Dependent GH Slide Deck.pdf

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Department of Human Services

Pre-Proposal Conference Webinar Dependent Group Home Care

June 17, 2026

Table of Contents

1 Housekeeping Items

Program & RFP Overview

Taheerah Long, Program Director, DHS Child Welfare Operations

RFP Submission and Process

Dawn Williams-Jones, RFP Manager, DHS Finance

Contract Process

Judith Jones, Contract Supervisor, DHS Finance

Housekeeping: Management Guidelines

• All participant phones/microphones will be muted.

• Please enter your name, email, and organization in the chat box

• All questions concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing via email to DHSRFP@phila.gov no later than June 23, 2026, at 5pm Philadelphia, PA local time and may not be considered if not received by then.

mailto:DHSRFP@phila.gov

Program Overview

Who are we?

Philadelphia Department of Human Services is the county child welfare and juvenile justice agency and is overseen by the Office of Children and Families.

Vision

• We aspire for all Philadelphia children and youth to have access to the support, resources, and opportunities they need to thrive within their communities.

Mission

• Serve Philadelphia’s children, youth, families, and communities by building on their strengths and advancing safe and supportive environments.

The Department is comprised of the following divisions:

• Administration and Management (A&M)

• Child Welfare Operations (CWO)

• Early Childhood Education (ECE)

• Finance

• Juvenile Justice Services (JJS)

• Performance Management & Technology (PMT)

• Policy Development & System Enhancement (PDSE)

Project Background

• Group Home Care (GHC) is a short-term intervention that DHS utilizes minimally as a last resort for out of home placement.

When youth enter GHC, immediate planning begins to reunify youth with their families or to work toward other permanence options. Applicants must be knowledgeable of and embrace promising practice related to GHC, including promoting family-driven care and youth-guided decision making, ensuring active school and community connections, utilizing evidence-based practices to promote family engagement, embracing a trauma-informed and culturally/linguistically competent approach, and keeping group home intervention as short as possible.

Problem Statement Youth ages 13–21 involved with DHS who cannot safely remain in their homes or in family-based care settings often experience instability, trauma, disrupted education, and limited access to supportive relationships. Without high-quality, trauma-informed group home care, these youth are at increased risk of poor permanency outcomes, disconnection from family and community, academic disengagement, and long-term emotional and developmental harm.

Outcome Goals

• Ensure Safety and Emotional Stability

• Strengthen Family Connections

• Support Educational Engagement

• Promote Youth Voice and Skill Development

• Advance Permanency and Healthy Transitions

Services requirement (Not limited to the following…)

• Provide 24-hour/7-days a week care and supervision to youth ages 13-21.

• Preference will be given to those respondents whose programs in Philadelphia or in the surrounding counties, or which have in place adequate plans for facilitating frequent in-person contact between the youth and their families who reside in Philadelphia.

• If the Group Home care (GHC) provider is submitting a proposal for both the male and female programs, they must be placed separately.

• The provider must utilize competent programming that ensures the safety and protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) youth and affirms diverse sexual orientations and identities.

• The GHC provider must specify how transgendered and gender non-conforming youth will be safely placed in a way that affirms the youth’s gender expression.

Services requirement (Not limited to the following…)

Strong applicants are those that propose quality programming to achieve the goals of IOC by facilitating the following:

• family-driven care and youth-guided decision making,

• ensuring active school and community connections,

• embracing a trauma-informed and culturally/linguistically competent practice approach,

• utilizing evidence-based clinical interventions to promote youth and family engagement, and

• promoting targeted permanency work to return youth to family as soon as possible.

(Please refer to the section 3.1 for more details of service and other requirements)

Bilingual Capacity

• The provider shall ensure they are able and capable to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of the youth and/or families served. Such staff must be appropriately assessed, authorized, and trained to deliver direct services in the youth’s and/or families preferred language.

• In instances where this is not feasible, the provider must ensure access to appropriate and qualified alternative interpretation services. The use of machine-based automatic translation tools (e.g., Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, DeepL Translator, Chat GPT) shall not be permitted.

Reporting requirements

• At a minimum, the Applicant shall submit a monthly invoice detailing all services and/or products provided, along with associated costs.

• In addition, the Applicant shall submit a comprehensive monthly written report to the DHS Project Manager within the required timeframe.

Quarterly outcome reports must also be submitted, aligned with the performance metrics as outlined in the RFP.

RFP Submission & Process

RFP Submission and Process

• Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Philadelphia, PA, local time, on

July 10, 2026. Do not wait until last minute to submit!

• It is mandatory that all who intend to submit a proposal respond by the deadline.

• All questions concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing via email to

DHSRFP@phila.gov no later than June 23, 2026, at 5pm Philadelphia, PA local time and may not be considered if not received by then.

• Responses will be posted on June 29, 2026, on the City’s EContract Philly website at https://philawx.phila.gov/econtract/ (go to the Opportunity Details page for this notice of contracting opportunity). Responses posted on the City’s website become part of the RFP upon posting.

https://philawx.phila.gov/econtract/

RFP Schedule

DATE ACTIVITY

June 8, 2026, Issue Request for Proposal

June 17, 2026, @10:30AM (Philadelphia Local Time)

Pre-Proposal Meeting (Optional) Location : WebEx

June 23, 2026, by 5PM (Philadelphia Local Time)

Applicant deadline to submit questions, request (Local Philadelphia Time) clarification due to DHSRFP@phila.gov only!

June 29, 2026, by 5PM (Philadelphia Local Time)

Response to questions posted

July 10, 2026, by 5PM (Philadelphia Local Time)

Applicant deadline to submit Proposal on eContracts Philly

Week of July 20, 2026 Interview/Presentations will be required upon candidates mailto:DHSRFP@phila.gov

Forms required with RFP submission

• Appendix A- General Provisions

• Appendix B - City of Philadelphia Tax and Regulatory Status and

Clearance Statement

• Appendix D - Local Business Entity or Local Impact Certification

• Appendix E - LGBTQ Applicant Opportunity Data

• Appendix G - Budget Template

Important Resource: RFP Checklist

• All can be found on the City’s eContractPhilly website at

• EIN, Agency Name – Be sure your info matches your registration on eContract Philly

• Insurance requirements – Article X General Provisions

• Living Wage for FY27 is $17.36/hour for all employees, both part-time and full-time

• All required documents must be received prior to routing your contract (Insurance, scope, license (if applicable), W9, etc.)

• Contract conformance process can take up to 3 months.

• The City can not process any invoices for payment until the contract conformance process is complete.

Contacts

• eContractPhilly Tech Support: econtractphilly@phila.gov or 215-686-4914

• All questions not captured in this webinar concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing via email to dhsrfp@phila.gov no later than June 23, 2026, at 5pm Philadelphia, PA local time and may not be considered if not received by then.

• Responses will be posted on June 29, 2026, on the City’s eContractPhilly website at https://philawx.phila.gov/econtract/ (go to the Opportunity Details page for this notice of contracting opportunity).

• Responses posted on the City’s website become part of the RFP upon posting.

mailto:econtractphilly@phila.gov mailto:dhsrfp@phila.gov

Thank You!