Below are funding opportunities previously featured in our WAFCA E-News. All opportunities will remain posted until the application due date expires.

Request for Information. [NOTE: The information gained from responses to this RFI may be used by DCF in the development of a competitive procurement leading to the selection of a contractor(s) for an intercept program in Wisconsin.] The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is interested in bringing the Youth Villages Intercept Model developed by Youth Villages in Tennessee to Wisconsin to provide services to high acuity needs youth and their families. The intent is to reduce the number of high acuity needs youth entering out-of-home care and the length of stay for those youth who do become placed in out-of-home care. Letters are due by March 3rd; an optional Zoom conference will be held on February 21, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., CST. Learn more here.

Community Learning Center Grants. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is accepting applications for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grant, which funds before-school, after-school, and summer programs across the state of Wisconsin. Public school districts, private schools, charter schools, and community-based organizations (including faith-based organizations) targeting students enrolled in schools eligible for Title I schoolwide programs are invited to apply. Applications are due on or before 4:00 p.m., February 10, 2023. More information and application materials are available on the DPI’s 21st CCLC Competition website.

Family Connection Centers. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is seeking to establish resources and support for families with out-of-home care involvement through Wisconsin Family Connections Centers. The intent is to provide equitable services for parents and caregivers that are partnering to raise children and youth through kinship care, foster care, and post-permanency including reunification, guardianship, and adoption. The Wisconsin Family Connections Centers will consist of Regional Wisconsin Family Center contracts and one Statewide Family Connections Center contract. Non-profits, for-profits, county agencies, and tribal agencies are eligible to submit a response; however, this program will use federal appropriations and profit is not allowed. Proposers can provide a response for each RFP.

1. The RFP for Regional Wisconsin Family Connection Centers (Centers) can be found here. The Centers will provide culturally responsible and relevant information and outreach, support and networking opportunities, and short-term case management services to relatives and like-kin caregivers, birth, foster, and adoptive parents, legal guardians, and parents seeking to make an adoption plan for their children. The Centers will also offer programming for effective recruitment and retention of out-of-home caregivers; regularly update the Statewide Wisconsin Family Connections Center with relevant regional information; and provide child welfare professionals with information, resources, and support. One award per Region is available (see map of regions). Proposals are due March 21, 2023 by 2p.m.
2. The RFP for the Statewide Wisconsin Family Connections Center can be found here. The Statewide Center will create culturally responsible and relevant information, outreach, and referrals; training opportunities; and conferences for relatives and like-kin caregivers, birth, foster, and adoptive parents, legal guardians, and parents seeking to make an adoption plan for their children. The Statewide Center will also provide collaborative support to tribal child welfare agencies and develop materials to be used by the Regional Wisconsin Family Connections Centers and by child welfare professionals throughout Wisconsin, such as resource family recruitment and retention programming. The Statewide Center will be responsible for coordinating a quarterly meeting with the Regional Family Connections Centers (see map of regions). Proposals are due March 14, 2023 by 2p.m.

Child Neglect Best Practice Resource Hub. The Administration of Children and Families is seeking to fund the development and national dissemination of best practices to strengthen the capacity of child abuse hotline staff to distinguish between poverty and willful neglect. This funding will support building a national messaging campaign on how individuals can become a source of support to families in their community by acknowledging the impact of racial inequities and seeking solutions that can help mitigate child safety concerns before they rise to the level of crisis. Funding will also focus on the development of best practices for training and equipping child abuse hotline staff to navigate complex and wide-reaching needs such as understanding the distinction between poverty and willful neglect, implicit bias, addressing social and behavioral health needs, how and when to report child abuse, and providing warm hand offs to local resources whenever possible. More information can be found here. Proposals are due March 13, 2023 by 11:59p.m.