NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY (NOFA) FOR LOCAL COORDINATING COUNCILS

Transcription

1 Colorado Department of Transportation NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY (NOFA) FOR LOCAL COORDINATING COUNCILS A third round of funding is available to improve the coordination of human services transportation in Colorado! Release Date: November 6, 2012 Applications Due: December 6, 2012 Return Proposals by to: Angela Graham, Division of Transit and Rail Colorado Department of Transportation, Shumate Bldg 4201 E Arkansas Ave, Denver CO (303) Angela.Graham@state.co.us Overview: CDOT, in conjunction with the Colorado Interagency Coordinating Council for Transportation Access and Mobility (referred to herein simply as the State Coordinating Council, or SCC), is making a third annual round of funding available to assist communities interested in creating a new or growing an existing Local Coordinating Council/Regional Coordinating Council (LCC/RCC) for human services transportation coordination. CDOT is seeking written proposals from local governments or private nonprofit agencies in response to this NOFA. CDOT intends to invest more funding in this round and has broadened project eligibility. Up to $150,000 in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding is being made available by CDOT to award to LCCs* for a one-year period. No single project will likely be awarded more than $30,000, and the minimum request is $5,000. No cash match is required, but local participants in the LCC are expected to pay for administrative overhead and incidental expenses, such as photocopies and meeting snacks. The LCC funding can be used to pay personnel or consultant expenses, but cannot be used to provide transportation services or purchase equipment. It is important to note that technical assistance will be provided to all LCC grant recipients. CDOT will hire an LCC technical assistance expert to oversee the LCCs, assess their needs, provide technical assistance, check in on progress, and track and respond to cross-cutting issues. BACKGROUND Over the past eight or so years there has been an increasing national movement to improve transportation coordination. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Department of *When using the term LCC throughout this document, CDOT is referring to RCCs as well.

2 Health and Human Services (HHS) fund many transportation programs There are over sixty federal programs that fund transportation, but too often they operate separately, in siloes, with little coordination. Under pressure to make better use of limited federal resources, key agencies have been promoting coordination of the particular transportation programs they fund with other programs in order to reduce duplication and overlap. This effort is known as United We Ride. United We Ride s goals are to overcome barriers between programs and to create state and local partnerships for common-sense problem-solving. States are encouraged to form similar coordinating councils at the state level. United We Ride offers numerous resources to assist states and localities in this effort ( Colorado responded to the national effort by creating the State Coordinating Council. The Council includes a number of State agencies (e.g., the departments of Human Services, Health Care Policy and Financing, and Transportation) as well as federal programs that don t operate through state agencies, such as the Veterans Administration. The SCC also includes transit operators, CASTA, and consumer advocacy groups. Colorado s strategy to improve the coordination of human services and public transportation programs has two key focal points for action: 1) A state-level coordinating council (the SCC) that seeks policy and procedural changes among state agencies to support coordination; and 2) Local/regional coordinating councils (LCCs/RCCs) that will improve communication and collaboration, build coordinated transportation programs, promote coordination among local human service and transportation agencies, and provide feedback to the SCC on what s working and what obstacles to coordination need to be addressed. Local coordination efforts are especially important in Colorado because most human services programs are administered and delivered at the county level. Although there is some consistency among them, each county has different policies, procedures, and areas of emphasis. This means that efforts to coordinate transportation generally depend more on local- than state-level efforts. Examples of potential benefits of coordinating human services transportation are wide-ranging, as are the types of projects that could be undertaken: Shared use of vehicles, backup vehicles or drivers Coming to an understanding of how various transportation providers operate their service, bill for service, etc. Joint driver training Working together to better understand how to provide Medicaid transportation or developing a Medicaid transportation brokerage Centralized scheduling/dispatching functions, or a one call center that receives requests and forwards them to the appropriate transportation providers. Rather than rural agencies each providing expensive, long-distance medical trips into cities, operating one service that uses an agreed-upon billing system Page 2 of 6

