ILP RFA Presentation_Final.pptx

Independent Living Program Services

RFA #5651

Welcome everyone and thank you for being here. We are going to get started with our Independent Living Program Services RFA presentation.

Agenda A

Introduction ILP Services Funding Areas of growth Implementation Closing & Questions

For our agenda we will be introducing the RFA, ILP services, funding opportunities, areas of growth, and the implementation plan. As a reminder, we won’t be taking questions during the presentation, but please type any you have in the chat so they can be addressed following the presentation. All questions must be directly related to the scope of this project.

Introduction The Youth Transitions Program is issuing this RFA for Independent Living Life Skills Services for young people who have experienced foster care as teens and young adults. The various services outlined will assist the Agency by providing young people in foster care, as young as age 14 and eligible former foster children and young adults through age 23, with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make a successful transition to self-sufficiency and adulthood. This requires trauma informed, equitable, youth-centered services, based on age and developmental readiness.

The Youth Transitions Program issued this RFA for Independent Living Life Skills Services for young people who have experienced foster care as teens and young adults. The various services outlined will assist the Agency by providing young people in foster care, as young as age 14 and eligible former foster children and young adults through age 23, with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make a successful transition to self-sufficiency and adulthood. This requires trauma informed, equitable, youth-centered services, based on age and developmental readiness.

Youth Transitions anticipates the award of multiple contracts and there can be more than one per district/service area. Applicants interested in providing services in more than one service area must submit a separate application for each. The Agency reserves the right to not move forward with all that apply depending on the need of the service area.

Contractors will be expected to incorporate a practice and service delivery model that centers youth voice by involving young people in making decisions that affect their life and in the planning of service delivery whenever possible. Services should be strength-based and supportive while promoting growth in a planful way. Young people’s skills assessments and transition plans should guide and inform service delivery.

Federal Categories Academic Supports Budget & Financial Management Career Preparation Employment/Vocational Training Family Support/Healthy Relationships Health Education & Risk Prevention Housing Education & Home Management Post Secondary Educational Supports

The following Federal categories are used to capture all Independent Living skill building services. If selected as a contractor, ILP staff will need to document and report the appropriate categories for the services they deliver.

Academic Supports (tutoring/homework assistance, post secondary planning, etc.)

Budget & Financial Management (fiscal responsibility, financial planning, banking, etc.)

Career Preparation (transportation, resume creation, employment search, mock interviews, maintaining employment, etc.)

Employment/Vocational Training (internships, volunteer opportunities, job shadowing, apprenticeships, etc.)

Family Support/Healthy Relationships (maintaining, reconnecting, or creating connections with family, community supports, parenting classes, pregnancy prevention, sex education, etc.)

Health Education & Risk Prevention (exercise, recreation, eating, legal issues, medical/mental health/dental care, CPR, etc.)

Housing Education & Home Management (preparation to leave foster home, Ready to Rent, apartment search, household maintenance, roommate agreements, tenant/landlord rights/responsibilities) Post Secondary Educational Supports (college tours, applications, financial aid, tutoring, etc.)

Groups Group events will rotate target populations throughout the year with 4 months of curriculum devoted to the younger population (based on chronological age or developmental stage) the older population (based on chronological age or developmental stage) group outings/experiential learning in the community (volunteering, holiday activities, excursions, field trips, etc.).

Groups are available for all ILP eligible young people. Given they do not require a referral or participation in ongoing services, the Contractor must confirm eligibility for young people they aren’t familiar with by emailing Youth Transitions prior to providing services. Once young people attend groups, this allows contractors to conduct regular, direct outreach, communicating with young people and their adult supporters about programming, instead of relying solely on caseworkers’ referrals and overcoming barriers related to working through adult supporters to share information.

Group-based skills workshops and experiential learning events are at least 90 minutes in duration and shall be provided monthly to allow for peer exposure (at least 3 young people) and community building.

Group events will rotate target populations on a quarterly basis throughout the year, four months of curriculum devoted to the younger population, four months devoted to the older population, and four months devoted to group outings/experiential learning in the community (volunteering, holiday activities, excursions, field trips, etc.).

Contractors should work with young people to co-create and develop groups they would attend and benefit from.

A young person may attend one monthly group for a rate of $50. The budget allows for approximately 30% of the eligible population to attend and funding is flexible within the maximum quarterly budget For instance, if there is low attendance for the younger population group, that funding can shift to support more young people attending the experiential learning activity later in the quarter.

Unexpended quarterly funds will not roll over to a subsequent quarter

Within 30 days of the effective date of the contract, providers will need to:

Make arrangement for appropriate meeting space including being compliant with the American Disabilities Act.

Determine precise dates and times for group meetings, in collaboration with young people when possible.

