Hiring: Consultant for School Nutrition Initiative – Franklin County

School Nutrition Initiative Consultant

Overview: The FRCOG, as host to the Franklin County /North Quabbin Community Health Improvement Plan Steering Committee, has received funding through the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) program. This Roadmaps Action Acceleration opportunity is designed to strengthen the capacity of communities to improve health. The Committee is proposing to hire a consultant to provide technical assistance to local public school food service directors and administrative teams in implementing best practices about food placement, food marketing, new food policies, and local food purchasing. Strategies would include:

• increasing use of local foods
• the implementation of Smart Cafeterias
• adopting revised health-conscious policies for competitive (vending machine) foods and food sold at sports events and celebrations.

Implementation of school nutrition initiatives – such as healthy school lunches, Smart Cafeterias, and competitive foods policies -can have a lasting impact on healthy food consumption and nutrition. Research consistently shows that students who have access to healthy foods perform better in school. School is a primary source of nutrition for thousands of children.

The consultant will visit one school in each district during meal time and observe the food service set up, flow of students and other practices, meet with the food service director to share recommendations for improvement and offer technical assistance on policy development and best practice implementation.

School Districts to be offered assistance: Mohawk Trail Regional, Frontier Regional, R.C.Mahar, Athol/Royalston, Pioneer Valley Regional, Greenfield, Gill-Montague, Erving Union 28, Four Rivers Charter Public School, Franklin County Technical School.

Scope of Work:

• Make contact with each school food service director, in coordination with Rachel Stoler, to offer services.
• Conduct a minimum of one site visit per district.
• Provide follow up technical assistance to schools in response to needs identified on site visits, including:

o Identify changes in food placement/display and cafeteria organization that would increase  consumption of healthy foods, including policies to reduce stigma on students with low incomes, and timing of meals    .

o Help identify posters/signage for cafeterias (FRCOG can purchase)

o Draft School Food Standard Operating Procedures that reflect best practices and offer to customize them for school food service directors.

o Offer School District-level Policy options on competitive foods, etc.

o Menu costing and menu planning for inclusion of local foods

• Take photos on site visits (include waivers if kids in photos) – help FRCOG staff get before and after photos for smart cafeteria work
• Meet with Regional Health Task Force at least twice (Third Thursday of every month at 8:30 AM starting in September 2017.)
• In coordination with Rachel Stoler, communicate with school nurses and/or school administrators regarding health/wellness policy issues.
• The project’s final product will be a report documenting communication with and agreed-upon next steps for each district.

Budget: $9,000, including transportation and all other direct costs. Consultant will be paid in three payments of $3,000 each, with the submission of progress reports on a schedule to be mutually agreed upon during contract negotiations.

Time of project: August 1, 2017-June 30, 2018

FRCOG Staff Contact: Rachel Stoler

Skills/Knowledge Required:

• Knowledge of local food procurement
• Familiarity with Smart Cafeterias principles and other best practices in improving the school meal environment and usage.
• Familiarity with best practices in school nutrition policy
• Demonstrated experience working with school food service directors
• Experience with menu costing and menu planning.

Submission Requirements:

Statement of Interest/Approach

1. Letter of Interest asserting the consultant’s interest in performing the services along with any explanations of what makes the consultant an exceptional candidate to do this work.
2. In the letter, the consultant must state their business status: Corporation, LLC, Partnership or Sole Proprietor and attest that they are not debarred from doing business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They must also include name of key contact person, their complete contact information including Email address and Physical Address.

Statement of Qualifications

1. Provide a brief narrative (1 page) describing the consultant’s qualifications to perform the work as outlined.
2. Provide one to three project descriptions for similar projects completed.

Award of Contract

The FRCOG will evaluate the Letters of Interests and Statements of Qualifications and ask 1 or more qualified consultants to submit a Price Quote for the services. The Request for Quotes will be issued within two weeks of receipt of the Statements of Qualifications/Interest. A contract will be awarded per MGL Ch30b “best business practices” for projects less than $10,000. A contract will only be issued to a consultant with a clear CORI check. A written contract will be required as well as a statement of Non-Collusion, Tax Compliance and the awarded consultant must carry insurance meeting the requirements of the FRCOG. A list of FRCOG’s standard terms and conditions is attached. Contract will begin on or about August 1, 2017.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION AND QUESTIONS

Statements of Qualifications/Interest may be Emailed to rstoler@frcog.org or physically mailed or hand delivered to Franklin Regional Council of Governments, 12 Olive St., #2, Greenfield, MA 01301 Attn: Rachel Stoler NO LATER THAN July 14, 2017 at 4pm.

Questions regarding this RFQ must be received no later than July 7, 2017 and should be sent to the email address above.

The Franklin Regional Council of Governments reserves the right to accept or reject any or all submissions as it deems in the best public interest.

The Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or gender with respect to admission to, access to, or operation of its programs, services or activities. If you would like accessibility or language accommodation, please contact the Title VI Coordinator at 413-774-3167 (voice) (MA Relay System: 800-439-2370), 413-774-3169 (fax), or mrhodes@frcog.org (e-mail).