If your organization had one year and up to $40,000 to help make Saint Paul safer, what would you do? The Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) wants to know. Every year, ONS contracts with community organizations and businesses to undertake projects that advance public safety in our City. In 2026, our contract partners are working on projects that help young people at risk of being involved in violence stay alive, safe, and free. Learn more about our 2026 partners here.

Call for 2027 Project Proposals

As we look forward to 2027, ONS wants to fund projects that meet any of these five needs:

  1. Culturally specific violence prevention services. Connect young people to stable communities of support and can partner with the ONS Project PEACE program to advance Community Violence Intervention opportunities.  ONS is looking to partner with organizations that engage with Hmong, Karen, Somali, Latino, and African American communities. Proposals should include methodology for recruitment of clients.
  2. Stabilization services for unhoused neighbors. In partnership with the ONS Familiar Faces team, provide stabilization services to people who frequently use shelters, emergency services and hospitals; are justice involved; or have been referred through encampment closure processes.
  3. Chemical and mental health outreach. Expand and strengthen outreach services, especially to individuals 25 years old and younger, to reduce drug use in Saint Paul Parks, Libraries, and other City of Saint Paul properties. Programs and proposals should include strategies to create avenues to chemical health treatment centers, outpatient services, and therapy.
  4. Capacity-building for small organizations. Advance the capacity of Saint Paul violence prevention organizations with less than 10 years of operating history.
  5. Support for people at risk of justice involvement. Provide workforce development and education services for people at risk of becoming involved with the justice system. Proposals should explain how you will recruit clients and how your program could intersect with ONS’s Project PEACE.

Proposals are welcome from businesses and community organizations that currently provide at least 25 percent of their services to Saint Paul residents within City limits. Completed applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on September 13, 2026.

Read the questions on the application and access the online form

Timeline

*This deadline was extended from September 7, 2026. 

Know Before you Apply

  • Review FAQs and evaluation criterial. They will help you answer common questions and understand how we will evaluate your proposal. Here are the FAQs, and here is the evaluation tool.
  • Tip: Write out responses first. Draft your proposal in a document before you open the application form. Once you are finished writing in your document, open the online form and just paste your answers in. Click here to see all the questions the form will ask you.
  • Contracting support. ONS awards these contracts not as grants, but as Professional Service Agreements (PSAs). We are hiring organizations to perform specific work according to City purchasing rules. The contracting process can be complicated, so we support the organizations we partner with through every step of contracting.
  • Cohort learning. Representatives from partner organizations participate in cohort learning all year. You will receive capacity-building coaching, create collective impact material, and be a part of a supportive workgroup.

Application Webinar

On August 21, ONS community organizations liaison Tyler Bouwens answered questions about the contracting process, offered advice about submitting a successful proposal, and walked through navigating the application form. The Q&A section begins at 21:01 in the video. Click here to view the slides.

Application Questions

It is a good idea to draft your proposal in a document before filling out the online application form. You can copy the questions below and paste them into a document to work on them. Use your document editor’s character counting feature to make sure that your answers are not too long for the form. (A “character” is one letter, number, or space.)

Eligibility

  1. Does your organization or business provide services to Saint Paul residents? Answer yes or no.
  2. What percentage of your current services are delivered to Saint Paul residents? An estimate is okay.
  3. Does your organization or business provide services within Saint Paul city limits? Yes or no.

Information about your Organization

  1. Name, address, and (optional) website of your organization or business.
  2. Name, email, and phone number of a designated representative. This is the person we should contact.
  3. Number of employees. One to over 100.
  4. Mission statement. No more than 200 characters.
  5. Has your organization ever contracted with the City of Saint Paul? Yes or no.
  6. Are you applying with a fiscal sponsor? If you don’t know, pick “no.”

