CT PAID LEAVE AUTHORITY SEEKS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION COORDINATORS PROGRAM

Request for Proposals issued May 6th

Hartford CT — The Connecticut Paid Leave Authority today announced the launch of the quasi-public state agency’s new Community Education Coordinators Program, an initiative to strengthen the Authority’s outreach and education efforts across the state. Through a Request for Proposal (RFP), the Authority will identify organizational partners to reach communities that may need extra support understanding and accessing CT Paid Leave benefits.

“The Community Education Coordinator program aims to reach specific populations across the state where language, access to technology, etc. may be barriers to accessing CT Paid Leave and to provide community organizations with the information and tools they need to provide one-on-one education and application support,” said CT Paid Leave CEO Erin Choquette. “The idea of the Community Education Coordinators comes from a commitment within our team to bridge the digital divide, remove hurdles to accessing benefits and provide one-on-one assistance from trusted partners. It also fulfills the agency’s desire to build stronger and deeper relationships with community organizations and service providers, like nonprofits and faith-based organizations, that play a critical role in our statewide outreach and education.”

The RFP was issued via the state’s procurement and contracting portal, CT Source, on May 6th and can be found here. The overarching goals for Community Education Coordinators include the following:

• increasing worker awareness and understanding of CT Paid Leave;
• building capacity among community organizations and service providers to give one-on-one application assistance to individuals that face barriers to accessing benefits;
• developing effective outreach materials that address access needs and are informed by communities most in need of additional information; and
• increasing collaboration and establishing a strong feedback loop between CT Paid Leave and community organizations to inform and improve CT Paid Leave’s outreach work.

“We are really excited to kick off this new program,” said Jessica Vargas, CT Paid Leave’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. “We know that people receive information in lots of different ways and from many different sources. Engaging community partners to help us spread the word about paid leave, in the way that community members want, makes perfect sense.”

The Authority encourages 501(c)(3) organizations and municipalities who fulfill the requirements outlined in the RFP to submit a proposal. The CT Paid Leave Authority will hold a virtual information session via Zoom to discuss and answer questions related to the RFP on May 15th at noon. Potential contractors can register for the information session here.

For more information about CT Paid Leave, please visit www.ctpaidleave.org.