DSD innovation grants RFP questions and answers

Any innovation project funded under this RFP must be available to other eligible people who have disabilities in the community. These grants are intended to meet community needs. For individual needs, consider applying for a microgrant or contacting the Disability Hub for more options.

You can find a list on the Innovation grants awarded webpage.

Yes, you can access them on the DHS website (PDF).

There is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by any one person or organization. For example: If Organization A is submitting one for a housing idea, and Organization B wants to submit a proposal to work with Organization A on an employment idea, that’s fine.

Yes, there is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by any one person or organization. Responders should submit separate letters of interest for each proposal. Please note the Family-to-Family grant has its own letter of interest form.

In the application, instead of asking applicant to provide certification that they are a targeted organization, we ask if the applicant is a culturally specific organization (application Question 7) and provide room for a brief narrative response.

The Minnesota Department of Administration, Office of State Procurement operates the Targeted Group/Economically Disadvantaged/Veteran-Owned (TG/ED/VO) Small Business Procurement Program. Criteria for certification in each category are listed on the website.

We published the first DSD innovation small grants RFP in 2017. In that round we received 117 applications and 17 were funded, approximately 15%.

We are using a slightly different process than in 2017. In this round we are expecting to invite up to 40 responders with the highest scores from the letters of interest submissions to submit a full application.

We invite all grantees to participate in the biennial Minnesota Age and Disabilities Odyssey Conference.

We have not previously received any proposals for capital funding; however, we will consider all innovative ideas that address the needs described in the RFP.

Yes. There is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by any one person or organization. Each application may address only one service area. If you would like to apply for more than one service area, you must submit separate letters of interest.

No, there is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by or selected from any one person or organization.

Yes. We anticipate at least seven grants will be awarded.

We are using the same process for the Family-To-Family Connections grants as the innovation grants. Because funding for Family-To-Family Connections grants is specifically for those grants, they will be evaluated and approved on a faster timeline than the other innovation small grants.

We are seeking innovative approaches to help build and strengthen family-to-family connections. Proposals must target families with children younger than 21 with disabilities and/or special health needs.

Family-to-family grants will:

• Help to address social isolation experienced by families by offering peer-to-peer opportunities that help families to learn from one another through information and skills sharing
• Address direct and indirect COVID-19 family impacts
• Be led by families of young people with disabilities/special health needs or families that are heavily involved in designing and/or administering the proposed innovation idea
• Fund new strategies or a major expansion/ improvement to an existing successful effort
• Incorporate and adopt the Charting the Life Course framework and tools for life planning. Charting the Life Course is a collection of planning materials to help people with disabilities and their families to think about what they need to know at any age or stage of life, including how to find or develop supports and discover what it takes to live the lives they choose.
• Fund innovative ways, technology, methods or formats that will connect families to each other
• Help to build a sustainable solution moving forward.
• Reach underserved areas and populations, as well as address statewide or regional impacts.

There is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by any one person or organization.

At this time, we do not anticipate Family-To-Family Connections grants to be included in the next large grants round.

Grant expenses are typically reimbursed quarterly.

Proposals must target families with children younger than 21 with disabilities and/or special health needs, but you could include information on other families that would also benefit in your proposal.

The maximum budget for Family-To-Family Connections grants is the same size as the rest of the innovation grants in this round, up to $50,000.

There is no limit to the number of letters of interest that may be submitted by any one person or organization. For example: If Organization A is submitting one for a housing idea, and Organization B wants to submit a proposal to work with Organization A on an employment idea that’s fine. In another scenario if three organizations want to work together on one project, each submitting an application for their portion of it, that’s also fine. However, each proposal is evaluated solely on its own merit; there is no guarantee that all partners will be funded.

We do not have a date for the release of the next RFP for the large grants. We anticipate releasing it before the end of the 2020 calendar year.

If you are requesting a two-year grant, please submit what you will need for each year, assuming 12-month periods. You may have different amounts for each year. The final budget will be negotiated before contract execution, when we will know what the full grant term will be.

To ensure an equal and fair process, we are not allowed to talk about or provide feedback on any applicant’s idea while the RFP is in process.

This is the second round of RFPs for the DSD innovation small grants, and the sixth RFP overall for the innovation grants program. This is an optional opportunity, not a requirement. It is open to anyone to apply, including current vendors. There have been almost 40 grant contracts awarded from the previous rounds. For a list of all awarded grantees, see the Innovation grants awarded webpage.

Competitive, integrated employment, integrated housing and direct care/support will be needed continually to support people with disabilities beyond the term of the contract. The term of this RFP is two years. When new funding becomes available and a new RFP is published, anyone, including current vendors, may compete again.

Innovations in integrated housing is one of the priorities of this RFP. Without any additional information it does not appear that a building addition would be considered an innovation.

Any innovation project funded under this RFP must be available to other eligible people who have disabilities in the community. These grants are intended to meet community needs.

We published the first DSD innovation small grants RFP in 2017. In that round we received 117 applications and 17 were funded, approximately 15%.

The evaluation panel consists of state agency employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences who are subject matter experts in the priorities of this RFP.

We have had five rounds of innovation grant RFPs so far; this current round is the sixth. All grantees submit quarterly reports. We are conducting a formal evaluation with the 10 grantees selected from the two most recent large grant rounds. The first round of innovation small grant contracts will end in December 2020. Evaluative information will be gathered at the conclusion of these contracts and shared on the DSD innovation grants webpage. We are convening a community of practice for current grantees.

Innovations in integrated housing and employment are two of the priorities of this RFP. More information and definitions on innovation and integrated housing and housing are described in the RFP.