3 Improving the coordination of transportation services does not happen in a vacuum: funders, users, purchasers and providers must come together and work collaboratively. The SCC is seeking to encourage this collaboration. CDOT is aiding this effort by providing a portion of its FTA funding for these LCC grants. LCCs have been created in a variety of places, including the Montrose area, northwest Colorado, metro Denver and Teller County. In addition, CDOT is awarding ongoing funding for full-time mobility managers in a number of communities, using FTA Section 5310 funding. Mobility managers strategically address a wide range of mobility options by creating partnerships among transportation providers in a particular region, so as to expand the range of viable options that communities have for transportation. They tackle problems like cost allocation systems that often stymie coordination. The hiring of a mobility manager can be a successful outcome of an LCC effort. While mobility managers are generally more suited for larger communities with numerous and more complex transit programs, CDOT would consider proposals for the hiring of a circuit rider coordination expert who could serve a number of rural counties. GETTING STARTED What is an LCC/RCC? An LCC organizes, promotes, oversees, and/or implements the provision of coordinated human services transportation in a defined area by facilitating collaboration among interested parties. For a thorough discussion of LCCs, refer to The Handbook for Creating Local Coordinating Councils in Colorado, which was developed for the SCC. It s online at: LCCs consist of stakeholders interested in improving mobility for the transportation disadvantaged individuals who are elderly, individuals with disabilities, individuals with low incomes, and military veterans. The most successful LCCs have representatives from a wide range of agencies and interests. Membership in an LCC should include representatives from county departments of social/human services, the Area Agency on Aging, Workforce Development, local agencies serving persons with developmental disabilities, transportation providers, human service agencies, veterans service organizations, public and private funders of transportation, and consumer advocates. LCCs may undertake a variety of activities, depending on their specific needs, the location of services and jobs, existing services, available resources, etc. One LCC might serve as a forum to exchange information or provide referral services, another might contract for services, another might set up a one call center, and still another might serve as a broker for Medicaid transportation or other transportation services. WHAT CAN THE LCC FUNDS BE USED FOR? CDOT is offering a wider variety of project options for local agencies to choose from for 2013: 1) LCC Initiation Funding to begin an LCC or continue operation of an existing one. This would normally consist of paying a part-time person to carry out the formation and development of the LCC, which includes handling meeting arrangements, facilitation, and Page 3 of 6

4 research. Often it can be too time-consuming for an existing staff person to add these tasks to their existing workload, and also difficult for that existing staff person to represent their own agency at the LCC table while also trying to facilitate the LCC. It s usually better to hire an outside person to perform that work, such as a former employee, professional facilitator, retired executive, council of governments employee, etc. The LCC funds can be used to pay that person, though it must be emphasized that CDOT will not provide such funding indefinitely, as it normally does with operational funding. 2) Special Project Funding to assist in funding a specific LCC project conducted by an already existing LCC. This could include, for example, developing a plan for a transportation brokerage service or researching a particular or developing a cost allocation model. It could also include the hiring of a circuit rider coordination expert mentioned on the previous page. (An exception to the $30,000 maximum could be considered for such.) Local agencies are encouraged to be creative!!! Requests can range from $5,000 to $30,000. In general, requests should be scaled to the size and complexity of one s project (e.g., funding for a new, one-county LCC in a rural, sparsely populated area should probably not request at the top end of the range.) WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY? Any public agency or private nonprofit organization is eligible to apply. The applicant must be prepared to become a recipient of FTA funds. REIMBURSEMENT METHODOLGY Applicants who are selected for funding would become the grant recipients and be responsible for contracting with facilitators or other staff, and for paying other costs for which funding is provided. CDOT would issue a purchase order to the grant recipient, not a grant contract. The grant recipient would need to have adequate cash flow, as it must incur and pay expenses before billing CDOT, and be prepared to wait up to four weeks for reimbursement. Billing may be no more than once a month and costs must be thoroughly documented. HOW TO APPLY Submitting an application for LCC funding should not simply be an exercise for the applicant agency, it should be a community effort. In considering whether to submit an application, a community should bring together potential local coordinating council members to determine whether to form an LCC and to identify a capable applicant agency. Their meeting should engage a range of community stakeholders representing key segments of the human services community. They should seek to answer the following: Does the local area have the capacity, desire, support, and readiness to embark on a project to better coordinate human service transportation services? Do they see value in this effort and are participants willing to regularly give of their time? Page 4 of 6

