​Each lead contractor is given flexibility in the number of community-based partner organizations to include in their portfolio. Each lead contractor will manage 5-8 subcontracts: 3-4 Healthcare Access and Demonstration Projects (HCADPs) and 2-4 Community Education & Outreach Projects (CE&OPs). In total, GHEU anticipates funding 12-16 HCADPs and 8-16 CE&OPs.

​No. The subcontractor has to be either a 501(c)3 organization, a fiscally sponsored organization, or Tribal government. Subcontractors may be fiscally sponsored by the applicant (contractor) or by another non-profit organization.

​"Program administration" in the contractor minimum qualifications refers to general program administration. The required experience in program administration does not need to be related to state contracts.

​The term "small" and "micro" is being used generally to signify less established organizations.

​Yes, but the project narrative must demonstrate the connection to and impact on the health and well-being of the target population(s) (i.e., LBTQ youth). Please refer to Section 2.7 of the RFA for examples of allowable and unallowable projects for each project domain.

​Yes. Proposed projects under this RFA can have a component of educating parents/teachers/counselors/guardians/caretakers, but the project narrative must demonstrate the need for this component and its anticipated impact on the health and well-being of the target population(s) (i.e., LBTQ youth). Please refer to Section 2.7 of the RFA for examples of allowable and unallowable projects for each project domain.

​ The absorption of another organization that is a 501(c)3 can count towards the 5 years of program administration experience required for contractors, as long as the absorbed organization is maintained throughout this engagement.

​ The Department has not made a decision on the structure of the contracts for RFA 2 (Service Provider Capacity Building Projects). Contracts for RFA 3 (LBTQ Research Projects) will be direct.

​Yes. Overlap of activities within HCADP, CE&OP, and SPCBP program domains is allowable, but the primary focus of a project must align with the program domain it is proposed under. Proposed projects under this RFA can have a component of educating clinical service providers, but the project narrative must demonstrate the need for this component and its anticipated impact on the health and well-being of the target population(s) (i.e., LBTQ youth). The dominant theme cannot be clinical service provider training or TA. Please refer to Section 2.7 of the RFA for examples of allowable and unallowable projects for each project domain.

​Please refer to A6.

​Subcontractors must submit a joint application with a program administrator, or contractor. You may go to lbtqhealth.org/rfa22-10153 under the "Partnering" heading and utilize the results from the optional surveys ("bulletin board") to learn about and contact prospective contractors and/or prospective subcontractors. You may also take the optional survey(s) if you wish to be contacted by them.

​Partnering between contractors and subcontractors is the responsibility of prospective applicants, and will not be directly facilitated by the Department. Unfacilitated partnering events were hosted on 2/25/2022 and 3/9/2022 to support communication and networking among prospective applicants. You may also go to lbtqhealth.org/rfa22-10153 and utilize the results from the optional surveys ("bulletin board") under the "Partnering" heading to learn about and contact prospective contractors and/or prospective subcontractors. You may also take the optional survey(s) if you wish to be contacted by them.

​In the interest of maintaining an objective assessment and award process, subcontractor applications will not be considered individually from the main application they are a part of. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated as a whole.

​ The LBTQ Initiative evaluator is funded directly by OHE (not contractor/subcontractor budgets). Contractors and subcontractors will be supported by the initiative evaluator in developing project evaluation plans. Additionally, subcontractor budgets are required to utilize at least 10% of their proposed project budget to support the evaluation of their proposed project (the implementation of the evaluation plan created in collaboration with the initiative evaluator (i.e., staff time for data collection, community-participatory evaluation activities, and etc.)). A subcontractor can hire a consultant/evaluator to do the evaluation for their project. If the evaluation activities can fall under multiple line items in the subcontractor budget sheet (i.e., consultants or evaluation activities), please list the expense under evaluation activities.

​The Department hopes to have RFA 2 (Service Provider Capacity Building Projects) and RFA 3 (LBTQ Research Projects) released and contracts awarded within the current year, 2022. Continue to use the funding opportunities page from the OHE Gender Health Equity Unit website (https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OHE/Pages/LBTQ-RFA.aspx) for updates on these different funding opportunities as they become available.

​The roles of the contractors and subcontractors are outlined in Sections 2.5 and 2.6 of the RFA, respectively. The Department expects contractors to provide some basic TA and support throughout the duration of the contract (i.e., quality assurance and TA around basic project management and reporting), and coordinate with the Department on the need for higher level TA which may be provided by initiative TA contractors (such as programmatic technical expertise or more advanced organizational development needs).

​Yes. Subcontractors are allowed to work with an agency that they have worked with previously. The requirement is that portfolios must include at least one CBO under each program domain, 1) healthcare access and 2) education and outreach, whom the contractor has not administered funding to previously. Alternatively, contractors must explain the complexities or extenuating circumstances that make this not possible.

​The prospective contractor may not have had a financial relationship (through the funding of a grant, contract, sub-grant or sub-contract) in the 5 years prior to the execution of this contract (estimated as July 1, 2022).

