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Request for Proposals (RFP)
Vermont Statewide Equity thru Data, Justice, Inclusion & Education (EDJIE) Initiative

 

ISSUE DATE: February 8, 2023
QUESTIONS DUE BY: February 22, 2023. Email questions to jessie@ocrjvt.org.
RFP LIVE ONLINE INFORMATION SESSION: 10:00 am EST, February 23, 2023. Email jessie@ocrjvt.org for invitation to online session.
RFP RESPONSES DUE BY: March 13, 2023

AMENDMENTS/CORRECTION:

The correct project work time period is May 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024, with option for extension.  The RFP documents linked below have been amended to reflect the correct work period. (Please pardon the mistake in the initial document indicating a project period of May 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023.)

RFP QUESTION AND ANSWER

RFP: Equity Audit of Restorative Programs Project
RFP: Education and Training Project
RFP: Data and Evaluation Project

Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III

Appendix III – VT EDJIE Budget Template-FY23

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ALL NOTIFICATIONS, RELEASES, AND AMENDMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RFP WILL BE POSTED AT: https://ocrjvt.org/rfp

THE OCRJC WILL NOT CONTACT INTERESTED PARTIES WITH UPDATED INFORMATION. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH BIDDER TO PERIODICALLY CHECK THE ABOVE WEB PAGE FOR ANY AND ALL NOTIFICATIONS, RELEASES AND AMENDMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RFP.

It is the intent to award 3 contracts for a 1-year term, with options for additional extensions. OCRJC will hold the master contract supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-22-GG-01205-BRND awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office.

We recognize our work is strengthened when our colleagues include people of diverse races, ethnicities, backgrounds and identities, recognizing and respecting that all perspectives and experiences are valuable to our work and essential to our public service. For the purposes of this project, we encourage proposals led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and other historically underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, communities who identify as immigrants, women, older adults, LGBTQIA+, disabled, members of racial and ethnic minorities, and firms, organizations, and vendors with a shared commitment to advancing equity.

Initiative Mission:

There are numerous examples of areas where Vermont’s criminal justice and law enforcement systems are systematically failing people in the most marginalized identity groups. Training, education, and consistent, effective data collection tools and practices are necessary to understand and take action to address the ways Vermont’s restorative justice system perpetuates the prevalent inequities in the criminal legal systems. This 2-year grant allows the 23 state-funded restorative justice (RJ) organizations to pursue the following project outcomes:

  1. Develop, deliver, and institutionalize professional development trainings to address personal and institutional racism, implicit bias, trauma, gender equity, and general inclusivity;
  2. Conduct a statewide data collection evaluation to improve racial justice and inclusion outcomes, including a needs assessment, the creation of standard metrics and collection tools, and the proposal for a new, shared data-management system;
  3. Support agencies and state partners to review and update policies and procedures with the guidance of anti-racism experts.

A six-member leadership team, comprised of directors from six of the 23 agencies, is coordinating this initiative. The OCRJC serves as the fiscal agent for the project and will be the organization on record for contracting with up to three entities to manage this work. Up to $287,000 is available to fund 3 contracts that fulfill the project outcomes listed above.

Through this Request for Proposals (RFP) the Orange County Restorative Justice Center (hereinafter, OCRJC) is seeking proposals from qualified and experienced entities to provide services related to the three project areas listed above. The entities contracted for this work will guide the 23 agencies implementing restorative programs in coordination with the four primary funders (VT Department of Corrections-DOC, the VT Attorney General’s Office-AGO-DCF, the VT Department for Children and Families, and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services-VCCVS) to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion of historically underrepresented populations in their staff, volunteers and leadership, and decrease inequities and harm to marginalized populations involved in restorative programs in accordance with the Scopes of Work specified in these three RFPs.

For more information about state-funded restorative programs in Vermont, please visit these websites—

VT Community Justice Network– https://www.vcjn.org/
VT Association of Court Diversion & Pretrial Services– https://vtcourtdiversion.org/
VT Attorney General’s Office Division of Community Justice– https://ago.vermont.gov/divisions/community-justiceVT
VT Department of Corrections Restorative Justice Programs– https://doc.vermont.gov/content/restorative-justice
VT Department of Children and Families Balanced and Restorative Justice Programs for Youth– https://dcf.vermont.gov/fsd/youth/BARJ
VT Center for Crime Victim Services Grant for Restorative Justice Programs– https://www.ccvs.vermont.gov/support-for-professionals/grants-program