Request for Proposal
Training and Technical Assistance Provider for STEM Mentoring Program
Businesses and Corporations are eligible to apply (do not need to be local)
STEM Mentoring Program, Sea Research Foundation, Inc.
Sea Research Foundation, Inc. (SRF) is seeking a Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) provider to assist with financial and programmatic management for its STEM Mentoring program (see Background below). This TTA provider will demonstrate extensive experience in performance measures data collection and reporting as well as development and administration of youth mentoring programs, with a minimum of five years of experience managing large, federal grants. Experience with tribal and military programs will be preferred. The TTA provider will help communicate grant requirements to affiliate sites; facilitate training for affiliate sites; assist with the review of affiliate sites’ use of subawards; provide data collection and compilation assistance; assist in the review of quarterly program reports; maintain the STEM Mentoring website; format curriculum content into printable materials for Program Coordinators, mentors, and mentees; develop implementation guides, forms, surveys, and other resources for distribution; participate in weekly calls with SRF; and provide management and administrative support to SRF and affiliate sites.
Interested entities should supply a proposal and budget for the project, which will run from October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2026.
Application Deadline: Friday, October 27, 2023
Background
Sea Research Foundation, Inc. (SRF) — a leader in providing mentoring and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) enrichment as part of delinquency-prevention initiatives — has received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s FY 2023 Multistate Mentoring Programs Initiative to expand and enhance its innovative group mentoring program, STEM Mentoring.
The goal of STEM Mentoring is to positively impact the social development and academic achievement, and reduce the juvenile delinquency, of at-risk youth ages 6–10. By providing high-quality, STEM-based group mentoring experiences, STEM Mentoring reduces mentees’ high-risk behaviors, improves protective factor indicators, and increases their knowledge of and interest in STEM topics and careers. A secondary goal is to provide peer mentors ages 12–17 with support and training to help them build strong, positive relationships with their mentees.
STEM Mentoring will achieve these goals by connecting youth with mentors (4:1 mentee-to-mentor ratio) to engage in weekly STEM activities. SRF will make subawards to approximately 40* affiliate sites in at least 15* states and territories. Sites will engage at least 900* mentees and 225* mentors — including a subset of at least 96* peer mentors, targeting youth who: a) live in communities with risk factors such as high rates of poverty, violent crime, and/or drug addiction; b) attend schools with a high percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals and high rates of absenteeism; c) live in rural communities; d) are involved in reentry from the juvenile justice system; e) have one or more parents in the military; and/or f) are American Indian or Alaska Native.
To achieve the project goals and objectives, SRF will: 1) provide sites with training and technical assistance based on the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring; 2) provide sites with the STEM Mentoring curriculum and associated content training and technical assistance; and 3) measure the project impact.
Pre-and post-surveys for mentees and mentors, and surveys for Program Coordinators, will assess project progress. On a quarterly basis, SRF will use its online reporting system to collect data on social and academic improvement, involvement in juvenile delinquency, and mentor-mentee relationships. SRF will use this information to meet OJJDP’s performance measures requirements and to generate internal program improvements.
* The final numbers of affiliate sites, locations, mentees, and mentors will be determined based on the approved budget.