Best Starts for Kids partners with community organizations, non-profits, schools and school districts, tribes and tribal organizations, and public or governmental agencies to support the health and well-being of communities across King County. We consider Best Starts funding recipients as partners. Working together, we build on the strengths of families and communities so that babies are born healthy, children thrive and establish a strong foundation in life, and young people grow into happy, healthy adults.

The calendar below shares upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) funding opportunities from the beginning of 2022 and staggered throughout the year. We encourage everyone to subscribe to our newsletter and blog to receive notices when a new funding opportunity is released and information about quarterly virtual open houses!

Do you have any questions? Please contact Best.Starts@kingcounty.gov for general inquiries and/or the RFP lead contact for specific questions about an open RFP.

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Open funding opportunities

Healthy and Safe Environments Request for Proposals (RFP)

Open: June 11, 2024

Close: July 23, 2024 at 2:00 PM

Investment Area: 5-24

Application link

Health and well-being are influenced by the places where people live, learn, work, and play. Communities, including homes, schools, public spaces, and work sites, can be transformed to support well-being and make healthy choices easy and affordable. Healthy and safe community environments include those with clean and safe places to live, learn, work, and play; affordable and secure housing; sustainable and economically vital neighborhoods (e.g., efficient transportation, quality schools); and supportive structures that support mental health and well-being, and foster healing (e.g., violence-free places to be active, access to affordable healthy foods, streetscapes designed to prevent injury).

This funding opportunity will support sustained, youth-led policy, system, and/or environmental change strategies for children, youth, and families across King County. Proposals may focus on one or more of our strategy areas:

• Increasing access to healthy, affordable, culturally relevant foods
• Increasing opportunities for safe physical activity
• Reducing exposure to unhealthy and dangerous products and substances, such as cannabis products and firearms
• Creating safe and health-promoting environments where young people and their families live, work, and play

Domestic Violence Emergency Response Pilot Request for Applications (RFA)

Open: June 25, 2024

Close: August 13, 2024 at 2:00 PM

Investment Area: Prenatal -5

Application link

Across King County, more families are experiencing or at risk of experiencing domestic violence. Prenatal to Five (P-5) providers are trusted within the community, so when domestic violence or the risk of domestic violence occurs within a family relationship, our providers are often confided in and critical in connecting families to services. P-5 providers refer families to domestic violence advocates; however, families are often lost in the referral process.

This RFA aims to enhance cross-collaboration and warm referrals between P-5 Partner Programs and Domestic Violence Advocates, as well as get concrete support and resources to families impacted by domestic violence. In addition, This RFA will function as a Pilot program to help bring forward lessons learned and recommendations for improving cross-sector collaboration in the future.

Positive Family Connections Request for Proposals (RFP)

Open: June 27, 2024

Close: August 8, 2024 at 2:00 PM

Investment Area: Age 5 – 24

Application link:https://www.zoomgrants.com/gprop.asp?donorid=2209&limited=5326

This RFP seeks to fund activities that support families with youth to strengthen family relationships, particularly the relationship between the young person and their parents/adult caregivers. Funding is not for one-time projects or events but continuous programming.

Successful programs will: 

a. Reflect the needs and the desires of the community they serve;

b. Respect and lift the voices of the parents/caregivers and young people as leaders and decision makers in their own lives; 

c. Focus on building protective and promotive factors such as: reducing sources of stress in the families’ lives; increasing social connections to decrease isolation; providing concrete support in times of need; increasing the knowledge of adolescent development; and increasing the social and emotional competence of young people; and 

d. Be relationship based. 

Upcoming funding opportunities

Best Starts for Kids 2024 Capacity Building Small Grant Request for Applications (RFA)

Open: July 16, 2024

Investment Area: Technical Assistance & Capacity Building

The purpose of this RFA is to support community-based organizations (CBOs) that are current awardees of Best Starts funds. The small grants will support the infrastructure needed to enhance the CBO’s capacity to provide services and programming. This includes the systems, resources, and processes that sustain the key functions of an organization.

Best Starts for Kids Technical Assistance & Capacity Building Providers 2025-2027 Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Open: August 14, 2024

Investment Area: Technical Assistance & Capacity Building

Best Starts seeks to partner with technical assistance providers and capacity building organizations/consultants/individuals to work closely with Best Starts to provide resources and strengthen assets and capabilities of community-based organizations so they can effectively and equitably provide services to children, youth, families and communities. The purpose of this RFQ is to identify skilled organizations and/or individuals to support Best Starts by providing as-needed Technical Assistance (TA) and Capacity Building (CB) consulting services to community-based organizations (CBOs). Best Starts offers free TA and CB rooted in community strengths, needs, and values. Best Starts technical assistance providers will provide application assistance to CBOs applying for Best Starts funds. Best Starts capacity builders will provide on-demand support for organizational development and long-term sustainability to Best Starts-awarded organizations.