272736 NOTICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT - Sexual and Domestic Violence Core Services Procurement~3.docx

NOTICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Sexual and Domestic Violence Core Services Procurement Division of Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention and Services Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Posted: July 30th, 2026

RFR: 272736

Overview The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Bureau of Community Health and Prevention (BCHAP) Division of Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention and Services (The Division) works to eliminate sexual and domestic violence (SDV) and support the health of those impacted by SDV. The Division uses an anti-racist, anti-oppression approach to understanding the needs and experiences of survivors and managing programs to serve them, with a special focus on those disproportionately impacted by SDV due to racism and other forms of oppression.

As part of its current work, The Division contracts with vendors to provide an array of programmatic services, including:

· Children Exposed to Domestic Violence (CEDV)

· Supervised Visitation Services (SVS)

· Intimate Partner Abuse Education Program (IPAEP)

· Rape Crisis Centers (RCC)

· General Community-Based Domestic Violence (GCBDV)

· SDV Services for communities Experiencing Inequities (SDVEI)

· Emergency Shelter (ES)

· Housing Stabilization (HS)

· DV, Substance Misuse, and Trauma Shelter (DVSMT) The services offered through these program models are currently in contract through June 30th, 2028.

The Division is taking a survivor-centered approach to:

· assess these programs

· recommend how to restructure or refine them

· prepare RFRs, and

· select and contract with vendors to provide services for July 1, 2028.

The priority is to understand the needs and experiences of people who have experienced, used, or witnessed sexual and/or domestic violence, especially those from populations that are disproportionately impacted.

At the same time, it is essential to hear the voices of providers and provider coalitions to ensure that any design changes recommended are practical, feasible, effective, and efficient for providers and DPH. The Division also seeks to learn from SDV programs around the country to identify best practices in structuring programs, providing services, and structuring procurements that could meaningfully improve the design and delivery of programs.

These perspectives provide essential insights into how to best meet the needs of Massachusetts constituents.

Approach to Community Engagement This community engagement process is designed to advance racial equity and health equity by centering the lived experiences of individuals and communities most impacted by SDV and by identifying how current funding and service models may perpetuate or mitigate inequitable outcomes. Outreach, materials, and analyses of information gathered will be oriented to elevate the experiences of individuals most impacted by SDV, particularly those with intersecting marginalized identities. The specific aims of this process are to:

(1) engage survivors and community members most impacted by SDV in participatory data collection;

(2) assess gaps and strengths in the current SDV service landscape;

(3) elevate provider perspectives on feasibility and effectiveness of service needs and program models; and

(4) produce actionable recommendations to advance racial and health equity in DPH’s SDV procurement Engagement activities intentionally seek input from people who have experienced SDV, people who have used violence, caregivers of children exposed to SDV, and providers—including organizations that are not currently funded by DPH but are trusted sources of support within their communities. Within these entities, prioritization for feedback will be placed on individuals from the priority populations identified by DPH.

This engagement process will include intentional outreach and internal benchmarks to define success in efforts to ensure participation of communities most impacted by SDV. Responses will be reviewed holistically, with priority given to feedback from individuals who identify as members of priority populations and from BIPOC-led and culturally specific entities.

This community engagement plan uses an equity-centered approach to gather input from people impacted by SDV, as well as providers, advocates, and system leaders across the Commonwealth. Community Engagement will be conducted in a phased manner, with each phase being informed by the one previous. Findings from all phases will inform DPH procurement, funding priorities, and service design grounded in equity and lived experience.

Phase 1: Information Gathering and Preparation Phase 2: Engaging Key Entities as advisors and key informants Phase 3: Data Collection:

· Surveys: A Personal Experience Survey will focus on broad outreach through an interest survey that allows community members to self-identify their proximity to SDV and opt into deeper engagement, followed by tailored surveys for survivors, people who have perpetrated harm, and those who have witnessed SDV as children. A provider-tailored survey will be distributed through professional and community networks. These surveys will identify unmet needs, barriers to access, and service priorities, with attention to populations disproportionately impacted by SDV.

