Operation of a Day Resource Center

Operation of a day resource center at 615 East Washington Avenue in Madison, WI for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 427022-HPD
• Department: Human Services
• Department Head: John Schlueter (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-23T04:59:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-05-30T04:59:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Program Strategies & Activities (25 pts) —
  1. A compatible service philosophy/organizational culture from the applicant is essential to fulfilling the goals of this project. (3000 character limit)    
     1. Describe the service philosophy of the applicant, the target population of the Center, and explain how those align with guest and community needs.
     2. Describe in detail two specific operational practices that demonstrate your low-barrier, trauma-informed approach (e.g. intake requirements, storage rules, guest engagement, de-escalation practices, etc).
  2. What do you identify as the three biggest barriers to accessing day resources and what supports would be included in program design to help reduce these barriers? If the proposal has a cost (e.g. cab rides, para-transit, etc), please be sure to include those costs in the budget proposal.  (3000 character limit)
  3. Describe the safety, security, emergency response strategies the program would employ to prevent or respond to the following incidents including the roles and responsibilities of relevant staff: (3000 character limit)
     1. Overdose
     2. Physical altercation between two guests
     3. Inappropriate comments directed at staff
     4. Flooding in the community room from a severe water leak
  4. Applicants are expected to implement a behavior-based suspension policy. Please detail your approach to service suspensions, including: (3000 character limit)
     1. Steps you will take to prevent suspensions.
     2. What kinds of infractions would lead to a suspension, and for how long? (E.g. examples of level 1, 2 and 3 suspensions.)
     3. How suspensions are monitored and tracked, including to ensure compliance with Chapter 30.04 reporting requirements.
     4. The reinstatement process including internal review, formal grievance procedure, and procedure for notifying participants of their rights and options.
  5. Maintaining working relationships with community partners including neighborhood representatives, local government, first responders, and surrounding businesses is essential to successful service delivery. Describe the strategies used to develop and maintain these relationships including their frequency, how efforts are documented, and how issues are escalated.  (3000 character limit)
• Community Partners, Funding, and Program Structure (25 pts) —
  1. Successful operation of the Center is expected to require braiding multiple funding sources. (3000 character limit) 
     1. Provide examples of past fundraising efforts, including total amount raised, partnerships, narrative of funder base, and outcomes, that show the proposer’s experience in this area.
     2. Volunteer recruitment and management is a key element to provision of many community services. Please detail how volunteers will be recruited, trained, and used to support paid staff and critical functions of the Center’s operations.
     3. List and provide the estimated annual value of all cash contributions and in-kind donations the applicant will bring forward to support the Center in this area. In-kind donations include all goods and services (e.g. donated food, volunteer hours, etc) the agency or its partners will provide. Volunteer hours should be valued at $36 per hour.
  2. Taking into consideration the space limitations of the building and the varying needs of guests, Dane County is looking for providers who can manage the challenges and provide the best service supports possible. (3000 character limit)
     1. Outline the plan to maximize the availability of services including benefit connection, employment and training, housing navigation, and basic health care given the space and funding constraints. Include the roles and responsibilities of relevant staff and volunteers included in upload 2.3.1 and the daily staffing structure to support those responsibilities.
     2. List expected partner agencies, specify their expected responsibilities, and identify any potential MOUs involved. This may be uploaded in table form as response to 2.3.2 below.
     3. Managing access to limited on-site resources such as the computer lab, laundry, mail, showers, storage, and telephones is an essential component of service delivery. List three strategies or approaches the program will implement to make these resources available to Center guests and describe their associated pros and cons.
  3.  Uploads:
     1. Please upload your agency's organizational chart and program staffing structure. This should show reviewers how the program fits in the larger organizational structure of the agency and include roles of all persons who will support program operations, including volunteers. For program positions, list the total number of FTEs in each position, regardless of funding source, and the shifts or work schedule. 
     2. Please upload your list of expected partner agencies and their related responsibilities, MOUs required, etc.
• Experience and Qualifications (25 pts) —
  1. The Center is a high-profile project providing essential community needs. (3000 character limit)  
     1. Describe your organization’s experience operating day resource centers or similar crisis-response programs. If available, include any relevant data or performance metrics demonstrating both capacity and success in carrying out these functions.
     2. Describe your organization’s financial and administrative expertise and capacity (e.g. budgeting, accounting, compliance, strategic planning, etc) to operate a day resource center.
  2. The County owns the property at 615 East Washington Avenue and is responsible for most capital investments but maintaining the property nonetheless requires significant coordination and is a shared responsibility. (3000 character limit) 
     1. Describe a current or previous experience with similar shared responsibilities including procedures for documenting and communicating needs, and processes for escalating urgent or unresolved issues.
     2. Provide an example of a challenge that arose and how navigating that experience provided lessons that would inform the approach to working with Dane County Facilities to address property needs.
  3. Detail the employee onboarding process the applicant uses and the projected timeline for hiring and staffing the Center. Include the specific evidence-based trainings that are offered to ground employees and the timeline for providing these trainings to new staff. (3000 character limit)
  4. List, and describe, with no more than one paragraph each, at least two strategies your agency uses to support employee wellness, combat burnout, and minimize staff turnover, and any contingency plan your agency has for staffing shortages. (3000 character limit)
• Quality Improvement (10 pts) —
  1. How will data be used to support continuous improvement of Center operations, programming, and services? (3000 character limit)
  2. What methods will the applicant use to solicit client feedback regarding services provided, how will the methods be made accessible, and how often will the information be collected? (3000 character limit)
  3. Provide an example of when the agency incorporated external feedback including how that feedback was received, how it was processed internally, and how changes were implemented. (3000 character limit)
• Pricing Proposal (10 pts) —

