REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

As part of the second federal stimulus funding package, the Coronavirus Response and Relief (CARES) Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, the City of Tucson and Pima County is expecting roughly $31 Million in combined funding to specifically address delinquencies and non-payment of rent and utilities as a result of COVID-19. The City and County are collaborating to distribute these federal funds for rental assistance and eviction prevention through a single application portal to: 

1. Reduce confusion in the community about where and how to access assistance 
2. Reduce confusion when different programs have different qualification and/or different allowable costs 
3. Reduce confusion for tenants as to which program they should apply to depending on whether they live inside or outside the City of Tucson limits 
4. Reduce the time and effort tenants and landlords in crisis 
5. Allow landlords to start the application process on behalf of themselves and tenants 
6. Reduce the time and effort that tenants and landlords in crisis spent applying for assistance. In the previous iteration of Eviction Prevention efforts funded through CARES funding, tenants had to fill out multiple applications and upload documentation multiple times. 
7. Reduce duplication of services for tenants/landlords withing the Tucson City limits when separate programs are processing applications for the same tenant/landlord at the same time even though they can only receive funding from one of the programs 
8. Better coordinate the community’s capacity through community nonprofit organizations (i.e. addressing long wait times at one agency while another may have more capacity) 

In an extension of Community Investment Corporation’s (CIC) roles as fiscal agent and program manager for a portion of Pima County’s CARES funding and Eviction Prevention efforts in 2020, it is anticipated that CIC will perform a similar function for some or all of the supplemental funding set aside for Eviction Prevention by the collaborating jurisdictions.  

To this end, CIC is soliciting the submission of qualifications from Pima County-based nonprofit organizations with experience administering and facilitating rental assistance and/or case management for rental assistance. CIC seeks to subcontract with nonprofit organizations to provide intake and case management services to facilitate rental and eviction prevention assistance from sometime in February 2021 through December 31, 2021. 

Subcontract terms will require approval from Pima County and the City of Tucson. Because CIC is not currently contracted with the City of Tucson or Pima County for this particular funding, we can only currently estimate the size and terms of the contracts.  Ideally, subcontracts will be written for at least $100,000 to each agency.  

 This amount is proposed to cover direct costs of service provision including time and effort of staff including all employee-related expenses. Additionally, agencies will be able to charge a 10% de minimis indirect cost rate unless the agency already has a negotiated indirect cost rate in which case they may use the negotiated rate. The proposed amount of the contract DOES NOT cover the direct assistance payments to landlords on behalf tenants. Selected nonprofit agencies will not bear those costs. Instead, CIC will be making all of those payments on behalf of the subcontractors. This leaves the proposed $100,000 to fully offset the organizations costs of providing and administrating the services provided. 

The term of the subcontracts will be through December 31, 2021. 

Amendments to subcontracts to add additional funding will be allowed, but they will be dependent upon output and other performance. 

Contracted social service agencies will need to become familiar with the Department of Treasury regulations and guidance related to the Coronavirus Response and Relief (CARES) Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, especially as they related specifically to rent and utility assistance. 

Important differences to note for nonprofit social service agencies that participated in the previous CARES funded eviction prevention efforts between those programs and the one that is the subject of this RFQ: 

1. Tenant households must be at 80% AMI or below to qualify for assistance 
2. Some form of proof of income and/or income verification will be required 
3. Some form of priority will be given to households at 50% AMI and below as well as those who are unemployed due to COVID-19. 

 Respondents are required to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) containing: 

Description of Firm & Relevant Experience:  

• Length of time in business 

• Number of total employees 
• Last audited financials 
• Most recent fiscal year financials (can be unaudited) 
• Length of time facilitating rental assistance  
• Length of time facilitating utility assistance 

• Current or last contract for providing rental assistance services 
• Current or last contract for providing utility assistance services  
• Organizational contact information to include the name of your Point of Contact, phone number, and email address 

(Please download, fill out, and sign the checklist and include it in with your Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) 

CLICK HERE FOR CHECKLIST 

• Our organization has a 501(c)3 nonprofit designation. 

• Our organization must have experience providing rental assistance through either the City of Tucson or Pima County’s various rental assistance programs in the last 12 months. This experience will include providing case management and facilitating assistance payments on behalf of at least 20 families during that period. 
• Must be able to commit at least 3 full-time case managers (120 hours weekly) and process and submit an average of 20 applications for payment which includes gathering all required documentation from landlords/property managers and/or tenants.  
• Case managers must have demonstrated experience with identity and income verification procedures related to government assistance programs.  
• The organization and its case managers will have experience and competence dealing with people in crisis (i.e. facing eviction and potential homelessness) and the emotions that often accompany these situations. 
• Staff must be familiar with the Emergency Services Network database 

• Must be able to build competency with – Paper applications will only be accepted as an exception when tenants and/or landlords do not have access to the technology 
• Currently meet or will meet all grant insurance requirements which CIC must meet for both the City of Tucson and Pima County 
• Organization must have a track record (over the last 36 months) of exemplary grants management practices and compliance including the provision of timely reports and the timely and accurate submission of billing. 
• Willingness to participate in bi-weekly coordination meetings with all agencies. 

If your organization does not meet or is unwilling to meet any of the above criteria, please include a narrative explaining why and/or how you might mitigate any shortcomings. 

There will be special exceptions for organizations that specialize in “hard to serve” clients. These organizations may not meet all of the qualifying experience criteria above. This may be because their target clients are part of a particular demographic (i.e. disabled veterans) that are not well served otherwise, or because their target clients live in a hard-to-reach geographic area (i.e. Ajo). These exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. It should be noted that the qualifying experience and commitments will still be considered even in the case of an exception, so the more checklist items that are met, the better.  

Please note that preference will be given to agencies who participated in the City of Tucson and/or Pima County’s CARES funded Eviction Prevention work from August through December 2020.  

Personnel 

Provide a short bio or professional resume for the key people proposed to be assigned to the project including any sub-consultants. Identify a proposed project manager who would be responsible for the day-to-day management of project tasks and your organization’s team. 

 Other 

Additional documentation may be requested during the selection process. 

Please email Statement of Qualifications to ceo@cictucson.org by Sunday, February 7, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. to be considered.