American Embassy Moscow, PSC USAID, APO AE 09721

R -- MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS IN RUSSIA SOL 118-99-005 POC Orion Yeandel, Contracting Officer, Tel: 7-095-956-4121, Fax: 7-095-960-2141, E-mail: oyeandel@usaid.gov WEB: http://www.info.usaid.gov, http://www.info.usaid.gov/procurements_bus_opp/procurement/announce/cb d. E-MAIL: http://www.infor.usaid.gov, oyeandel@usaid.gov. Request for Expression of Interest No. 118-99-005: Orphans in Russia. USAID/Russia intends to release a Request for Applications (RFA) within the coming months addressing the problem of Russian orphans including orphans with disabilities. We are soliciting Expressions of Interest in such an RFA from our potential partners. USAID plans to focus its efforts on community-based, family-centered services in order to create sustainable, long-term approaches to respond to the needs of orphans in Russia. Primary beneficiaries are young, abandoned children (approximately 0-4 years of age) or those at risk of abandonment; disabled children in families; and/or orphans in Ministry of Education facilities (approximately 14-18 years of age) who will need assistance to reintegrate successfully into their communities. At this time, USAID has identified three potential results to be achieved under this activity: Prevention of abandonment and institutionalization; Promotion of community rehabilitation; and, Promotion ofnetworking and sharing lessons learned. Examples of possible activities under each result might include, but are not limited to, the following: Prevention of abandonment and institutionalization: Counseling of pregnant women during pre-natal care or in maternity hospitals to prevent abandonment of newborns and to acquaint mothers with the realistic options for the child, including children with disabilities; Training for maternity staff to alert them to the factors that place children at risk of abandonment; Family preservation with social workers to provide counseling; to assist family in getting allowances for which they are eligible; to find or provide support to families in crisis; to plan with the parents for future of the child; Family reunification for families that have maintained contact with children in institutions; Family foster care through an unrelated family or a children's home and/or temporary foster care. Promotion of community rehabilitation: Support for community-based rehabilitation services to enable families to keep disabled or troubled children at home; Respite care for families with disabled children so that family members can work; Parent associations for advocacy and to begin organizing for needed services and allowances; Family-style group homes within communities; Life/job skills training for upcoming Ministry of Education graduates, including skills targeted to the local job market and sex/health education. Promotion of networking and sharing lessons learned: Study tours on the above topics (e.g., community-based social work preventing abandonment; parent associations; community-based rehabilitation of the disabled); Development of internet linkages between organizations and oblasts; Exchanges between universities, either through visiting faculty or through partnerships with Developmental Disabilities Centers in the U.S. USAID anticipates that activities will be initiated on a pilot basis. Replication of existing, successful efforts from other oblasts to the selected oblasts may also represent a key component of this activity. Various implementation mechanisms are under consideration, including an agreement with an umbrella organization to provide overall program management; a large grants program; a small grants program; and a partnerships program. Our observations to date suggest that such activities represent the potential niche for USAID in this area. Nonetheless, we are seeking additional ideas to shape the RFA. We ask that interested parties, including both private, non-governmental Russian organizations and those with relevant expertise in the U.S., send us their Expressions of Interest, comments and questions by no later than April 9, 1999. Concise Expressions of Interest should be sent to: Orion Yeandel, Agreement Officer, OYEANDEL@USAID.GOV or fax 7-095-960-2141. Possible questions or issues to be addressed in the Expression of Interest include: What are the criteria for a successful child protection project? How can these best be achieved in Russia? What local resources already exist that could benefit from additional support? What type of support is required? Which organizations provide successful models for replication? Which activities would best enable USAID to support the development of a model for community-based, family-centered services to address the needs of orphans in Russia? Input from this Request for Expressions of Interest will be used to prepare the RFA, which may be published in early May. A pre-application conference might be held in Moscow in mid-May after the release of the RFA. At present, funds are not available for this activity. Respondents should note that USAID does not anticipate funding the following types of activities: direct government assistance or activities with governmental institutions at either the national or local level (non-governmental organizations [NGOs] may choose to work with orphanages, most of which are government institutions, but our grants will be provided directly only to NGOs) donations of food or medicine medical assistance academic research or survey research training programs (training may be a component but should contribute to an operational program rather than be the exclusive activity) programs targeting street children Activities that fulfill only the discrete needs of individual children. We look forward to your response. Posted 03/22/99 (W-SN311131). (0081)

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