Once contracts are executed, contractors will need to provide a group schedule for the first quarter. Ongoing, contractors will provide schedules no less than three (3) months in advance for planning and engagement purposes.

Schedules will be distributed to young people engaged in programming, Child Welfare staff, Tribal representatives, and Youth Transitions We encourage providers to coordinate with other ILP Contractors for regional group events, when possible.

Experiential Learning A peer group experience that builds skills and community

Experiential learning is meant to build Intangible and tangible skills while providing a peer experience Ideally, these groups will expose young people to pro-social activities that teach them about the importance of community, giving, getting outside their comfort zones, and exposure to new places and activities they might not otherwise seek independently

In addition to the group participation rate of $50 per young person, the contractor may access the Experiential Learning Activities Funds to reimburse their non-wage expenses for the activity each quarter. This can include fees, transportation, special clothing, food/beverages or equipment.

The Contractor must obtain prior approval for the costs associated by submitting a request to their contract administrator.

ILP Skill Building Services

RFA #5651

CW Caseworker, Tribal Caseworker or Young Adult Self-Referral Assessment, Rapport Building and Skill Building Minimum of 60-minutes monthly, one-on-one and face-to-face A Youth Assessment Summary and Transition Plan are required within the first 90 days Providers should consider financial incentives using flex funds during the rapport building stages These documents will be updated at least yearly

Providers will be receiving referrals from CW caseworkers, caseworkers working with the 9 federally recognized Tribes in Oregon, and young adults 18+ that are no longer working with caseworkers but remain eligible for ILP services Providers have 5 business days to respond Any time a provider must implement a waitlist, they must notify Youth Transitions and the branches being served so collaboration and a shared understanding around how the waitlist will be managed are possible Once accepted into programming, young people should be offered a minimum of 60-minutes of skill building, one-on-one and face-to-face. Given engagement at this stage is crucial, providers should consider using flex funds to provide financial incentives to young people completing assessments and transition plans while including important adult supporters in the process when possible. Learning about the young person’s goals, skills, abilities and priorities will help providers craft a service delivery plan or roadmap.

The Youth Assessment Summary and Youth Transition Plan shall be completed within the first 90 days and annually thereafter. Given this is a skill-building activity, it is billed as such. The first 60-minutes of skill building is supported at a rate of $300. This rate compensates providers for not only the 60-minutes of skill building, but also for any needed preparation/coordination time, travel, and documentation.

We recognize there will always be circumstances where best practice and safety would align with virtual skill building, but those will require contract administrator pre-approval. This will support things like extreme weather conditions and illness, as well as situations when scheduling doesn’t allow for the full 60-minutes.

Contract utilization will be reviewed on a quarterly basis to determine if the YSM requires adjustment. Upward adjustments will only be implemented if funds are available within the Youth Transitions budget.

Transition Planning Youth Decision Meetings (YDMs)

IL Service Planning Checklist

Ideally, providers and caseworkers will be collaborating to support transition planning for those young people in care. YDMs are great way to rally a young person’s supporters to discuss goals, map out next steps, identify services that might be helpful, to determine ILP’s role and services in the coming months and to understand the young person’s support system and what they can contribute or assist with. Many young people need more support than what providers can be compensated for. Given there is no expectation that providers serve at a frequency that is not compensated, it is very important to know the other available resources and community supports that might need to be identified. Depending on a young person’s comfort level, YDMs can include caseworkers, providers, family, resource parents, legal parties, and friends. They are helpful when considering who might be responsible for what.

The IL Service Planning Checklist is a list of skills a young person should possess in order to transition to adulthood successfully. The checklist is the framework for Oregon and intended to be used as a tool to guide service planning and service provision.

If a young person opts to attend only ILP Groups or experiential learning excursions and no other ILP service, a life skills assessment and Transition Plan is not required.

ILP Plus Ages 16-23

ILP+ additional skill building activities are intended to support a young person 16-23 during a time of higher need or transition (planned housing transition, housing instability, substance use issues, tragedies, transitioning to college, parenting struggles, educational challenges, employment barriers, mental/behavioral health symptoms, etc.). Appropriate ILP+ young people are those who will benefit from more intensive skills training focused on developing internal assets and external resources (housing, treatment services, medical care, planning/modeling support, community-based resources, etc.).

Contractors will focus on stabilization, successful transition, and building self-determination skills, such as youth-driven goal identification, problem-solving, and stress management.

Contractors shall oversee ILP+ hours to ensure equity in service delivery and this will be demonstrated by the Contractor serving the ILP+ population in a way that mirrors the demographic makeup of their overall population.