  Cost Scoring:

  Cost will be scored based on the respondent’s net annual funding request, calculated as:

  Line 1 – Line 2 = Net Annual Funding Request

  The proposal with the lowest net annual funding request will receive the highest cost score. Other proposals will receive fewer points based on the extent to which their net annual funding request exceeds the lowest proposal.

• Local Vendor Preference (5 pts) —

  Per Dane County ordinance, a local Dane County vendor automatically receives five (5) points toward the evaluation score.

  Vendors located within the counties adjacent to Dane County (Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, or Sauk) automatically receive two (2) points toward the evaluation score.

  Locally Operated Vendor means a supplier or provider of equipment, materials, supplies, or services which has an established place of business within Dane County and whose business is registered and authorized to do business in the State of Wisconsin. An established place of business means a physical office, plant, or other facility. A post office box address does not qualify a vendor as a Locally Operated Vendor. Dane County Ordinance 25.04(5)

Submission Requirements

• PROGRAM STRATEGIES & ACTIVITIES (up to 30 points)
• Service philosophy (required) —

  A compatible service philosophy/organizational culture from the applicant is essential to fulfilling the goals of this project. 

  1. Describe the service philosophy of the applicant, the target population of the Center, and explain how those align with guest and community needs.
  2. Describe three specific operational practices that demonstrate your low-barrier, trauma-informed approach (e.g. intake requirements, storage rules, guest engagement, de-escalation practices, etc).
• Client barriers/support (required) —

  What do you identify as the three biggest barriers to accessing day resources and what supports would be included in program design to help reduce these barriers? If the proposal has a cost (e.g. cab rides, para-transit, etc), please be sure to include those costs in the budget proposal.  

• Safety & Security Strategies (required) —

  Describe the safety, security, emergency response strategies the program would employ to prevent or respond to the following incidents including the roles and responsibilities of relevant staffs:  

  1. Suspected overdose
  2. Active physical altercation between two guests
  3. Inappropriate comments directed at staff
  4. Flooding in the community room from a severe water leak
• Suspension policy (required) —

  Applicants are expected to implement a behavior-based suspension policy. Please detail your approach to service suspensions, including: 

  1. Steps you will take to prevent suspensions.
  2. What kinds of infractions would lead to a suspension, and for how long? (E.g. examples of level 1, 2 and 3 suspensions.)
  3. How suspensions are monitored and tracked, including to ensure compliance with Chapter 30.04 reporting requirements.
  4. The reinstatement process including internal review, formal grievance procedure, and procedure for notifying participant of their rights and options.
• Community Partnerships (required) —

  Maintaining working relationships with community partners including neighborhood representatives, local government, first responders, and surrounding businesses is essential to successful service delivery. Describe the strategies used to develop and maintain these relationships including their frequency, how efforts are documented, and how issues are escalated.

