RFP - 260000000867 Amendment 1.docx

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Grants and Purchasing Amendment 1

RFP 2600000000867

Families Together Building Solutions Services in Cass and St. Joseph Counties

1 . This amendment is updating the RFP 1.1 General Requirements to:

1.1 General Requirements

A. Client Eligibility Criteria

1) Definition of Eligibility

a. MDHHS Child Protective Services can refer Parents or Primary Caregiver(s) who are responsible for the care and supervision of minor child(ren) and fit into one of the following categories:

1. Have had an open case with CPS within the last 18 months, including:

a) Open Category 3 cases.

b) Closed Category 3 and 4 cases.

c) Category 1 and Category 2 step-downs from more intensive services.

2. Foster Care reunification if reunification services are not able to accept the referral.

3. MDHHS supervised delinquency cases.

4. Native American tribal referral sources; families with at least one child residing in the home and the tribe determines at least one child to be at risk of abuse or neglect, or the family would benefit from intensive preservation services, or to facilitate reunification from out-of-home placement. Referrals may be made directly by a tribal representative or designee.

5. Families with youth at risk of displacement from the family home due to family conflict or to expediate reunification from out-of-home placement (or the youth is in a homeless shelter for youth) when family conflict must be resolved for unification to occur.

b. For Child and Family Safety Stability and Permanency (CFSSP) Funding:

1. Families with an active Children’s Protective Services (CPS) investigation or open case.

2. Families with an open Prevention services case.

3. Families with minor children investigated by MDHHS CPS within the previous 18 months.

4. Families that do not have a preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect after a CPS investigation, but there is a risk of future harm to the child.

5. Families with one or more children in a MDHHS supervised out-of-home placement (inclusive of MDHHS supervised Foster Care, Juvenile Justice and relative placement).

6. MDHHS adoptive families for whom a need for post adoptive services has been identified by MDHHS to prevent disruption or dissolution.

c. For Strong Families Safe Children (SFSC) Funding:

1. Time – Limited Family Reunification Services must be provided to Parent(s) or primary caregiver(s) who are responsible for the care and supervision of minor child(ren) and who have a MDHHS supervised open case in out-of-home placement, with family reunification as the goal. Intent of funds is to mitigate barriers to reunification. In the case of a child who has been returned home, the services and activities must only be provided during the 15-month period that begins on the date that the child returns home.

2. Adoption Promotion and Support Services must be provided to:

a) Prospective adoptive parents adopting minor child(ren) through the MDHHS foster care system when adoption is the child’s permanency goal.

b) Adoptive parents of minor child(ren) adopted through the MDHHS foster care system when adoption has been finalized and a need for post adoption services has been identified by MDHHS.

3. Family Preservation – Placement Prevention Services must be provided to parents or primary caregivers who are responsible for the care and supervision of minor children and have an open MDHHS Children’s Protective Services investigation, a preponderance of evidence for abuse or neglect, foster care case, or delinquency case.

4. Family Support Services must be provided to parents or primary caregiver(s) responsible for the care and supervision of minor child(ren) and have one or more of the of the following:

a) An open MDHHS Child Protective Services (Category I, II, and III), foster care or delinquency case

b) An open case which has been closed within the past 18-months

c) A Child Protective Services investigation within the past 18-months

d) Three or more rejected Child Protective Services complaints

2) Determination of Eligibility MDHHS determines eligibility.

B. Referral Process Use the referral process below or enter an appropriate referral process.

1) MDHHS

MDHHS will provide, via telephone or in-person, the information in form (MDHHS 6039).

MDHHS does not guarantee a minimum number of referrals at any time during the Contract.

2) CONTRACTOR

a. Receiving & Accepting Referrals:

1. The Contractor will accept referrals via telephone or in-person, seven days per week.

2. The Contractor must accept or reject referrals from MDHHS within one working day.

3. The Contractor must notify referring staff of vacancies or no vacancies daily.

4. The Contractor must accept referrals on a first-come first-served, space-available basis.

5 The Contractor must submit the completed referral form (MDHHS 6039) to the referring working within four calendar days of the date of the referral for approval and signature.

b. Once a Referral is Accepted:

1. The Contractor must meet with the client face-to-face within three calendar days of accepting a referral.

2. The Contractor must attempt to make contact with the client in the following ways, at a minimum, in the three calendar days following the referral, until contact is successful:

i. Phone calls each day.

ii. Visit to family home.

iii. Call & email to Referring Worker by the end of day two.

iv. Call & email to Referring Workers Supervisor if Referring Worker is not responsive.