ILP+ Services allow the Contractors to serve young people aged 16+ in additional increments of 30-minutes for up to 90 minutes, or not to exceed a total of 150 minutes per young person, per month. Each additional 30-minute increment is billed at a rate of $50.

Again, this service is not meant for compliant young people that might appreciate more time or to support providers attending young people’s activities or events. It is designed to support young people experiencing circumstances that warrant additional skill-building activities to meet stabilization or transition goals and that justification should be easily identifiable in provider documentation.

Examples:

A provider serving 55 young people could choose to serve 11 young people demonstrating the needs as previously noted at the max rate of 150 minutes They could also choose to serve 16 at the 120-minute rate or they could also choose to serve 33 at the 90-minute rate. It could and should be a combination driven by youth-need.

Providers can choose to prioritize older young people receiving this level of service

Leadership Opportunities Workgroups Hiring Panels Youth Panels Group Co-Facilitators Transition Plan Co-Facilitators Training Co-Facilitators Advisory Committees

Specific funding has been allocated for contractors to support young people to access leadership activities which allow them to develop skills, work closely with others, share ideas, build their resume and influence change.

Although the provider will bill time spent preparing, supporting, and debriefing these opportunities via skill building rates, young people will be provided a stipend via the leadership activities funding.

I’ve included some opportunities to consider on the slide

Debriefing these opportunities with young people should include determining whether support efforts were adequate, and identifying opportunities for growth and mutual feedback, including to the entity who hosted the leadership opportunity.

Engagement Efforts Only

RFA #5651

Requires 3 documented attempts to engage the young person Phone, text, email, family, resource parent, caseworker, home visit, etc.

Can be invoiced for 2 consecutive months only

Engagement Efforts Only is a service type to support the Contractor’s unsuccessful attempts to engage a young person in a group or skill building activities within a given month.

The contractor will document, using the MSPR, at least three attempts to contact and engage the young person and the various means used: phone, text, email, family, resource parent, caseworker, home visit, etc.

Engagement Efforts Only can be invoiced for two consecutive months for a rate of $35 per month. If a young person has not re-engaged after two months of Engagement Efforts Only, no additional payments will be provided until the young person has either attended a Group Session or been provided an ILP Skill Building Service.

Regrettably, many young people that need or could benefit from services don’t access them. It is challenging gathering their feedback about why they don’t believe the services would be beneficial or why after their ILP experience, they choose to stop engaging. It is a voluntary service that they’ll need to have a desire to engage in and see as beneficial. Again, our expectation is that they are aware of services available and that providers are more than willing to meet them where they are, but if they aren’t ready or interested, there is no expectation that providers’ efforts reflect an engagement effort frequency that is not compensated.

Monthly Service & Progress Reports (MSPRs) Due by the 15th calendar day of the month following when services were provided Directly connected to payment Used to capture Groups, Experiential Learning, Skill Building, ILP+, and Leadership Opportunities, or Engagement Efforts Only Only 1 monthly MSPR is submitted per young person Used to capture ILP service closure within 15 days of discharge or completion of services

MSPRs must be submitted by the 15th calendar day of the month following the month in which services were provided. They should capture all documentation related to groups, experiential learning, skill building, ILP+, and leadership opportunities, or engagement efforts only. There should only be one MSPR submitted per young person.

They will be used to validate invoices, so any young person that is listed on an invoice must have a submitted MSPR and late submissions will result in a delay of payment.

See the Sample Contract for all information required to be submitted. The information is necessary to help confirm the level of service provision provided.

Final MSPRS must include demographic, educational status, and living arrangements updates, as well as noted achievements and closure reason.

Flex & State Meeting Funds Requires preapproval and are connected to specific young people Reimburses incentives to young people including participation gift cards or raffles, coffee, food for group sessions or one-on-one meetings, program maintained sensory items, music related equipment Requires preapproval Reimburses contractors’ registration fees, lodging, transportation, and food expenses Supports ILP-related events, meetings, trainings, and activities including ODHS sponsored events

Flex Funds reimburse expenses for Contractors when they’ve provided an incentive to a young person to motivate or encourage engagement, or to stimulate a young person’s investment in services. They can also support food at group sessions or one-on-one meetings, payment for participation in meetings/activities (via gift cards, coffee, lunch, raffles, etc.) and program item(s) to assist young people during skill building activities (sensory items, music) that will remain at the Contractor’s program.

Flex Funds do not cover gifts for any special occasions (birthdays, graduation, etc.), tips, staff meals or other costs for staff. This is consistent with the rules caseworkers must also abide by.

State Meeting Funds reimburse Provider staff expenses related to participation in ILP-related events, meetings, trainings, or other functions, including ODHS Sponsored Events. Contractor will submit an email Application to their Contract Administrator requesting preapproval. On occasion, the Youth Transitions team will provide statewide approval to attend an event or training.

