ITB #2023-03 Help Me Grow
Question-and-Answer

• Question: Does the $5,000 affiliate fee to join Help Me Grow Florida include travel to the annual conference? Registration fees? Should all three staff members attend?
• Answer: The affiliate fee does not include travel to the HMGF Annual Meeting. There is no registration fee for the HMGF Annual Meeting. In the contract, the state office requires that at least one staff member from each affiliate site attend. The affiliate fee includes: training and technical assistance; STAR start-up fee; STAR subscription fee; Brookes ASQ Enterprise (if needed); a designated amount of outreach materials.

• Question: There was a mention of a possibility of extending by another year. Should we include an additional year in the budget?
• Answer: Contracts are expected to begin July 1, 2023 and run through June 30, 2025 with an option for a one-year renewal through June 30, 2026. Include a two-year budget breakdown in your proposal.

• Question: Does the Physician Champion have to be a practicing pediatrician or could it be a family physician or another type of physician interested in the work?
• Answer: The physician champion can be any type of health care provider who is dedicated to advocating for Help Me Grow with other physicians and who will educate and motivate other health care providers to conduct systematic surveillance and screening of young children. The ideal Physician Champion has a background in developmental or behavioral medicine, along with strong connections to their local chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and/or the Academy of Family Physicians and university medical schools.

• Question: Is there a financial commitment to the Physicia Champion? What is their job?
• Answer: There is not a financial commitment. Physician Champions work with providers on the Help Me Grow referral system, identifying training needs, convening quarterly perinatal and pediatric health care provider network meetings, and supporting systematic surveillance and screening of young children. Champions bring their voice and expertise to this work and help all families with young children thrive. The Help Me Grow Florida office described an ideal physician champion in this one-pager. Please also see this landing page for a list of physician champions affiliated with Help Me Grow affiliates across the state of Florida.

• Question: If I have technical questions about using the SAMIS application portal, at ECT can I contact?
• Answer: Click HERE to view the detailed, step-by-step application instructions for navigating SAMIS. Please email Richard Stone at rstone@escambiachildrenstrust.org if you encounter technical issues using SAMIS after consulting the instructions manual.
  

• Question: My organization is interested in being a collaborative partner for the Help Me Grow ITB. Are we restricted to contacting one of the potential lead organizations or may we express our interest to be a subcontractor to each of the potential lead organizations and discuss how we could partner and what our role would be?
• Answer: You are welcome to contact potential lead organizations to discuss collaboration and partnership ideas. There is no restriction in place. In fact, this is encouraged.
  

• Question: Is there an example MOU with affiliates and the State Coordinating Office that can be posted online as an example?
• Answer: Please see this example MOU with Help Me Grow Florida.
  

• Question: Is the Help Me Grow Leadership Team under sunshine?
• Answer: If there are members of the same sunshine board serving on the “leadership team,” all of their communications will fall under the sunshine. For example, if there are two members of ECT on the leadership team, they can only act in the sunshine. The meeting will need to be open, noticed, with minutes, etc.  But if there is one member of ECT and one member of Early Learning Coalition, for example, they are not members of the same board and would not be restricted by the sunshine based on their membership in other boards. In other words: Will there be multiple members from the same sunshine board? If so, then yes. If there will not be multiple members from the same sunshine board, then no.

• Question: Besides the $5,000 initial fee to become an affiliate of Help Me Grow Florida, are there annual fees for affiliates that should be included in the budget for the second year?
• Answer: The $5,000 fee is an annual fee. Please budget $5,000 annually to be an affiliate of Help Me Grow Florida.

• Question: Are there baseline IT specifications needed for the operation of the STAR system?
• Answer: There are no IT specifications needed for STAR. STAR is a web-based application and can be accessed using any up-to-date browser.

• Question: Does Help Me Grow Florida still use the iPad program for placement of iPads in physician offices and other early childhood health care programs such as WIC offices, for the purpose of completing developmental screenings that are directly linked to the HMG database? If yes, are there additional costs that need to be budgeted for this program?
• Answer: The iPad initiative is a strategy we use when engaging with physicians or other agencies. It’s not a requirement, but a recommended approach for partnership and engagement if that physician/agency is not yet providing screenings for their clients. Cost of iPads would need to be budgeted for.

• Question: Is there information available from HMG Florida regarding expenses related to the Physician Champion(s) role with Help Me Grow? (materials, stipend for participation in marketing to other physicians, etc).
• Answer: There should not be a financial commitment/stipend allocated to the Physician Champion for any reason. Any materials used by the Physician Champion should come from programmatic expenses for materials. Time spent being a Physican Champion should be considered in-kind.

• Question: For the budget, can we give the 15% indirect costs to the subcontractors as well?
• Answer: 15% is the maximum allowable indirect cost allowed by ECT. Subcontractor budgets can include indirect costs. If your agency has an indirect cost rate agreement, please use that amount, up to the allowable 15%.

• Question: For the budget, do we list subcontractors’ expense as a single line item or do we need to provide details?
• Answer: In SAMIS, you must list each subcontract separately as a single line item with a brief budget justification for each. You will have an opportunity to provide additional detail in the subcontractor section, including the ability to upload detailed budgets, budget explanations, and MOUs, agreements, draft contracts, etc.

• Question: Is there a budget variance allowance among budget categories? If costs are less than anticipated in year one, can the balance roll over to the second year for projects to address needs or gaps identified by the HMG Leadership Team? 
• Answer: Providers can request a budget amendment but there is no guarantee it will be approved. A budget amendment cannot change the scope of services. If ECT approves the amendment, the agency will receive an updated approved budget and reimbursement request form, and then the agency will be allowed to move budgeted funds to the requested categories. Balances will not be carried over to the second year; budget requests for the second year will be considered based on provider performance and outcomes as set forth in the contract.