Open Solicitation # Communications/Marketing Consultant

Transcription

1 Open Solicitation # Communications/Marketing Consultant System of Care Expansion to Transitional Aged Youth in Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families, Inc Research Blvd, Suite 103 Rockville, MD Issue Date: May 30, 2017 Deadline for Questions: June 22, 2017 Closing Date: June 29, 2017 ABOUT THE PARTNERS: The Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families, Inc. ( Collaboration Council ) is a quasi-public 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designated by the Montgomery County Council as the Local Management Board for Montgomery County, Maryland. The Collaboration Council s mission is to improve the well-being of children, youth and families through collaborative partnerships. For information regarding the Montgomery County Collaboration Council, its initiatives and programs, visit our website at The System of Care (SOC) is a coordinated network of services and supports that builds meaningful partnerships with families and youth in order to help youth with serious emotional disturbance function better at home, within the community, remain in school, hold gainful employment, and be successful throughout life. BACKGROUND: The MCCC created Bridges to the Future to expand its System of Care to reach and engage disconnected transition aged youth (TAY) with or at risk of serious emotional disorders ages through care management and intensive crisis services. Bridges to the Future seeks to develop a comprehensive communications plan that will create enduring linkages across multiple sectors for the purpose of improving service coordination, service delivery, creating youth and family advocates. In tandem with the internal communications strategy, the plan should also include external social marketing strategies that engage youth and families as the System of Care is youth and family driven. A key feature of the social marketing plan will be culturally and linguistically appropriate messaging for multiple target audiences and stakeholders. PURPOSE: Through this Open Solicitation, the Montgomery County Collaboration Council is seeking a communications consultant that will assess current social marketing needs for transition aged youth (16-21yr). The scope of this work should be developed in two stages. Stage One would include immediate assessment of current social marketing practices and development of a plan of action that increases awareness of the SOC expansion to include TAY. The Plan of Action would tailor methods of effective communication to target youth, families, and agencies to increase the likelihood the System of Care expansion will be embraced. Stage two would include development and implementation of strategies

2 that motivate behavior through creative communications in Montgomery County and knowledge on best practices. Strategies would include providing a voice through social media tools and outreach activities to create a bridge for youth into adult advocacy and the peer support arena. This effort will include but is not limited to the following contract deliverables: Stage One July October Identify current social marketing strategies and evaluate effectiveness of outreach including diversity, cultural and linguistic competence, and engagement of TAY and families. 2. Develop Plan of Action that addresses the following: a. Awareness/Knowledge of SOC with inclusion of TAY b. Change attitudes and behaviors towards SOC and TAY c. Motivate people to want to change their behavior d. Empower youth and families to advocate for themselves and others 3. Be youth guided and family driven while promoting social inclusion of children, youth, and young adults with SED; Develop partnerships and community outreach efforts that support capacity building and sustainability efforts; and promote SOC values and principles Stage Two July December Incorporate creative types of communication including social media and outreach events. 5. Use social marketing to engage youth and families from diverse backgrounds. 6. Encourage youth and families to play a pivotal role in future social marketing planning decisions so the resulting strategies are family-driven, youth-drive, and culturally and linguistically competent. 7. Provide social marketing support, consulting, and materials to system of care communities. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Interested applicants must submit a hard-copy Proposal with sufficient detail to understand the general and unique approach, skills, and experience that will be brought by your company. The following minimum information must be included Contact information including Contact Name, Title, Organization Name, Phone Number and . Describe the proposed approach to this particular engagement, based on experience with similar projects. Address the accessibility of the project consultant that would be available to the SOC team including credentials and past experience. Specific deliverables and dates of delivery throughout the assessment and plan of action Fee for services and what is included. Names and contact information of three clients served in the past two years as references. The Proposal should be succinct (a maximum of 5 pages is suggested) and directly relevant to the above requirements. The selected consultant should be prepared to enter into a contract in July 2017.

3 All correspondence should be addressed to: Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families, Inc. RE: Open Solicitation # Communications Consultant Systems of Care 1801 Research Blvd, Suite 103 Rockville, MD submissions to: Questions clarifying the Open Solicitation must be in writing and received no later than June 22, 2017; e- mail questions to referencing Open Solicitation Communications Consultant. Note: Budget questions regarding this project will not be discussed at this time. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Thursday, June 29, :00 p.m. ***Please see the Appendix A attached for more information about social marketing. ***

