2-PTS Attachment 2-B Offeror's Experience and Capacity.pdf

Solicitation Instructions Part 2

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SECTION 2-D: Offer Forms, Attachment 2-B Page 31 of 64 2 o n l i n e a t : A P P . A Z . g o v

Offer Forms

Request for Proposal Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts 3003 N. Central Avenue, 20th Floor

Phoenix, AZ 85012

Attachment 2-B

Offeror’s Experience and Capacity

The Offeror is cautioned that it is the Offeror's sole responsibility to submit information related to the evaluation categories and that the State of Arizona is under no obligation to solicit such information if it is not included with the Offeror's proposal. Failure of the Offeror to submit such information may cause an adverse impact on the evaluation of the Offeror's proposal. It is strongly discouraged for you to copy the Scope of Work in lieu of providing unique responses below.

OFFER MAY BE DETERMINED AS NON-RESPONSIVE IF ALL QUESTIONS ARE NOT ANSWERED FULLY.

Question 1: Describe the Entity’s experience providing parenting time services, including the number of years of experience, history and capability.

Offeror Response:

GAP is beginning its 11th year in serving ADCS and families of our community with parenting time services. GAP has extensive experience providing supervised parenting time services, beginning in 2015 when it was initially contracted by the Department of Child Safety (DCS). Over the past decade, GAP has become a key provider of supervised visitation services, successfully facilitating over 13,000 visits for families with children in out-of-home care since January 2021. GAP’s visitation program has consistently expanded to meet the increasing need for safe, supervised spaces for family visits.

Initially, GAP had one room dedicated to supervised visits. However, due to the growing demand, in 2016, GAP partnered with a local church to use Sunday School rooms for the visits. By 2017, GAP was able to expand further by converting existing office space into six visitation rooms, along with a common area for families. This allowed GAP to provide a free and safe environment for families, where parents could spend time with their children, play, and bond. Additionally, GAP offered free lunch on-site Monday through Friday through a culinary training program, providing further support to families in need.

In 2020 GAP was able to continue facilitating and supervising visits between children and their parents through the Pandemic. GAP maintained capacity and was able to meet the needs of ADCS while also creating fun, interactive virtual parenting time for the families.

In 2022, GAP moved its visitation program to the newly established GAP Family Center, located on the Campus of Hope. This facility features five dedicated visitation rooms, a family dining area, an outdoor playground, and a Sport Court, all within a secure and fenced environment. The Family Center has the capacity to complete over 250 visits per month.

To further support families, the GAP Community Warehouse is located on the same property, allowing visitation supervisors to stock the dining area with snacks, drinks, diapers, wipes, and even changes of clothes for children in need. While parents are encouraged to bring the necessary items for the visits, the availability of these additional resources ensures that children are well cared for during their time with their parents.

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Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts

GAP’s primary goal is to honor and respect the families they serve by maintaining a welcoming and supportive environment for supervised visits. The visitation spaces are furnished with new, comfortable furniture and decorated appropriately for children. Visitation supervisors are regularly informed about available campus resources such as the Community Warehouse and Career+ programs, as well as external community resources, and are encouraged to pass along this valuable information to the families they work with. This comprehensive approach reflects GAP’s commitment to enhancing the family experience and fostering positive relationships.

Question 2: Provide a detailed plan of how your agency will be ready to serve cases on the go-live date, after award. The response shall at a minimum describe and provide a response for each of the following bullet points listed below:

§ Provide the anticipated number of referrals your agency expects to have the capacity to serve on the first day of contract implementation.

§ Does your agency anticipate an increase in capacity throughout the contract term? If yes, describe your plan for scaling up, including timelines, staffing, and resource allocation.

§ Describe how your agency tracks and manages service capacity and the progression of referrals (cases) in real-time. What tools, systems, or processes do you use to ensure timely scheduling and service delivery?