State Meeting Funds will not cover the costs of staff wages.

Requests for State Meeting Funds for ODHS Sponsored Events will not exceed 10 percent of the annual allocated funds

ODHS Sponsored Events Teen Retreat, DREAM Conference, & Native Teen Gathering

ODHS sponsors events throughout the year, primarily during the Summer months. Contractors support these events by providing feedback, identifying young people that are appropriate and wanting to attend, supporting young people with registration and understanding expectations, attending events as a chaperone for the duration of the conference, providing an adult volunteer to serve in this capacity, or coordinating with the event sponsor to ensure appropriate supervision is provided.

As previously mentioned, requests for State Meeting Funds for ODHS Sponsored Events will not exceed 10 percent of the annual allocated funds

Discretionary Funding Provides items, services, or extra-curricular activities that will help ILP eligible young people achieve the goals identified in their transition plan while gaining life skills for a successful transition to adulthood

Discretionary Funding or Youth Transitions Funding Provides Items, Services, or Extra-Curricular Activities that will help young people achieve the goals identified in their transition plan while gaining life skills for a successful transition to adulthood. Funding can support Cell Phones, Service, Car Insurance, Care repairs/maintenance, Housing Start-Up Costs, Gender-affirming products, Bikes, Skateboards, Safety Equipment, Laptops, Tutoring/Music Lessons, Tools, Uniforms, Work attire, DMV Fees, Securing/Replacing Personal Documents, costs related to High School, and camp Fees.

Areas of growth

RFA #5651

Provider Portal Internal Dashboard Updated Forms Contract Oversight and Collaboration

Youth Transitions is working with the IT and Business Analysis Unit to develop a more streamlined process to support the referral, confirmation, and documentation of ILP skill-building services to young people. The current IT project, with a possible deployment in the Fall of ‘23 seeks to replace much of the current inefficiency with an external provider portal workflow that would allow casework staff to refer youth electronically and allow vendors to accept/decline referrals and document engagement work that meets both the Youth Transitions’ contract administration need and the need to gather data for federal reporting. The portal workflow will also aim to assist vendor partners in tracking the makeup of their provided services and population, so they can adhere to contract requirements. The project will also focus on aligning service delivery with the invoicing business process, which will be closely tied to documentation, however actual invoice handling is not likely to be included in the initial phase due to the complexity and short timeframe.

Development of the provider portal is currently underway. The Contractor will be assigned security clearance and will receive training to utilize the provider portal once available.

Youth Transitions is working with the Program Operations and Strategies Unit to develop a dashboard that reviews ILP service data trends, including engagement, ILP service outcomes, and the financing of various services. The dashboard will be able to show eligible populations versus those being served to identify gaps or misalignment in service equity and to support contract oversight.

Although the provider portal will minimize reliance on forms, it is likely they will still be needed for the foreseeable future. We recognize forms need to be updated and streamlined and we will collaborate with Publications and Creative Services to implement those improvements as soon as we are able, reserving the right to adjust as needed to support servicey deliver and data collection purposes.

To inform continuous program improvement, ILP providers will be required to create a feedback-driven culture and related internal monitoring processes to allow for timely action to improve service delivery and performance. Local feedback loops will also be an expectation to improve collaboration and so timely adjustments can be made as needed. Quarterly reviews will be held with Youth Transitions and ILP providers and local branch representatives will be invited.

Per the adult supporter survey data, the top reasons young people weren’t engaging in ILP services were “they were not interested or refused to be referred” and “they were referred but didn’t find it engaging/beneficial”. More information is needed to determine what services would best meet their needs, if ILP isn’t working for them. More feedback about why young people haven’t been referred, aren’t aware, aren’t accessing or have chosen not to engage in services will also be helpful moving forward.

Plan for Implementation

Youth Transitions & ILP contract kick-off event in Hood River October 3rd & 4th

RFA

Posted through July 11th

Local Evaluation & Scoring

Local committees will score all applications in late July

Negotiations

Collaborate with successful applicants and award based on the needs and funding available for the service area

Contracts will be executed and effective for October 1st

Contract Kick-Off Event

Contracts

Questions

Xxx is not an included component of this RFA and is considered out of scope I’m sorry, that question is out of scope for this project

We intend to provide further detail regarding xxx to awarded providers during the October contract kick-off event For nuanced practice questions, direction and support will be provided during the October convening

Thank you Kelly Brezinski Rosemary Iavenditti Debra Bushnell image1.png image2.png image3.png image4.png image5.png image6.png image7.png image15.png image16.png image8.png image9.png image14.png image10.png image11.png image12.png