Program or Project Proposal

  1. Name of the project you are proposing. No more than 200 characters.
  2. Which need will the proposed project support? Choose one: 
    • Culturally specific violence prevention services
    • Stabilization services for unsheltered neighbors 
    • Chemical and mental health outreach
    • Capacity-building for small organizations
    • Support for people at risk of justice involvement
  3. Please describe the project or program proposal; include information about how the program targets the specified need (above) as well as a proposed timeline of implementation. No more than 4,000 characters.
  4. How does this project/program fit within your organization's mission and existing services? No more than 4,000 characters.
  5. How does your organization plan to recruit participants for this program? No more than 4,000 characters.
  6. Who will be completing the work highlighted within the proposal and what will be their role(s)?
  7. Please tell us more about the position. Yes or no to each question: We will hire, We have a workplan in place, We will develop a workplan, We have a sustainability plan.
  8. What data will you be gathering in order to assess the effectiveness of this project/program? No more than 4,000 characters.
  9. Proposed PSA contract amount. PSA means “professional services agreement.” This is how much ONS would pay you to execute the project—a number between $10,000 and $40,000. 
  10. Provide your budget for the project/program including each line item and corresponding dollar amount. No more than 4,000 characters. If you would prefer to send this in another format (like a spreadsheet), you may enter “See Email” and then email tyler.bouwens@ci.stpaul.mn.us with an attachment.
  11. Is there anything else you would like the ONS to know about your organization/business and this project/program proposal? No more than 4,000 characters.
Open the Application Form

Questions from Potential Applicants

To create a fair and transparent process, all questions about the application process had to be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on August 28, 2026. Here are answers to all the questions we received by that time.

How We Will Evaluate Proposals

We have assembled a special team to review responses to our call for proposals. It includes two members of the NSCC, one member of the community, and ONS staff members. The team will assess each response to for eligibility, then score each eligible proposal using this rubric.

2027 Professional Services Proposal Evaluation

Suitability: __/10 Does the response meet the scope and needs, and is the proposal presented in a clear and organized manner?*

  • How likely is the program/project to address the service need? (Question 16)
    0: Not likely
    2: Somewhat unlikely
    4: Somewhat likely
    6: Very likely
  • How would you rate the proposal’s organization and clarity? (Question 16)
    0: Unclear and disorganized
    2: Clear yet disorganized
    2: Unclear yet organized
    4: Clear and organized 

Project Timeline and deliverables: __/10 Does the response demonstrate an understanding of the project schedule and deliverables?*

  • How feasible and detailed is the proposed program/project implementation timeline?(Question 16)
    0: Unfeasible, not detailed
    2: Unfeasible yet detailed
    2: Feasible, not detailed
    4: Feasible and detailed
  • How likely is the organization’s data plan to accurately capture key performance indicators (KPIs)? (Question 21)
    0: Not likely
    2: Somewhat unlikely
    4: Somewhat likely
    6: Very likely

Organization Qualifications: __/3 Does the organization have experience that is like this proposed program or project? 

  • Does the proposal align with the organization’s mission? (Question 17)
    0: No
    1: Yes
  • Does the proposed program/project align with the existing services of the organization? (Question 17)
    0: No
    1: Somewhat
    2: Yes

Cost: __/5 Do the proposed services justify the cost, and has the responder provided sufficient demonstration of understanding financial considerations of their work?

  • How would you describe the proposal’s staffing plan? (Questions 21 and 22)
    0: Inadequate with no workplan
    1: Inadequate with workplan
    1: Adequate with no workplan
    2: Adequate with workplan
  • How does the budget align with the project description and work plan? (Question 25)
    0: Unaligned and contains gaps
    1: Unaligned yet cohesive
    1: Aligned yet contains gaps
    2: Unaligned and cohesive
  • Are the budget line items clear, and are calculations provided for all line items? (Question 25)
    0: No
    1: Yes

Overall:  __/3  How likely would you be to recommend that ONS contract this organization to perform their proposed project or program?
0: Not likely
1: Somewhat unlikely
2: Somewhat likely
3: Very likely

Total score: __/31

* Weighted criteria

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