FY2021: Connecting Activities

Fund Code: 428

Purpose:

To enable the state's MassHire Workforce Development Boards (MWDBs) to sustain the state's Connecting Activities (CA) and related work-based learning initiative (e.g. Innovation Pathways) by serving as the intermediaries that broker connections between public school districts and employers/community-based organizations in their regions.

Priorities:

• Continue to build the capacity and capabilities of CA network of schools, employers and community partners who provide career development and work-based learning opportunities for youth.
• Increase the number of students placed in WBL immersive experiences (e.g. internships, whether paid or unpaid) and youth employment compared to the number placed in FY20, and the number of employers engaged, especially in STEM fields, as reflected in new goals, by developing new strategies and efficiencies for the region's Connecting Activities (CA) initiative.
• Support DESE's efforts to improve equity and access for underserved student populations by working with school partners to target these populations for CA services.
• Continue to implement high quality career awareness, exploration, and immersion activities for partner schools, and document key elements of those activities in the CA database and in the quarterly reports
• Improve the quality of the region's partnerships with its partner schools.
• Offer targeted programmatic efforts designed to respond to the Workforce Skills Cabinet (WSC) Regional Blueprints and the STEM@Work Initiative.
• Support the expansion of Innovation Pathways in your regions including participating in the designation process.

Eligibility:

The Commonwealth's 16 Workforce Development Boards

Funding Type:

State Funds — Line Item 7027-0019

Funding:

A total of approximately $4,500,000 – $5,000,000 is projected to be available.

Funding is contingent upon availability and legislative appropriation. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines as listed in this initial RFP document.

Fund Use:

Connecting Activities funds may be used for the following purposes:

1. Employer Outreach:
   1. Develop and recruit business and industry to participate in work-based learning experiences and other career development activities;
   2. Manage employer relationships; and
   3. Coordinate with Career Specialist/Job Coach to place students.
2. Students' Work Readiness and Career Development:
   1. Prepare and place students in quality worksite learningexperiences connected to classroom teaching and learning;
   2. Coordinate career development activities in collaboration with counseling and other staff of participating schools;
   3. Monitor student experience at worksites and support their success;
      and
   4. Facilitate the implementation of the Work-Based Learning Plan that connects classroom learning to worksite placement, including data entry.
3. Continual Improvement of Region's CA Performance:
   1. Analyze overall performance of region for continual improvement, both quantitatively and qualitatively;
   2. Support implementation of strategies to improve performance;
   3. Sustain and enhance partnerships with public school districts and schools to improve quality of efforts and to increase scale.
4. Employer Cultivation and Engagement and Capstone Refinement
   Subject to appropriation, MassHire Workforce Boards serving high schools with designated Innovation Pathways (IP) will be provided an additional amount per IP school to focus on industry sector employer relationship cultivation for internships and the refinement of capstone courses at the schools in their network. Grant amounts will be provided to eligible MassHire Workforce boards under a separate cover.

Please Note: Recipients of Connecting Activities funds may enter into contracts with one or more public or private organizations to provide the connecting activities services and functions. Such organizations may include One Stop Career Centers, community colleges, chambers of commerce, community-based organizations, or other similar labor market intermediaries.

A minimum of 70% of Connecting Activities funds must be used to support staffing. Up to 30% of Connecting Activities funds may be used for other priorities, such as professional development, youth support services, data management and accountability. Indirect Costs may be sought if the region has obtained an approved indirect cost rate through DESE procedures.

Prohibited expenditures:

• Student wages or stipends
• Computer hardware

Project Duration:

Upon approval (no earlier than 7/1/20) through 6/30/21.

The FY21 Connecting Activities Program grants are renewable for the duration of one (1) more year to include FY22.

Program Unit:

Office for College, Career, and Technical Education

Contact:

Kerry Akashian

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3948

Date Due:

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Required Forms:

As part of the online submission, applicants will upload the following forms:

Part I — PDF of Part I Signature Page, which has been signed, dated and scanned

Part II — Budget entered directly into EdGrants

Part III — Required Program Information

Agreements with Partner Schools, using the template provided

 

FY 20 Year-To-Date "Work and Learning" Performance Report, generated from MACR database

 

FY 20 Qualifying Wages Report, generated from MACR database

FY 21 Connecting Activities RFP Charts

FY 21 Connecting Activities Staff Plan

Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants

In EdGrants, districts are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants:

FY21 FC 428 and College, Career, and Technical Education Applicant Name

All items listed under the required forms section of this RFP should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission in EdGrants. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's signature and all required forms. The final budget the applicant is requesting will be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process.

For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides, Information and Trainings.

Please note: It is up to the district to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users.

Last Updated: April 30, 2020