​Yes. This requirement relates to funding another organization through a grant, contract, sub-grant or sub-contract.

​Please refer to A16.

​Please refer to A16.

​Monthly reporting will be required to support monthly invoicing. The frequency of other requirements to communicate, coordinate activities with, and reporting to CDPH will be determined as the program is initiated.

​Contracts will be reimbursement-based. Please note that subcontractors will have contracts in place with their contractor, not directly with the State. Discussions regarding changes to budgets would be directed to the individual contractor; there will be an ability to make budget amendments.

​Please refer to A14.

​Collaboratives are permitted under the terms of the RFA, but one organization must serve as the contractor/subcontractor who is primarily responsible and accountable for the administration of the program/project. The remaining organizations in the collaborative must be included in the budget sheet as consultants. The contractor/subcontractor must satisfy all minimum qualifications. However, the collaborative's qualifications and experiences as a whole will be used to evaluate desired qualifications. If the collaborative applies as a contractor, two letters of support must be provided by up to two organizations within the collaborative to satisfy the letters of support requirement.

​ Please refer to A25. In this specific example, Agency A is considered a subcontractor and Agency B is considered a consultant.

​The consultants line item is for any other consultants identified as being needed for project implementation (i.e., translation services consultant, graphic design services consultant, and etc.). This is a standalone category that states the estimated or actual amount for a consulting agreement or contract for the needed services. A consultant budget should be inclusive of the consultant's costs (i.e., staff time, travel, supplies, and etc.); consultant costs should not be reflected in any other budget category or line item.

​Please refer to A6.

​Please refer to A13.

​Please refer to A25. The contractor/subcontractor should apply under its EIN.

​The contractor is responsible for ensuring that all performance requirements under the contractor's agreement with CDPH are being are met, including those being performed by the subcontractor(s). Contractors should include provisions in its subcontracts that require subcontractors to comply with the terms and conditions of contractor's agreement with CDPH and make the contractor the sole point of contact any issues regarding payment and performance under the agreement with CDPH. Please refer to Attachment 16, Exhibits D and E in the RFA for further information.

​The project fulfilling the "rural and urban area(s)" portfolio requirement should be both rural and underserved. If a proposed portfolio does not include at least one project meeting this requirement, a narrative justification must be submitted. The Department may, at its discretion, waive the "rural and underserved area(s)" portfolio requirement only if there are at least four (4) proposed projects satisfying the "rural and underserved area(s)" portfolio requirement among the four highest scoring portfolios. Note that Section 2.2 of the RFA has been amended to clarify this portfolio requirement. Note that projects may be based in cities/regional hubs (not technically rural areas) from which rural populations receive services and/or are provided services. This should be described in the project narrative.

​Yes, funding can be used to fund staff time. Note that projects are required to be prevention focused and utilize a public health approach; a project proposing strictly healthcare provision/individual patient care will not be funded. Please refer to Section 2.7 of the RFA for examples of allowable and unallowable projects for each project domain.

Please refer to A33.​

​Please refer to A33.

​Please refer to A33.

​Prospective contractors/subcontractors are encouraged to carefully read the RFA to understand the difference between applying as a contractor versus subcontractor and what is permitted under this engagement. 

Yes, recording are available for the RFA Walk-through and Public Comment Session and the Pre-Application Conference. Please note that the two partnering sessions (also known as "Meet the Prospective Contractors/Subcontractors" Event) were not recorded.

​If the proposed contractor has selected to fund its own organization to implement one community-based project, this should be addressed in the contractor narrative and a proposal for the project (i.e., subcontractor application) must be included.

​Each solicitation will have different qualifications. More information regarding the future solicitations will be released by June 2022. 

​Subcontractor budgets for each of the 3-4 HCADPs must be between $200,000-$500,000. Subcontractor budgets for each of the CE&OPs must be between $50,000-$250,000. Contractor budgets must not exceed $478,125. Deviating from these guidelines will result in disqualification.

If the contractor has selected to fund its own organization to implement one community-based, a subcontractor application must be included. The proposed project budget will not count towards the $478,125 but must fall within the specified range for the designated project domain: HCADP or CE&OP. 

​Contractors, or otherwise known as program administrators, and subcontractors, or otherwise known as community-based partners, are responsible for locating one another. Subcontractors must submit a joint application with a contractor. Additional partnering support is available at the LBTQ resource site under the "Partnering" heading; you can also utilize the results from the optional surveys ("bulletin board") to learn about and contact prospective contractors and/or prospective subcontractors. You may also take the optional survey(s) if you wish to be contacted by them.

​If you apply as a subcontractor, you only need to provide documents on the application checklist that are earmarked “1 per subcontractor”, “2 per subcontractor”, and “1 per government agency” (if applicable). This must be submitted as part of a joint application with a contractor.

​The requirement to have a font size of at least 12 points pertains only to the Letter of Intent.

​There are 72 points in a line. If you set the line spacing (not to be confused with font size) of the text to be exactly 12 points or less, then this requirement will be satisfied.