title
PROPOSED CONTRACT
Department(s): Department of Resource Management
Vendor: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Chicago, Illinois
Request: Authorization for the Forest Preserves of Cook County (the "Forest Preserves") to enter into and execute
Good(s) or Service(s): Forest Preserves Experience Program
Contract Value: Not to exceed $1,170,000.00 ($1,120,000.00 grant funding received through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ("ARPA"), plus up to $50,000.00 contingency)
Contract Period: 1/1/2023 - 12/31/2024
Estimated Fiscal Impact: FY 2023 $25,000.00, FY 2024 $25,000.00
Accounts: ARPA Conservation Corps 51032.521444; Professional Services 51031.520840; and all future Co-Op Programs and Professional Services accounts
Contract Number(s): #74000011530 issued under RFP #22-31-116
Concurrences: The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final agreement is subject to legal review and approval.
The contract-specific Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise goal for this contract was set to zero.
District(s): 4, 5, 6, 17
Summary: The Forest Preserves issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking firm(s) to co-facilitate job training and employment programs that utilize a Conservation Corps model, with financial support provided by federal stimulus funds allocated to Cook County through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to assist the region in its recovery from the economic and health effects caused by COVID-19. Conservation Corps programs must provide participants with paid, field-based ecological restoration experiences that train participants to restore the land as directed. Programs for high school participants must include environmental education and soft skills trainings to prepare youth for future employment in any field of study. This RFP partners with Cook County's Bureau of Economic Development to expand and create corps programs that benefit people who are of low income, who have suffered from historical disenfranchisemen...
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