Rfp: Outreach and Community Connections

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (SME): OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

IN BRIEF

ABOUT AAISA

The Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) is a non-profit umbrella organization that has represented, supported, and advocated for Alberta’s settlement and integration sector since 1980. Collectively, AAISA member agencies offer services to newcomers in over 22 municipalities across the province. AAISA’s mandate is to build sector capacity to serve newcomers by providing access to relevant and meaningful professional development opportunities, engaging the sector on issue-based initiatives, and by undertaking research to build understanding of context and emerging needs.

CONTEXT AND BROAD OBJECTIVES

With an influx of newcomers choosing to live in smaller and rural centres in Alberta upon their arrival in the province, the need for community outreach and building collaborative communities is imperative. In a recent survey conducted by AAISA in partnership with Rural Support Network, the results indicated that building relationships and outreach is one of the major gaps and aspirations found in rural communities which play an integral role in the social and economic success of newcomers who reside within them. Through increased networking, partnerships and collaborative efforts, individuals and organizations supporting newcomers could potentially improve settlement outcomes in various communities.

It is evident that outreach, building community connections and development are important parts of the process of engaging and creating a welcoming community. Through engaging the community, it allows for the advocacy of those on the periphery of society, thus creating a community that welcomes and integrates newcomers and those alike.

Funded by Government of Alberta (GOA), AAISA aims to provide practical insights to the concepts and strategies used in planning programs for newcomers in Alberta’s rural regions, to increase the outreach and utilize the capacity of building collaborative communities within the municipalities in which newcomers choose to settle. This course would offer settlement workers and individuals supporting newcomers and refugees the needed knowledge and skills to reach newcomers at various stages of the settlement process, particularly within rural communities in Alberta.

The objectives of this course must include, but is not limited to, the following:

- Assess the current state of the rural outreach and community connection in supporting newcomers on a holistic level.
- Explain key concepts such as needs assessment and strategies, principles, values, and processes in community development.
- Highlight how to determine program goals, objectives, activities and outcomes, and the use of a logic model to reflect the relationships between these elements.
- Drive a critical awareness of the social, political and economic contexts and dynamics in advocacy and outreach.
- Application of various community development models, taking into consideration social, political and economic contexts and dynamics.

This course will be open to anyone but must be designed for settlement workers and service providers who are working in or with the immigrant and refugee-serving especially rural sector across Alberta.

SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of work of the project is as follows:

- Design, Development and Facilitation of professional development sessions
- Creation of an Evaluation of Learning Effectiveness for the workshop sessions and self-paced online course modules.
- A development report that provides a summary of workshop and course description, learning objectives and outcomes, learning activities, and course structure.
- A final report that will assist AAISA in shaping the future direction of its professional development work with settlement practitioners in Alberta’s settlement and integration sector, including reflection by the facilitator(s) on the proceedings of the workshops and activities and possible areas of improvement, and other relevant information.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Courses are developed according to AAISA’s settlement practitioner competency framework, representing best practices and describing a continuum of functions and activities within the settlement sector.

AAISA courses comprise 5-7 modules which include guiding materials for up to 15 hours of training time, delivered as an online or in-person facilitated course and as a self-paced course over an agreed period of time. Each course is designed to be highly interactive, incorporate participant experience, and provide a balance of theoretical knowledge and skill development. Other AAISA courses can be provided to the selected SME(s) as a guiding resource.

COMPONENTS
- A brief description of the course and intended outcomes
- Demonstration of how learner outcomes align with AAISA’s Settlement Practitioner Competency Framework
- Key tasks and activities, including the course assessment (cours