NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS; PUBLIC OR PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES AND HOSPITALS; DISABILITY-SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS; COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS; CONSORTIA, GROUPS OR PARTNERSHIPS AMONG ORGANIZATIONS

New York State Youth Leadership Forum and Network

Organizations whose staff was involved in the development of this Request for Proposal are not eligible to directly apply or be included as a sub-contractor for another applicant.

*Note: the lead applicant cannot be a for-profit organization; however, for-profit organizations may serve as subcontractors to the lead applicant.

To fund one grantee up to $1,250,000 ($250,000 per year for a five year period) to A) develop and support a NYS Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network which will include replication of the National Youth Leadership Forum, B) provide ongoing advocacy skill development and mentoring for transition-aged youth with developmental disabilities ages 14-24 and C) provide related training for family caregivers. Additionally, one Technical Assistance and Evaluation Grant for up to $250,000 ($50,000 per year for a five year period), to provide support, technical assistance, evaluation and sustainability planning to the grantee developing the New York State Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network is being offered.

Research on self-advocacy, advocacy, and leadership points to the fact that successful advocacy programs commonly include the following themes and elements; (1) self-awareness and an understanding of one’s own disability; (2) knowledge of individual rights under the law; (3) accommodations; and (4) effective communication skills including public speaking, networking, conveying ideas and being an active listener. Successful models also use elements of mentoring and experiential learning, as well as, combinations of team-based learning, case studies, video presentations, role playing, and group discussions. Additionally, studies show that effective youth development and leadership programs often offer opportunities for participants to put the skills they are learning into practice by engaging in advocacy projects during the course of the program.

Grant 1: Establishment of Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network

Approach:

DDPC will select one grantee to develop a New York State Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network by replicating the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) model and becoming an affiliate of the (National) Association of Youth Leadership Forums (AYLF) (http://www.nationalaylf.org/). The goal of the Association of Youth Leadership Forums is to improve employment and independent living outcomes for youth with disabilities by providing training and opportunities to practice advocacy and leadership skills and facilitating long-term linkages to leadership and systems advocacy opportunities for youth with disabilities. Currently, 34 states are members of the Association of Youth Leadership Forums.

The YLF training program seeks to empower youth with disabilities to further develop their advocacy and leadership skills. The following are requisites to become part of the national Association of Youth Leadership Forums:

• The planning and operational administration of the YLF project should be led by people with disabilities.

• Participants (delegates) with various disabilities are invited to participate and must have demonstrated potential to be a community leader.

• To the extent possible, delegates should include an equal number of male and female participants.

• Every role model guest presenter who meets with the delegates must have a disability. The overall training curriculum should reflect the variety of disabilities.

• It should be a goal that more than 50% of the volunteer staff be people with disabilities.

• Delegates and staff should reflect the ethnic diversity of the state/region in which the forum is held.

• All volunteer staff must understand and support the concept of “disability culture” and “self-determination” in encouraging the student delegates to establish their own personal and vocational goals.

• The California YLF curriculum must be followed, however, curriculum components may be modified to accommodate schedule requirements and/or the unique characteristics of the state or community.

• Participants cannot be charged fees to attend YLF.

In addition to establishing the New York State Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network, the selected grantee will be required to provide supplemental training and mentoring opportunities for youth with disabilities and training on supporting youth advocacy and leadership development for the youth’s family caregivers.

The selected grantee will be expected to:

• Develop a New York State Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network through activities including implementing the YLF forum and developing supplemental and ongoing training with accompanying mentoring which includes holding a multi-day forum;

• Implementing a training program for Family Caregivers; and

• Working with the Technical Assistance and Evaluation Grantee to assess the implementation, effectiveness, and impact of YLF and supplemental components.

The selected grantee will implement a competitive statewide process to select youth participants. During Year 1, the grantee will begin rollout, within one region, for up to 10 youth participants. In years 2—5 the grantee is expected to hold forums in all regions for up to 30 youth per region (See Attachment A). To be eligible to attend the YLF, students must:

• Be between the ages of 14 and 24;

• Must reflect the ethnic diversity of the region where the forum is held;

• Have a documented developmental or other disability; and

• Have demonstrated leadership potential in their school and/or co

Grant 2: Technical Assistance and Evaluation Grant

Approach

DDPC is seeking to fund one organization to provide technical assistance, sustainability planning, and overall evaluation of the Youth Leadership Forum grantee. The Technical Assistance and Evaluation Grant will support the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) grantee with the development and implementation of the required components for youth with disabilities and family caregivers. Additionally, the selected grantee will work with the YLF grantee to secure long-term funding to sustain the initiative beyond DDPC funding.

The Technical Assistance and Evaluation grantee will provide assistance to the Youth Advocacy and Leadership grantee including:

• Providing technical assistance on the development and implementation of the three primary components of the Youth Advocacy and Leadership Network (establishment of the Forum, ongoing engagement of youth, and Family Caregiver Training);

• Developing tools to collect required data for the cumulative evaluation including both youth and family progress and outcomes;

• Providing training for the YLF grantee on data collection, and establishing data collection protocols and timeframes;

• Assisting with development of training materials that are accessible to and address the cultural and linguistic needs of participants;

• Conducting on-site observations at the pilot and regional events;

• Assessing participant and stakeholder satisfaction, goals and outcomes;

• Tracking, documenting and analyzing outcomes for the participants, and determining program strengths, barriers encountered and lessons learned during the project cycles; and

• Addressing necessary changes that need to be implemented in years two - five, lessons learned during project implementation, and identifying potential replicable strategies that can be shared with other programs.

The full RFP can be downloaded from http://ddpc.ny.gov/council_funding_announcements_responsive. All interested applicants are required to submit a one page letter of intent by April 7, 2016 to [email protected] Letters of intent are required for applications to be accepted for this RFP.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to check the DDPC website periodically for any amendments to the RFP. All changes will be posted by April 13, 2016 at http://ddpc.ny.gov/council_funding_announcements_responsive. No other notifications will be given.

All final grant applications should be sent to the address listed above and to the attention of Sheila Carey, Executive Director, and must be delivered to the DDPC office by 3:00 pm on May 6, 2016. No applications will be accepted after this deadline.

ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS LOCATED WITHIN THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN AREA

Description:

Request for Applications (RFA) for up to $75,000 in federal Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funding made available by the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is a total of $20 million nationally in funding available under this grant program and funds will be awarded competitively based on the submission of applications by eligible nonprofit organizations located within the New York City Urban Area.

Funding will be awarded to support target hardening activities to nonprofit organizations (as described under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code) that are at high risk of terrorist attack due to their ideology, beliefs, or mission and are located within the New York City Urban Area (includes the Cities of New York and Yonkers and the Counties of Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk). The program seeks to integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts. It is also designed to promote coordination and collaboration in emergency preparedness activities among public and private community representatives, as well as State and local government agencies.

Due to the competitive nature of this program, funding preference will be given to nonprofit organizations that have not received prior years funding.

Applications will be accepted only through March 28, 2016, through New York State’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NYS-DHSES) electronic grants management system (E-Grants).

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Attn: Marianne Lindsay, at the above address, [email protected], 1-866-837-9133.