Offeror Response:

GAP currently has 15 full or part-time staff in the visitation department with 36 current referrals being served. The reason for the low number in staff and cases is due to the lack of referrals being assigned by Service Referrals Unit. Recently GAP decreased their rate in hopes of increasing the number of referrals assigned. This has helped to bring our number of cases up from months prior, where we dipped as low as 25. Due to the low numbers of cases and unpredictability in receiving requested cases over the last 6-9 months, GAP has been unable to hire more visitation staff. At go-live date GAP plans to be able to accept 20 more than our current contracted capacity of 40, making our full capacity at 60 cases. This is contingent on the training offered by Learning & Development to make sure newly hired staff will be trained prior to the go live date. Once awarded GAP will start the hiring process, looking for qualified candidates with availability to serve families. GAP will work with their HR department to use their social media presence, word of mouth, extensive volunteer network, faith-based networks and 3rd party hiring sites to recruit qualified individuals and hire the staff needed to address DCS waitlist needs.

If the need arises for GAP to increase their capacity during the contract term, more staff will be hired in order to accept more cases. Once GAP is informed of DCS’s need to assign more cases they will work again with the HR department and current staff to assess availability and hire more visit supervisors. GAP anticipates being able to hire and train additional staff within 30 days if referral numbers exceed expectations. The training of new staff is a combination of ADCS required training and

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Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts hands on training with both the Visitation Manager and Program Director. Once a new hire completes training, they are then paired with a seasoned visitation supervisor to shadow, then be shadowed by a trained staff peer, and have a peer support as they take on their own cases. Throughout this time, the newly hired visitation supervisor will have regular check ins with the Visitation Manager for assessing their comprehension and comfortability of the position. Then once given cases, Parenting Time Summaries are reviewed to ensure that they are completed efficiently and correctly. Ongoing training is offered in areas that are identified as needed.

GAP utilizes a case management system called Extended Reach to track referrals and keep case records. On this system GAP can check at any time the number of active referrals and ensure that any openings are reported to Service Referrals Unit to keep within contracted capacity. This is used by having the Visitation Manager enter the referral information into this database then assigning it to a visit supervisor. The system is set up to track and remind of deadlines that correlate with contractual obligations. This is monitored closely by both the Program Director and Visitation Manager. This tool is also how referral expiration dates are tracked to ensure that emails are sent to ADCS specialist within 30 days prior to the referral expiring. Visit supervisors upload any Summary of Parenting Time directly into the case, along with the signed Parenting Time Guidelines and any Unusual Incident Reports. This helps to keep all case related documents organized and easily accessible to the Visitation Manager and Program Director.

When a case is set up and put on the calendar, the visit supervisor is responsible for ensuring all information is accurate and updated with the Visitation Manager. If there is a cancellation a template is sent to a centralized email address, that the Program Director and Visitation Manager has access for to update the calendar and ensure that a make-up visit is scheduled if appropriate.

GAP monitors capacity by weekly referral counts via Guardian and meetings between the Program Director and the Visitation Manager. The meetings are held every week at minimum to discuss any challenges and/or barriers that a case may have for successful visits to occur. An email is sent to the visitation team after these meetings to verify staff capacity and then the Visitation Manager will request an appropriate number of referrals. This email is sent to the Service Referrals Unit each week as requested.

Question 3: Provide examples of challenges your agency has encountered in parenting time services and how you addressed them. Include challenges with maintaining contract capacity, if applicable.

GAP has encountered several challenges in supervising parenting time visits over the last 10 years. These challenges have ranged from safety concerns to logistical barriers, but our primary goal has always been to ensure consistent, safe visits for parents and children.

Ensuring the safety of children, parents, and staff during supervised visits is always a top priority. This includes managing situations where a parent may pose a potential risk to the child or engage in inappropriate behavior during visits. GAP visit supervisors set clear rules and expectations for behavior during parenting time, outlined in the Parenting Time Guidelines that parents sign. Visitation supervisors have training on de-escalation and are taught how to manage conflict appropriately.

In cases where confrontations persist, the ADCS specialist is contacted to discuss possible solutions.

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Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts

Parenting time can be emotionally charged, especially with children that may struggle with seeing a parent under supervision. GAP visitation supervisors are assigned to families on an ongoing basis to build rapport and help children feel safe and comfortable during visits. This continuity helps children feel more secure, and we focus on creating a positive environment to foster healthy connections between parents and children.