5 What might be the focus areas for the LCC? What are the particular transportation problems and obstacles to coordination in that area? What are the appropriate LCC geographic boundaries (must be at least one county)? Who ought to participate? What resources are already available? Is there someone in the community who is an effective champion for transit in the community who will help spearhead the effort? Is there someone who might be a good facilitator? Is an organization willing to be the applicant for these funds? What additional resources might be required to move forward? This NOFA requires significant background work before applying, so interested parties should begin the process well before applications are due. CDOT recognizes that only a month is being provided to apply, but this is the third annual LCC notice CDOT has released, so the availability has been known for some time. Agencies that wish to submit a proposal are asked to submit one to CDOT via . We have attempted to make it a simple process. Please submit your proposal in a word document, not in a PDF. Each submission should include the following information at the top: Name of applicant/sponsoring organization; Mailing address; Contact person; Phone; Fax; ; The amount of funding the applicant is requesting This grant program was designed to create and implement LCCs, not to fully fund them on a long-term basis. CDOT is willing to fund LCCs for more than one year if they clearly demonstrate progress and support as well as taking steps to better ensure ongoing sustainability. For continued funding, applicants are encouraged to include in-kind support and evidence of why the LCC deserves continued funding. Each proposal should briefly yet succinctly answer the following questions, numbering them as they are presented below. Please do not exceed four single-spaced pages in 12-point font, with 1-inch margins. These funds are competitive, so make your proposal persuasive. 1. What is the geographic area of the LCC you propose to establish or have established--i.e., the name of the county(s)? 2. Why did you decide to submit an application for funding? What are the greatest transportation coordination needs and issues in your area? 3. How much are you requesting and how will you spend it? Please provide a general budget with budget assumptions. Note: CDOT s expectation is that locals cover administrative Page 5 of 6

6 overhead, and it will not reimburse minor expenses like photocopies and meeting snacks, so who will cover these items? 4. Briefly describe the support for your project and how you think you ll be able to ensure the sustainability of your LCC over time. 5. Is this funding for LCC Initiation or a Special Project? What is the nature of your project and your approach to it? What will you do, how will you do it, when will you carry it out, and who will carry it out? 6. If your LCC is located within an urbanized area (Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver/Aurora, Longmont/Boulder, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, or Grand Junction) covered by a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), please include either a letter of support from the MPO or demonstrate coordination with your MPO or your RCC (if there is one). Note: funding for projects in large urbanized areas (over 200,000 population) is more problematic for CDOT now, given funding changes contained in MAP-21, the new federal transit legislation; CDOT will need to examine funding options for such requests. IF YOU ARE A NEW APPLICANT, please also respond to the following two questions: 7. Has an initial meeting of potential LCC members been held? Who was there? What was the outcome of the meeting? If no meeting was held, then how was your proposal developed? With whom have you collaborated? 8. How will you implement your LCC and carry out the proposed activities? SELECTION PROCESS State Coordinating Council members will review the proposals. Reviewers will determine whether to request additional information from applicants and whether to call for more information. Reviewers will evaluate proposals based on the following criteria: Commitment: A demonstration of commitment to human services transportation coordination and collaboration, and to increased mobility for the elderly, individuals with disabilities, to low income individuals, and to military veterans. Membership: The extent to which key players are involved and the extensiveness and diversity of membership. Approach: The quality of the proposal and demonstrated understanding of the problem and the approaches of the project. Plan Quality: The reasonableness, logic, and appropriateness of the application s plans for meeting facilitation, leadership, administration, finances, and implementation. Sustainability: Support for the LCC and likelihood of long-term sustainability of the LCC. Value: For existing LCCs, in particular: the value that continued funding will provide to the community/communities and to the state. Page 6 of 6