3. If the FTBS worker is not able to meet with the family within three calendar days of referral, the family declines FTBS services, or safety issues are present such that FTBS staff are unable to safety plan with the family, contact is to be made informing the DHHS referring staff and requesting withdrawal of the case from FTBS services within seven calendar days of referral, or direction on what further measures to take to make contact with the family must be provided. Family Preservation Program Office Specialists are available for consultation on questions regarding a withdrawal. Cases that terminate within seven calendar days of the referral may be considered withdrawn.

C. Geographic Area The Contractor must provide services described herein in the following geographic area: Cass and St. Joseph Counties.

D. Location of Facilities The Contractor must provide services described herein at the following location(s):

Obtain this from section IV of the RFP, or from the contractor. If not required, delete all language in the section, including the section title, and replace with Reserved.

Client homes and at location mutually agreed upon by the Contractor and client.

E. Credentials Identify minimum, specific qualifications, such as degrees, training, etc. of staff providing direct services, and, if applicable, any positions overseeing those staff. Obtain this information from section II of the RFP, or from the program office/contract administrator.

The Contractor must assure that appropriately credentialed or trained staff under its control, including Contractor employees and/or subcontractors, must perform functions under this Contract. The Contractor must provide staff sufficient to adequately fulfill the terms of the contract Standard FTBS Teams:

A standard full team is defined as: one part-time Program Manager (0.2-.25 FTE), one full-time Supervisor (1 FTE), and four full-time FTBS Workers (4 FTE). The Contractor must maintain a supervisory/direct service worker ratio of one supervisor to four FTBS Direct Workers, pro-rated for partial or multiple teams. Each full-time supervisor with a team of four must carry a minimum caseload of two families per year. Part-time staff is only allowed in circumstances where the staff is 0.5 FTE designated as a Supervisor and 0.5 FTE designated as a FTBS Worker. A part time supervisor/worker must carry a percentage of a Direct Worker caseload and percentage of a supervisor load. Each full-time FTBS Direct Worker may be assigned a caseload of up to six (6) families at a time and must carry an average of eighteen (18) cases per year. Exceptions to the full-time caseload must be discussed with the DHHS Family Preservation Program Office.

1) Contingent Staff Requirements:

Staff that work in other family preservation programs can fill in as contingent FTBS Direct Workers under the following conditions:

a. Contingent staff must have completed Core training and have 1-year experience in family preservation programs.

b. Contingent staff person must attend weekly team meetings when they are carrying a case. Additionally, they must attend at least 1 team meeting per month when they are not carrying a case.

c. Any case being served by a contingent staff person must have a documented 24/7 coverage plan.

d. The supervisor must meet with any family that is being served by a contingent staff person within the first 14 days.

e. The Family Preservation Program Office Specialist must be informed if/when a contingent staff person is being used, or is being planned to be used, for an extended period (2 months or more).

2) Qualifications for each position are as follows:

a. Program Manager: A bachelor’s degree in any human services field or education with a minimum of two years of supervisory experience in family preservation, administrative experience, experience working with families with multiple problems.

b. Supervisor: A bachelor’s degree in any human services field or the field of education. The supervisor must demonstrate experience in, or potential for, providing supervision to staff providing in-home services. Knowledge of child welfare policies and programs, family and individual theories; treatment (intervention and technique) philosophies and strategies of home-based services, as well as knowledge and availability of local resources is necessary.

c. FTBS Direct Worker: A bachelor’s degree in any human services field or the field of education. If there is no suitable bachelor level candidate, the candidate must have at least two years experience working with children and/or families and an associate degree or the equivalent in human services or education and be actively working towards a bachelor’s degree in human services or education to be completed within one year of hire.

d. Exceptions: Degrees or experience that is different from what is described, for any position who may work directly with families, must be approved by Family Preservation Program Office.

3) Training Requirements:

All FTBS staff are required to participate in initial and ongoing training provided by MDHHS staff or trainers coordinated by MDHHS. At a minimum, all FTBS staff must attend the Family Preservation Core Training within 30 days of hire. An exception to the 30-day requirement is limited to times when trainings are cancelled or full. New FTBS staff shall not take cases until Family Preservation Core Training (4 days) is completed. In addition, the following special topics trainings must be completed within six months of hire:

a. The Family Preservation Service (FPS) Domestic Violence Training

b. Working with Substance Affected Families training

c. Mental Health Training

d. Trauma Checklist Training: this training must be completed within the first year of this contract term for existing staff. The Contractor will be responsible for accessing this training through the MDHHS Learning Management System (LMS).

