McKinney-Vento implementation through Amercian Rescue Plan, Homeless Children and Youth, State Reservation

State of Maine Procurement Justification Form PJF Page 1 of 3 Rev. 1/29/2020 This form must accompany all contract requests and sole source requisitions (RQS) over $5,000 submitted to the Division of Procurement Services. INSTRUCTIONS: Please provide the requested information in the white spaces below. All responses (except signatures) must be typed; no hand-written forms will be accepted. See the guidance document posted with this form on the Division of Procurement Services website (Forms page) for additional instructions. PART I: OVERVIEW Department Office/Division/Program: Office of School and Student Supports, Maine Department of Education Department Contract Administrator or Grant Coordinator: Amelia Lyons, McKinney Vento Homeless Education Consultant (If applicable) Department Reference #: N/A Amount: (Contract/Amendment/Grant) $ 40,000 Advantage CT / RQS #: 20210903*0586 CONTRACT Proposed Start Date: 9/13/21 Proposed End Date: 8/31/24 AMENDMENT Original Start Date: Effective

Date: Previous End Date: New End Date: GRANT Project Start Date: Grant Start Date: Project End Date: Grant End Date: Vendor/Provider/Grantee Name, City, State: New Beginnings, Lewiston, ME Brief Description of Goods/Services/Grant: McKinney-Vento Implementation through American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth, State Reservation PART II: JUSTIFICATION FOR VENDOR SELECTION Mark an X before the justification(s) that applies to this request. (Check all that apply.) A. Competitive Process G. Grant B. Amendment H. State Statute/Agency Directed X C. Single Source/Unique Vendor I. Federal Agency Directed D. Proprietary/Copyright/Patents J. Willing and Qualified E. Emergency K. Client Choice F. University Cooperative Project L. Other Authorization PART III: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION Please respond to ALL of the following: 1. Provide a more detailed description and explain the need for the goods, services or grant to supplement the response in Part I. The services to be provided under this contract are to support the identification, outreach, and provision of services to children, youth, and families who qualify as McKinney-Vento. The provider will offer wrap around services and referrals for the children and youth and connect them to their local McKinney-Vento liaison for additional support. This provider will also assist the Maine Department of Education with a professional State of Maine Procurement Justification Form PJF Page 2 of 3 Rev. 1/29/2020 PART III: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION development project to Local Education Agencies throughout the state regarding their unique expertise in the field of serving people experiencing homelessness. 2. Provide a brief justification for the selected vendor to supplement the response in Part II. New Beginnings is uniquely qualified to provide these services in the eastern and western regions of the state because they are already the recognized provider in this region. New Beginnings, Inc. (NB) is the only agency in Maine whose mission is entirely focused on serving the needs of youth and young adults facing housing instability or homelessness. The agency was founded as a nonprofit in 1977 to assist youth and families in crisis. Since 1980, NB has worked with teens, young adults, their families, and other providers to ensure that Maine youth have access to the safe housing, supportive services, and connections to caring relationships that they need to become healthy and stable adults. Based in Lewiston, NB operates Marians Place (Maines only 24-hour licensed emergency youth shelter) and a complete spectrum of supportive housing, family mediation, mental health, educational support, prevention & training, and street outreach services designed to prevent young people from across Maine from becoming homeless, support struggling families, and help vulnerable young people successfully transition to adulthood. Our mission is to partner with youth to create lasting change, so all youth have a safe place to live and opportunities to grow, and our vision is a world in which all youth are safe and valued in their communities. The agencys headquarters, shelter, prevention, education, counseling, and Youth Drop-in Center are in Lewiston, with housing and outreach sites in Androscoggin, Franklin, and Kennebec counties. NB provides an essential "safety net" food, clothing, shelter, housing, referrals for an average of 700 young people ages 12-24 each year from throughout Maine who do not have stable housing or family support. New Beginnings is uniquely qualified to deliver training and technical assistance services because of its long history in the field, organizational expertise, ongoing research and development, programmatic quality, and strong history of collaborative relationships with schools, DOE, and providers across the state. NB has over 30 years experience collaborating with Maine Department of Education (DOE) to deliver HIV prevention education for high risk populations of youth and offer DOE-sponsored professional development training for adults who work with these youth in schools and community-based settings in Maine. Since 1990, NB has worked with DOE to develop innovative policies, conduct research, and provide training and educational programming in the use of HIV prevention and harm reduction approaches with young people to increase their safety. NBs most recent Maine Homeless Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MHYRBS) provided essential data used in the DOEs own trainings for school McKinney-Vento liaisons. For 30 years, NB has provided high quality training to youth-serving professionals across the state, including handling all support functions and logistics; financial payments to venues/vendors/trainers; project management and reporting; updating relevant curricula/training materials; and either facilitating trainings directly or supervising highly qualified trainers. Since 2016, New Beginnings Prevention & Training has trained over 1,000 staff from hundreds of public or alternative schools and agencies working with priority youth populations. This organization is uniquely positioned because they are already doing this work and have been for many years. This contract will be a natural extension of their work into the schools and use their unique voice and experience to provide valuable professional development to districts. This organization also leads the states Youth Action Board (YAB) which can provide valuable youth voice with lived experience to this project. State of Maine Procurement Justification Form PJF Page 3 of 3 Rev. 1/29/2020 PART III: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION 3. Explain how the negotiated costs or rates are fair and reasonable; or how the funding was allocated to grantee. This funding was allocated to the grantee as it was divided up equally between all contracts to fully cover the state. This cost is fair and reasonable to support, at a minimum, .5 FTE for a staff person to dedicate time to these projects. 4. Describe the plan for future competition for the goods or services. This funding is only available through 2024 and is a one-time payment of the American Rescue Plan. If additional funds are made available by the US Department of Education at a later date, then plans will be made on how to approach future competition for the services. PART IV: APPROVALS Signature of requesting Departments Commissioner (or designee): By signing below, I signify that I approve of this procurement request. Printed Name: Daniel A. Chuhta Deputy Commissioner Date: Signature of DAFS Procurement Official: Printed Name: Date: 9/3/2021 Michelle Fournier 9/28/2021 DocuSigned by: Midulle Fournier O66BBD96EE5347F...