U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plan: Colorado PYs 2016-2017
Combined Plan C

Section: WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Narrative: III. b. 5. B. ii.

Published
Located in:
  • III. Operational Planning Elements
    The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that support the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II.(c) above. Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs. This section must include—
    • b. State Operating Systems and Policies
      The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the State operating systems and policies that will support the implementation of the State strategy described in Section II Strategic Elements . This includes—

III. b. 5. B. ii. Ensure Direct and Equitable Access

Describe how the eligible agency will ensure direct and equitable access to all eligible providers to apply and compete for funds and how the eligible agency will ensure that it is using the same grant or contract announcement and application procedure for all eligible providers.

Current Narrative:

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Office of Adult Education Initiatives (AEI) will ensure direct and equitable access to grants and contracts and will use the same grant or contract process for all eligible providers in the state. All applicants follow a detailed request for proposal, and each proposal is evaluated by a team of trained reviewers and AEI staff.

In order to provide adult education and family literacy services, AEI will establish a work group of core partners and Combined State Plan partners to develop a communications/outreach plan to announce, inform, and provide technical assistance to eligible providers across Colorado. Written proposals are solicited through a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) which provides application procedures and forms to be completed by applicant organizations. RFP information will continue to be provided throughout the year to all persons on the AEI provider email distribution list and to others with an interest in adult education and family literacy. The announcement will also be placed on the CDE web site, communicated through the official CDE newsletter, and in the public notices sections of the state’s largest newspapers.

The entire RFP and related documents will be posted each year on the CDE web site in a format that allows local providers to download and print them.

Efforts will be made to solicit proposals from each of the ten federally designated workforce development areas to ensure adult education and family literacy services for Coloradoans in each local area.

AEI will accept proposals from:

  • Local educational agencies;
  • Community-based organizations or faith-based organization;
  • Volunteer literacy organizations;
  • Institutions of higher education;
  • Public or private nonprofit agencies;
  • Libraries;
  • Public housing authorities;
  • Nonprofit institutions that are not described in any of the above that have the ability to provide adult education and family literacy activities to eligible individuals;
  • Consortia or coalitions of the agencies, organizations, institutions, libraries, or authorities described above; and
  • Partnerships between an employer and an entity described above.

Description of Steps to Ensure Direct and Equitable Access

1. AEI will accept Requests for Proposals from all eligible providers.

2. In order to assure equitable access, all applicants will received identical Requests for Proposals, have the same amount of time to prepare and submit said proposals, and be evaluated using the same criteria and process.

3. Eligible providers will submit proposals directly to the CDE Office of Competitive Grants, and funded providers will receive payments directly from the CDE as approved.

Some eligible providers may choose to be subcontractors, in which case the subcontractor’s proposal much be incorporated into the eligible provider’s proposal. Subcontractors are subject to the same process described in detail above, as well as instituting and maintaining procedures to meet all accountability, intensity, duration, and continuous improvement factors for providing services to adult learners.