Families may live in different areas, creating challenges with transportation that prevents them from attending visits. GAP works collaboratively with the ADCS specialist in working through any barriers for the parents to attend parenting time. This has included moving the visit location closer to the parents’ home in the community, communicating with the ADCS specialist to ensure transportation has been arranged or helping the parent plan out the bus schedule.

There have been instances where the barrier for parenting time visits comes from the out of home caregiver. When this has occurred the Visitation Manger will reach out to the ADCS specialist for assistance. The Visitation Manager has attended CFT meetings and staffing’s with ADCS specialists and supervisors to work through any challenges and find a solution together.

A common challenge GAP has encountered is the hygiene of parents when they attend parenting time visits. This can be an uncomfortable conversation, but in some instances, it is necessary due to odor or overall cleanliness when handling young children. The visit supervisor will address it typically via text after a visit, so as not to embarrass or shame the parents. GAP has supplied hygiene kits to parents that may be suffering from homelessness and may not have access to necessities. The visitation supervisors understand and are always compassionate towards making sure the parents are prepared for their parenting time.

During the holidays, GAP observed that many parents disengaged from parenting time visits. To address this, GAP engaged the community in raising funds and organizing a toy drive that allowed parents to shop for gifts for their children. This event is completely free for the parents, who can choose 3-4 gifts per child. Afterward, the visitation supervisor wraps the gifts and places them under the tree for the next scheduled parenting time visit. Additionally, the holiday visits feature crafts, games, and treats, providing families with a fun and festive experience that encourages connection and engagement during this special time of year.

Throughout the present contract, GAP has continued to maintain contracted capacity and at times has exceeded the 40 cases.

However, in the last 6-9 months it has been difficult to sustain capacity due to the decrease in referrals being assigned. There have never been any referrals reassigned due to GAP having staffing issues or ability to receive. If there was a situation when an employee left unexpectedly, GAP was able to reassign the family to another visit supervisor as well as rearrange schedules to accommodate the family parenting time visits without disruption. GAP has also stepped up on several occasions and assisted ADCS in the burn-down process, in which they accepted 25 referrals at one time.

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Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts

Question 4: Describe your agency's experience in partnering with Child Welfare entities and/or other related fields, including examples that required collaboration and coordination.

GAP has proudly partnered with the Department of Child Safety (DCS) for over 25 years, establishing a foundation of collaboration and shared goals. Through this long-standing relationship, GAP has served over 5,000 children in congregate care, facilitated the adoption of over 200 children in ADCS custody, and provided over 10,000 supervised parenting visits. These efforts have played a significant role in the successful reunification of hundreds of children with their families.

Additionally, GAP has collaborated with the Department of Economic Security (DES) to provide hundreds of thousands of meals to children in low-income communities. Understanding the critical importance of community partnerships, we have developed a network of over 200 organizations that support our mission over a large spectrum of services beyond foster care.

Our visitation team is committed to staying informed about community resources to ensure families receive the support they need. Through our active participation in community boards and collaboratives, we maintain up-to-date information on available resources such as food pantries, diaper banks, and housing assistance programs.

GAP’s Community Warehouse further supports families by providing essential goods to those in need.

Moreover, GAP’s partnership with the Miracle Center has been invaluable. As a separate 501c3 organization, Miracle Center specializes in helping parents overcome addiction, secure stable housing, and gain job training.

Their resources have been essential for families facing significant challenges, offering them a pathway toward recovery and self-sufficiency.

In total, GAP Ministries collaborates with over 200 community partners, as highlighted in our annual report at www.gapmin.com. These partnerships enable us to host service events and raise awareness, helping us meet the diverse needs of the families we serve.

The following are just a few of those organizations we have partnered with and who effective serve within our community:

Boost a Foster Family Resource:

AVIVA Children’s Services Resource:

Arizona Helping Hands Resource:

4Tucson and CarePortal LaFrontera Zion City Church/City Care Program Christian Family Care Agency Arizona Baptist Children Services Interfaith Community Services Southern Arizona Community Food Bank Nogales Community Food Bank

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SECTION 2-D: Offer Forms, Attachment 2-B Page 36 of 64 2

Solicitation No. BPM006769

Parenting Time Services

State of Arizona Department of Child Safety

Office of Procurement & Contracts

End of Attachment 2-B