• Community Partners, Funding, and Program Structure
• Fundraising and In-kind Support (required) —

  Successful operation of the Center is expected to require braiding multiple funding sources. 

  1. Provide examples of past fundraising efforts, including total amount raised, partnerships, narrative of funder base, and outcomes, that show the proposer’s experience in this area.
  2. Volunteer recruitment and management is a key element to provision of many community services. Please detail how volunteers will be recruited, trained, and used to support paid staff and critical functions of the Center’s operations.
  3. List and provide the estimated annual value of all cash contributions and in-kind donations the applicant will bring forward to support the Center in this area. In-kind donations include all goods and services (e.g. donated food, volunteer hours, etc) the agency or its partners will provide. Volunteer hours should be valued at $36 per hour.
• Space management/access (required) —

  Taking into consideration the space limitations of the building and the varying needs of guests, Dane County is looking for providers who can manage the challenges and provide the best service supports possible. (3000 character limit)

  1. Outline the plan to maximize the availability of services including benefit connection, employment and training, housing navigation, and basic health care given the space and funding constraints. Include the roles and responsibilities of relevant staff and volunteers included in upload 3.1 and the daily staffing structure to support those responsibilities.
  2. List expected partner agencies, specify their expected responsibilities, and identify any potential MOUs involved. This may be uploaded in table form as response to 3.2 below.
  3. Managing access to limited on-site resources such as the computer lab, laundry, mail, showers, storage, and telephones is an essential component of service delivery. List three strategies or approaches the program will implement to make these resources available to Center guests and describe their associated pros and cons.
• Uploads: Organizational Chart & Table of Partners (required) —
  1. Please upload your agency's organizational chart and program staffing structure. This should show reviewers how the program fits in the larger organizational structure of the agency and include roles of all persons who will support program operations, including volunteers. For program positions, include a list with the total number of FTEs in those positions, regardless of funding source, and the shifts or work schedule. 
  2. Please upload your list of expected partner agencies and their related responsibilities, MOUs required, etc. Please use the template included in this RFP's Attachments section.
• EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS (up to 30 points)
• Experience with programming (required) —

  The Center is a high-profile project providing essential community needs.  

  1. Describe your organization’s experience operating day resource centers or similar crisis-response programs. If available, include any relevant data or performance metrics demonstrating both capacity and success in carrying out these functions.
  2. Describe your organization’s financial and administrative expertise and capacity (e.g. budgeting, accounting, compliance, strategic planning, etc) to operate a day resource center.
• Stewardship in County-provided Facility (required) —

  The County owns the property at 615 East Washington Avenue and is responsible for most capital investments but maintaining the property nonetheless requires significant coordination and is a shared responsibility. 

  1. Describe a current or previous experience with similar shared responsibilities including procedures for documenting and communicating needs and processes for escalating urgent or unresolved issues.
  2. Provide an example of a challenge that arose and how navigating that experience provides lessons that would inform the approach to working with Dane County Facilities to address property needs.
• Employee Onboarding/Training (required) —

  Detail the employee onboarding process the applicant uses and the projected timeline for hiring and staffing the Center. Include the specific evidence-based trainings that are offered to ground employees and the timeline for providing these trainings to new staff.

• Staffing support, turnover plan (required) —

  List, and describe, with no more than one paragraph each, at least two strategies your agency uses to support employee wellness, combat burnout, and minimize staff turnover, and any contingency plan your agency has for staffing shortages. 

• QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (up to 10 points)
• Continuous improvement (required) —

  How will data be used to support continuous improvement of Center operations, programming, and services?

• Client feedback (required) —

  What methods will the applicant use to solicit client feedback regarding services provided, how will the methods be made accessible, and how often will the information be collected?

• Feedback Example (required) —

  Provide an example of when the agency incorporated external feedback including how that feedback was received, how it was processed internally, and how changes were implemented.

