that describes types of actions that indicate an individual is becoming a champion for care reform. This framework will be applicable to a range of different types of actors, including Catholic audiences, people with lived experience, members of governments in demonstration countries and beyond, and other members of communities whose behaviors must shift for care reform to scale-up globally.

To complement the framework, CTWWC and SCP5 will develop a monitoring tool to monitor the progression of select individuals towards becoming a champion. This tool will be used as part of CTWWC’s routine monitoring, per the CTWWC MEAL framework. After the tools is finalized and has been pilot tested, CTWWC and SPC5 will publish the framework and tool to promote use globally.

8. Scope of the Consultancy

CTWWC seeks support from an expert consultant to:

§ Review existing champion frameworks and best practices

§ Develop a conceptual framework/logic model for champion-ness for CTWWC

§ Create an internal process to discuss and define champion actions/behaviors of specific CTWWC groups (e.g. Catholic audiences, people with lived experienced, etc.)

§ Develop a monitoring tool (or adapt an existing tool) to support CTWWC to monitor progress towards becoming a champion

§ Support in-country stakeholders to pilot test the tool (assume full teams exist within selected countries and this TOR provides remote TA on the pilot implementation and documenting findings from the pilot)

§ Revise pilot tool post pilot test based on feedback

§ Facilitate a webinar/training to orient select teams with the tool (virtually)

Bidders should propose reasonable timelines, but the work is expected to be completed by 2/28/22.

1. Qualifications

Required

· At least 8 years of professional experience in monitoring, evaluation and research

· Experience developing conceptual frameworks/approaches

· Experience developing logic models or log-frames

· Experience developing M&E frameworks and/or tools beyond project specific M&E documents (e.g. national M&E frameworks, global M&E guidance, etc.)

· Experience working internationally

· Fluent English speaker and proficient English writer

Preferred

· Experience with advocacy and influence work

· Experience with developing and/or evaluating champion models

· Experience in child protection / care reform

· Experience working with any of the following groups: faith groups, people with lived experience (in residential settings), government social welfare, international non-governmental organizations

· Spanish language skills

2. Bid Requirements

Applicant(s) must submit the following documents:

· Technical proposals not exceeding 10 pages should be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format outlining clear understanding and interpretation of the TORs; Proposed approach to undertake the assignment; Time and activity schedule; Experience undertaking similar assignment including samples or references and such other details as may be deemed relevant;

· Comprehensive and all-inclusive financial proposal indicating professional fees and any other costs including applicable taxes as the case may be;

· Curriculum vitae of the person(s) to be involved in the execution of the assignment. If the applicant is a firm, full registration and legal compliance details must be enclosed.

3. Payment Terms

12.1 Pricing, Invoicing, and Payment Terms

The awarded vendor will invoice CRS monthly for services that have been delivered or performed and accepted as satisfactory completed. All invoices will reference the Purchase Order number. Payment will be net 30 days by ACH, or wire transfer (for international vendors only) as shall be mutually agreed between the Parties. Currency shall be U.S. Dollars. Additional terms can be negotiated if required.

12.2 Contractor Personnel Qualifications

All persons assigned by Contractor to the performance of Services under the Contract must be employees of Contractor or its majority-owned (directly or indirectly, at any tier) subcontractors and must be fully qualified to perform the work assigned to them. Contractor must include a similar provision in any subcontract entered with a Subcontractor. For the purposes of the Contract, independent contractors engaged by Contractor solely in a staff augmentation role must be treated by CRS as if they were employees of Contractor for the Contract only; however, CRS understands that the relationship between Contractor and Subcontractor is an independent contractor relationship.

12.3 Termination for Cause

CRS may terminate the Contract, for cause, by notifying the Contractor in writing, if the Contractor breaches any of its material duties or obligations under the Contract (including a Chronic Failure to meet any requirements herein).

4. Proposal Guidelines

Bidders will be required to submit two proposals, electronically, the technical proposal and a cost proposal. All proposals must be signed and valid for a minimum of sixty (60) days.

Your proposal should provide basic information about your Company/Individual and relevant service offerings.

Proposal Timeline

RFP Launch

June 11, 2021

Bidder Questions to CRS

June 17, 2021

Q & A Document to Known Bidders

June 18 – 21, 2021

Complete Proposal Due to CRS

July 11, 2021

RFP Award

July 2021

5. Evaluation Criteria

In evaluating the proposals, CRS will seek the best value for money rather than the lowest priced proposal. CRS will use a two-stage selection procedure:

a. The first stage will evaluate the Technical Proposal. CRS will review the proposals and may ask follow-up questions should refinements be necessary. CRS may schedule conferences with RFP finalists who in the judgment of CRS have submitted competitive proposals.

b. The second stage will be the evaluation of Cost Proposals for those proposals that pass the Technical Proposal evaluation.

CRS is not bound to accept the lowest or, any proposal, and reserves the right to accept any proposal in whole or in part and to reject any or all proposals.

CRS shall not be legally bound by any award notice issued for this RFP until a contract is duly signed and executed with the winning bidder.

6. Terms

CRS reserves the right to cancel this solicitation at any point and is under no obligation to issue a contract as a result of this solicitation.

CRS will not reimburse any expenses related to the preparation of any proposal related materials, or delivery.

7. Complete Proposal

To be considered responsive, a complete proposal addressing the specifications of this RFP is required. Each proposal should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straight forward, concise description of the Bidder’s ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. A complete proposal must contain separate Technical and Financial offerings.

Bidders must provide a proposal that demonstrates their abilities and addresses the requirements outlined in the Section 8 – Scope of the Consultancy, Section 10 – Qualifications, and Section 11 Bid Requirements (Annex F).

16.1 Technical Proposal

Proposals should include a discussion of the selection criteria listed in Section II Requirements.

16.2 Cost Proposal

Vendors should be aware of the following key points regarding pricing:

a. Bidders’ pricing response must represent the totality of charges that will be

incurred by CRS (i.e., CRS will only be obligated to pay those fees and charges).

b. Pricing will be a significant component of the evaluation and vendors should focus on offering competitive pricing.

16.3 Required Annex Forms

1. Proposal Response Form (Annex D).
2. Reply to Bidder Questionnaire (Annex E).
3. Detailed Company Information (See Annex F).
4. Terms and Conditions Acceptance (See Annex G).

ANNEX A: TERMS & CONDITIONS

Catholic Relief Services’ Standard Terms and Conditions can be found at http://crs.org/vendor-terms/vendor-terms.pdf, or obtained from CRS upon request, and are binding as applicable under local law.

ANNEX B: GLOBAL FUND CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SUPPLIERS

Global Fund Code of Conduct: The Supplier or Service Provider agrees to adhere to the requirements laid out in the Supplier and Service Provider Code of Conduct https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/3275/corporate_codeofconductforsuppliers_policy

_en.pdf?u=637319005846270000

ANNEX C: CRS’ CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SUPPLIERS

CRS’ code of conduct: The Supplier or Service Provider agrees to adhere to the requirements laid out in the Supplier and Service Provider Code of Conduct. https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/supplier_code_of_conduct.pdf