Amendment 1 to 071 ADA.pdf

Amendment 1 to RFP OCA-DGCP-071, issued by the New York State Unified Court System's Office of Court Administration, modifies the original Request for Proposals for Judiciary Civil Legal Services' Legal Empowerment Project. The amendment addresses civil legal services delivery to vulnerable populations in ten New York counties: Bronx, Erie, Kings, Monroe, Nassau, New York, Onondaga, Queens, Suffolk, and Westchester. The original RFP solicited sealed proposals to award contracts providing representation, legal assistance, legal information, and outreach to individuals at or below 200% of the federal poverty threshold experiencing barriers to safety, stability, or access to justice. The contract term is five years, commencing October 1, 2026 and terminating September 30, 2031. Proposals were due August 13, 2026 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, with questions due by July 9, 2026. UCS intends to award one or two contracts per county, with evaluation conducted through a three-tier process assessing minimum qualifications, proposal scoring on organizational capacity, service delivery, and cost reasonableness, and final funding determination based on strategic priorities and available resources.

The total aggregate funding available is $6,000,000, with a maximum of $600,000 per county for the initial twelve-month period. Subsequent year allocations are contingent upon available state appropriations. Payment is made quarterly in arrears within thirty days of invoice submission and service approval, with advance payment of up to 25% of annualized funding available at UCS's discretion. Eligible applicants must be nonprofit entities registered with the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau holding 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and maintaining physical office space in each county for which they apply. Insurance requirements include workers' compensation, disability benefits, commercial general liability of $1 million per occurrence minimum, property insurance, and professional liability insurance of $1 million per claim and $3 million aggregate. Applicants may apply individually or in partnership, with a single lead entity responsible for fiscal management and reporting.