• Pricing Proposal (up to 15 points) —

  Points for pricing will be awarded using a relative formula. The proposal with the lowest County cost will receive the maximum number of points available for this section. All other proposals will receive a proportion of the cost points according to the following calculation:

  (Lowest Proposed Price ÷ Respondent’s Proposed Price) × Maximum Pricing Proposal Points Available = Score

  In plain language: the lowest-cost proposal earns all available points. Other proposals earn fewer points based on how their cost compares to the lowest. For example, if your proposal costs twice as much as the lowest proposal, you would receive about half of the cost points.

• Budget Backup (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE (up to 5 points)
• Local Vendor Preference (required) —

  Select a Local Vendor Preference:

  Vendors located within Dane County automatically receive five points toward the evaluation score.

  Vendors located within the counties adjacent to Dane County (Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, Sauk) automatically receive two points toward the evaluation score.

  Vendors located outside of Dane County of the 7 counties adjacent to Dane County would choose "No Preference".

  NOTE: A post office box address does not qualify as an established place of business.

• VENDOR INFORMATION —

  Please answer the following questions completely. This section of your agency's response is not scored.

• W9 Upload (required) —

  Upload your company's W9 form.

  NOTE: The W9 is required to be signed within the past 12 months

• Agency UEI number:
• Registration with Wisconsin DFI (required) —

  At the time of contracting with the Department of Human Services, agencies must be registered entities in good standing with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

  Please check this box to indicate that your agency is registered or will be registered in good standing with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. 

• Please explain. (required) —

  You've indicated that your agency is not and will not be registered with Wisconsin DFI. At the time of contracting with the Department of Human Services, agencies must be registered entities in good standing with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

• Fair Labor Practice Certification (required) —

  Has your company been found by the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") or the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission ("WERC") to have violated any statute or regulation regarding labor standards or relations in the seven years prior to the date this bid submission is signed?
  
  If yesis answered, a copy of any relevant information regarding such violation is required to be uploaded with your bid submission.
  

  Additional information about the NLRB and WERC can be found using the following links:
  www.nlrb.gov and http://werc.wi.gov.

• Cooperative Purchasing (required) —

  Reference Guidelines - Section F.

  Does your company agree to furnish the commodities or services of this bid to municipalities and state agencies?

• Designation of Confidential and Proprietary Information (required) —

  Please specify what information you wish to designate as confidential and proprietary. Please identify section/ pages/ topic /documents, etc.

  NOTE: Pricing sections cannot be designated as confidential and proprietary.

  If nothing will be designated, simply type "None" in the section below.

• RFP ADDENDA
• I understand that if any addendum is issued I will have to acknowledge the posted addendum. (required)
• If an addendum is posted after I have submitted my proposal response and the resulting addendum requires action to be taken either in the Specification Section or Pricing Section, I understand that: (required) —

  1. I will have to unsubmit my proposal response.

  2. I will have to acknowledge the posted addendum.

  3. I will have to take action in responding to the changes on either the Specification Section or Pricing Section.

  4. I will then have to resubmit my proposal response.

  Further instructions on addendum(a) postings can be found here.

• SIGNATURE DECLARATION
• Solicitation Response Declaration (required) —

  In submitting and confirming this solicitation response, we certify that we have not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement or participated in any collusion or otherwise taken any action in restraint of free competition; that no attempt has been made to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a solicitation response; that this solicitation response has been independently arrived at without collusion with any other vendor competitor or potential competitor; that this solicitation response has not been knowingly disclosed prior to the opening of bids to any other vendor or competitor; that the above statement is accurate under penalty of perjury.

  Further, by submitting this solicitation response, firm agrees with all the terms, conditions, and specifications required by the County in this solicitation and declares that the corresponding solicitation response and pricing are in conformity therewith.

  I have read and understood the entire document.

  I declare under penalty of false swearing under the law of Wisconsin that the foregoing is true and correct.

• Signed on: (required) —

  Write in month, day, year and city/state in which the submission occurred.

  Example: June 27, 2025 in Madison, WI

• Electronically signed by: (required) —

  Provide First Name, Last Name and Title

• Project Description (required) —

  Please provide a brief description of the intended purchase.

• Pricing table required? (required) —

  Always select "Yes" unless this is a Highway WisDot Design Project

• External Pricing Document? (required) —

  Is an external pricing document being used?