· Deeper Engagement: Deepens engagement through focus groups with community members to explore lived experiences, service gaps, and community-based supports. Listening sessions with DPH staff, coalitions, and providers will contextualize community feedback within the current SDV service landscape.

Phase 4: Analysis Phase 5: Report and Recommendations Intended Audiences for Community Engagement Activities:

· People who have experienced SDV

· People who have perpetrated SDV

· People who have children who have experienced SDV

· Young adults that experienced SDV as a child in homes with SDV present

· DPH-funded SDV providers

· Non-DPH-funded SDV providers

· Community based organizations serving communities disproportionately impacted by SDV as identified by data and research

· Adjacent social service organizations not typically reached by DPH outreach Responses from individuals who identify as members of communities disproportionately impacted by SDV will be prioritized.

Responses from BIPOC-led organizations, Culturally-Specific Organizations, and organizations serving communities disproportionately impacted by SDV will be prioritized.

Outreach and Distribution: The Division will leverage state and community-based organizations and communication vehicles to reach the broadest audience, with targeted outreach to communities disproportionately impacted by SDV. Broad outreach supports individuals in self-identifying their proximity of SDV and interest in sharing their feedback from one or more perspectives (e.g. Staff working a community-based organization who also personally experienced SDV themselves could complete the Provider Survey, Personal Experience Survey, and attend a focus group for individuals who have experienced SDV).

If you are not included in the engaged entities listed above but have essential information to help shape these services, please reach out to us:

Email: at SDVdivision@mass.gov Subject line: “[Notice of Community Engagement: SDV Procurement]” Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Special considerations:

Translation: The personal experience survey and related recruitment materials will be available in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Arabic, Khmer, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese). Focus groups will offer interpretation in the same languages with the exception of Simplified and Traditional Chinese, which are written languages. The related spoken languages of Mandarin and Cantonese will be offered, in addition to as ASL for virtual and in person focus groups. Translation of surveys and interpretation during focus groups will be grounded in the 3 Core Values of Shobana Powell Consulting’s SEI Framework: being intersectional, strengths-based, and trauma-informed. This means prioritizing inclusive representation across identities and lived experiences, centering dignity and resilience rather than trauma narratives, and ensuring informed consent, clear communication, and attention to safety throughout the process. Translators for surveys and promotional materials will have both linguistic expertise and subject matter familiarity, and there will be collaborative review processes to ensure accuracy, tone, and cultural responsiveness. Attention is paid to accessibility and the potential impact of language, recognizing that translation in this context is not just technical, but should be relational and safety-centered.

Accessibility: Virtual or in-person activities may be warranted based on the needs of the participants. This should be a part of the initial general survey – allowing participants to indicate their accessibility needs and preferences to support participation.

Safety/Privacy: Participants may actively be in abusive relationships. Individuals who have perpetrated violence may also be participating in engagement activities. All processes, tools, and communications should incorporate messages of safety, informed consent, and any tradeoffs related to privacy. Activities conducted with individuals who have perpetrated violence should include a safety plan for DPH staff and consultants involved. All data collected through this study is protected under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 24A, which shields DPH public health research data from subpoena, discovery, and other legal processes—a protection particularly meaningful for participants with safety, immigration, or legal system concerns. A waiver of signed consent documentation will be used to eliminate records that could link participant identities to their involvement in SDV-related research.

Stipends for participants: Best practice for community engagement compensates community members for their time and expertise. Consistent with the IRB application, individual survey participants will receive a $25 gift card upon completion; focus group participants with lived experience will receive a $100 gift card upon completion. No incentive will be offered for provider survey or key informant participation. Compensation records will be maintained separately from research data to protect participant privacy and will not be linked to individual survey contributions.

Engagement with youth: From a trauma-informed lens, it is recommended that consultants engage with young adults (ages 18–24) who witnessed or experienced SDV in the home during childhood, as well as caregivers of children who have experienced or witnessed SDV. This age criterion aligns with the study’s IRB inclusion criteria.

Timing: To receive the largest number of responses from individuals with proximity to SDV from the general survey, data will be analyzed on a rolling basis to inform next phases of engagements. Engagement with professional staff and organizations can be done simultaneously with survivor engagement.