Opportunity Overview
The Vermont Kinship Navigator Program is a Request for Grant Applications issued by the Vermont Department for Children and Families, Family Services Division. The program supports formal and informal kinship caregivers, prospective kinship caregivers, and children and youth in kinship-care arrangements across Vermont. The grantee will implement the Washington State Kinship Navigation Model either directly or through approved subgrant relationships.
Amended Deadline
Addendum #1 extends the proposal deadline from the original September 4 date to September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM EST. The State’s current Business Registry also reflects the September 18 closing date. Questions were due August 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM EST.
Addendum #2 Update
Addendum #2, verified September 16, 2026, confirms an anticipated January 1, 2027 start after contracting and a one-year grant term. Reimbursement is based on actual quarterly expenses. Vermont has not set a fixed caseload deliverable or specific service benchmark at this time; case management may continue beyond six months when family needs and goals warrant it. Contact may occur by phone, text, or email rather than face-to-face. Partnerships with agencies already serving kinship caregivers are permitted. The final agreement will include an urgent-funds component. GetCare is not required or available at program launch, so spreadsheet reporting may be needed initially.
Funding and Grant Term
The State has not published a fixed maximum award or total funding pool. Addenda state that Vermont plans to use available adoption incentive funds, that bidder budgets will inform the award structure, and that annual grant amounts will depend on proposed price and available funding. The grant is reimbursement-only, with actual expenses invoiced quarterly. The anticipated initial term is one year beginning January 1, 2027; if Vermont continues the program, a new grant would be issued each year.
Who Should Apply
The RFGA does not limit eligibility to a narrow corporate form. Competitive bidders should demonstrate substantial experience in kinship navigation, family support, child welfare, caregiver support, or related human-services programs; capacity to serve an assigned Vermont region or the entire state; qualified program-management and service-delivery staff; culturally responsive and trauma-informed practice; data/reporting capability; and strong partnerships with child welfare, schools, courts, health care providers, housing agencies, and community organizations.
Required Services
Core responsibilities include timely intake and needs assessment, a warm-line/referral system, public-benefit assistance, service referrals and follow-up, case coordination across child welfare, education, health and housing systems, caregiver coaching, child-development and trauma education, peer support, outreach to underserved populations, data collection, fidelity monitoring and continuous quality improvement. Addendum #1 clarifies that services are not required to be delivered in-home or face-to-face; phone, text and email contacts are permitted, with face-to-face service when preferred and feasible.
Performance and Compliance
Performance measures include timely intake and needs assessment, connecting caregivers to services or benefits, connecting children and youth to educational, health, behavioral-health or community supports, community-partner outreach, and caregiver goal achievement. The grantee must comply with applicable 2 CFR Part 200 requirements, State grant terms, insurance and W-9 requirements, background-check expectations, privacy/security requirements and, where applicable, the included HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. Subcontracting above applicable procurement thresholds must follow Uniform Guidance and State approval requirements.
Submission Method
Applications must be submitted electronically to AHS.DCFBOGrantsContracts@vermont.gov. The RFGA requires a single email with a single digitally searchable PDF attachment, no larger than 40 MB, containing the required bid components. Required components include the cover letter, technical response, price schedule/budget materials, signed Certificate of Compliance and any applicable redacted response.
N9+ / QC Healthcare Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 72/100. This is a substantive statewide child-and-family opportunity with explicit health, behavioral-health and education navigation outcomes, an amended open deadline, and regional or statewide delivery flexibility.
N9+ Fit: 0/100. The RFGA is for kinship navigation and human-services program delivery, not remote physical examination technology. Atlas should not position the Nonagon N9+ as a grant cost without an applicant-driven, State-approved use case that is not presently established.
QC Healthcare Fit: 5/100. Health and behavioral-health referrals are part of the service model, but the grant does not procure physician staffing or clinical care. QC Healthcare is not a natural direct bidder on the verified scope.
Potential Applicant Profile
A strong Vermont applicant would be an organization already experienced in statewide or regional kinship, caregiver, child-welfare or family-support navigation. Vermont Kin as Parents is a particularly program-aligned organization based on its publicly documented statewide kinship-caregiver support and navigation work; this observation is not a determination that the organization will apply or that it meets every RFGA requirement.
Official Materials
Controlling source: Vermont Business Registry, Bid ID 74001. Applicants should review the original RFGA, Grant Budget & Narrative Form, Addendum #1 and Addendum #2 before submission.