4 Creating your Social Marketing Plan APPENDIX A One of your RFA requirements is to develop a culturally and linguistically competent social marketing/communication strategic plan by the end of year one of the grant award. The purpose of the plan is to aid in the promotion, development, and sustainability of service and systems change necessary to positively impact the lives of children and youth with SED and their families. Social marketing is the practice of using commercial marketing strategies to drive behavior change around a social issue. Developing a social marketing plan can help an organization be more strategic and audience-focused in its communication efforts and achieve better results. Answering the following questions will ensure you create a plan that clearly identifies the steps required to develop partnerships that will strengthen and expand your system of care and lead to sustainability. While these questions are straightforward, this process has many layers, so be sure to include representatives from the audiences you want to reach, as well as your Social Marketing TA Provider, along the way. 1. What Is My Social Marketing Goal? For organizations and government agencies, goals can focus on foundational activities such as sustainability and membership growth, or on programmatic activities, such as increasing access to services. Often the social marketing goal(s) support an overall organizational goal. For most system of care communities, one of the primary goals is obtaining tangible support for expanding the program. No matter the goal(s) it s important to obtain buy-in on them early on so everyone involved in the planning process is aligned. How you use social marketing to achieve your goals will be unique to your organization and based on your answers to the questions in this worksheet. 2. Who Is The Primary Audience? Systems of care engage multiple groups for the benefit for children, youth, and families, but reaching all of these groups particularly within a one year period is not practical or realistic. Think about the one or two key audiences that you need to get on board to obtain support necessary to facilitate state, tribal, or region wide implementation. Although there are multiple audiences that would be helpful in this endeavor, it s important to select the top few to determine which might be most likely to partner with you and move forward on the behavior change continuum. Don t forget to include internal audiences in this mix. 3. Who Are The Most Influential People Within This Audience? As the saying goes, it s not what you know, it s who you know. Who are the key people within your audience(s) that can open doors and create new opportunities or strengthen existing relationships to help you reach your goal? Who are the early adopters that are already up to speed and on board with systems of care? There are key allies who can help you bring others into the mix. 4. What do you want this audience to do? Now that you know whom you want to reach, what exactly do you want them to do? It is important to keep this as simple and easy to accomplish as possible. You should think about how the audience can benefit from this behavior change, as well as why they aren t already doing what you want them to do. What are the barriers to their receiving and acting on information? What, if any, are the cultural implications of adopting this behavior? What beliefs already exist in the community about the issue?

5 Creating your Social Marketing Plan When you develop messages in the next step, incorporate information or data that addresses these realities, addressing benefits and barriers. 5. What Are The Three Most Compelling Messages For This Audience And These Individuals? If you were in the elevator with the individuals listed in Question 3 and had time to share only three sentences, what would they be? Keep them short, simple, and compelling. Make sure they address what your audience cares about and show the relevance of the issue. What can you say that will overcome the barriers mentioned in Question 4? If the barrier, for instance, is funding, then your message should incorporate data about the cost effectiveness of systems of care. You should ensure that your messages are effective by informally soliciting input from members of your audience to determine language that will resonate with them. 6. What Are The Best Ways To Reach This Audience (Channels) And Its Influential Members? Since you are not likely to be in the elevator with all of the people listed in Question 3, you need to find out where they are and how to reach them. What are the best ways to reach your audience particularly, the individuals whom you have identified as being the most influential members of that audience? These are your channels. Channels may include other partners, important community members, and media, including traditional and digital. 7. How Will You Use These Channels To Reach Your Audience And Its Influential Members? Now that you have identified which channels are best for reaching your audience, how will you use those channels to do it? Will you coordinate a community event, conduct media outreach, host a press conference, or assemble thought leaders at a roundtable? 8. What Are Activities, Events, And Materials That Will Support Your Outreach? What are the activities, events, and/or materials to be used by your selected channels that will most effectively carry your message to the intended audiences? The activity might be a community event to raise awareness, or it might be a one on one meeting with a policymaker, depending on your social marketing goal. The event could be a fact sheet or infographic on cost savings that engages and conveys your messages to this audience and addresses benefits and barriers of what you are asking them to do. Consider: 1. Appropriateness to audience, goal, and message 2. Relevance to desired outcomes 3. Climate of community toward the issue/activity 4. Cultural competence (including language) Before you commit to activities, events, or materials, plan to pre-test them with the intended audiences and, in some cases, with people who manage message channels elders, community leaders, and communications professionals in key stakeholder organizations. This will ensure the message is both effective and conveyed in a culturally competent way. 9. How Will You Evaluate Your Plan? Your social marketing plan is a living document and, once you begin implementation, it s likely to evolve. Be sure to account for this process evaluation in your original plan to quantify your social marketing by assessing what was done; when, where, and how it was done; and who was reached. Process evaluation is also a good time to make mid-course corrections.

6 Creating your Social Marketing Plan Ongoing evaluation and mid-course corrections also allow you to: 1. Identify milestones 2. Determine strengths and weaknesses 3. Identify obstacles 4. Create and implement new approaches for success 5. Consult with social marketing and communications technical assistance providers