F. Services to be Provided Service #1 of 1: Families Together Building Solutions

1) Activities the Contractor must perform:

The Contractor must:

a. Provide intensive in-home services for 90-days in duration with a possible extension up to 90-days approved by a referring MDHHS or Private Agency Foster Care (PAFC) staff person based on consultation regarding goal progress with the family, workers, supervisor, and referral source. Services must not exceed the maximum total of 180 days.

b. Make initial face-to-face contact within three calendar days of receiving referral information.

c. Hold an initial meeting between the referring case worker and FTBS worker within 14 days of the referral to discuss case dynamics, family needs, and expectations of the FTBS intervention. Best practice for this meeting takes place face-to-face, but phone or videoconference is also allowable.

d. Complete mandatory MDHHS releases & authorizations.

e. Interview the family together and each family member individually prior to completion of the service plan.

f. Conduct an assessment of family history to include strengths, needs, and child development, and develop goals in coordination with the family. Regularly update service plan to reflect changes in the family’s circumstances, needs, and goal progress.

g. Submit an Updated Prevention Plan (MDHHS -6058) Report to the MDHHS referring worker once every thirty days within seven days of completion of the report period. If termination occurs within ten days of the end of the report period a single report can be submitted.

h. Observe and interview parents and children, using skills from Protective Factors Framework® and document the Protective Factors observed in case notes, service plans, and termination reports. Protective Factors Framework® must be incorporated in case planning and goal formation.

j. Request the Infant Plan of Safe Care from the referring worker for referrals involving an infant exposed to substances, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Review the Infant Plan of Safe Care with the family and ensure the identified services of the individual and family household needs are indicated.

If there is not an Infant Plan of Safe Care, the Contractor must engage the family to:

1. Assess how the parental substance use has affected the child(ren)’s health.

2. Present safety issues for the child(ren) based on the substance use and environmental factors.

3. Identify the child’s medical needs and refer for any additional needed services.

1. Contractor must ensure an Early On referral has been made for all families with a child aged less than three years. Referrals must be documented in writing.

2. For families with children ages 0-5, within 30 calendar days prior to closure, utilize the Home Visiting link to identify available evidence home visiting services in the county. Discuss the available programs with the family to inquire if the family would like to have additional supports from a home visitor upon program closure. If the family agrees, the Contractor must assist the family with completing the referral and facilitate a warm hand off to the home visiting program.

l. Administer Specific Assistance Funds, averaging $100.00 per family served, in support of activities and purchases that reduce the risk of out-of-home placement, and support the achievement of goals related to the reason for referral by MDHHS or PAFC.

1. Reimbursement for this expenditure will be received within 24-hours by submitting receipts to the program supervisor and completing a Specific Assistance Request Form (DHHS-362-FPP) or a contracted agency form approved for use by the Family Preservation program office.

2. If the specific assistance expenditure is expected to be $500.00 or more, the program supervisor or program manager must contact the MDHHS contract manager for approval.

m. Provide 24x7 crisis intervention.

n. Attend court hearings & provide testimony at the request of the family, MDHHS or PAFC referring worker.

o. Contact the referring case manager for a Termination Conference no less than thirty days prior to termination to determine whether there is a need for an extension of FTBS services, discuss case closure and assess the need for aftercare services. Best practice is for this meeting to take place face-to-face, but phone or videoconference is also allowable.

p. Conduct a termination meeting with the family to summarize the progress made during the intervention and options for maintaining progress. The DHHS referring staff should be invited to the termination meeting.

q. Send each family who terminates FTBS services a closure letter within seven days of the case closing, summarizing the progress the family has made during the intervention and reminding the family that a worker will conduct follow-up visits at three- and six-months following case closure.

r. Administer the following surveys upon termination of each case to determine satisfaction with FTBS:

Returned surveys must be entered electronically per instructions from the Family Preservation Program Office.

s. Complete, and/or attempt to complete, face-to-face follow-up visits with each family served at three and six months following closure of the case. If you have served a family multiple times, follow-ups should happen 3 and 6 months after completion of the most recent case. Use the Follow-up Attempt form and the Case Note to document the content of the follow-up visit. The purpose of these visits is to review sustained goal achievement and closing safety planning and to assess if there is any further assistance needed to support maintaining the child in the home safely.

t. Educate referral sources to ensure shared understanding of program role, requirements, and most appropriate clients.

u. Participate in performance management activities, including meetings to review performance data, policies, and procedures.

v. Collect and report data on referrals and service delivery as specified by the MDHHS Family Preservation Program Office. The MDHHS Family Preservation Program Office will use data to assess and support continuous improvement of service quality. Accurate and timely data collection is imperative.

w. Develop the internal capabilities to collect the referral and service delivery data. See 2.5c for a current list of required data collection. The MDHHS Family Preservation Program Office and the MDHHS Local Office maintains the right to update and add to these metrics throughout the contract term.

x. Maintain program records and documentation of services provided to each family through utilization of required MDHHS forms reviewed in Family Preservation FTBS Training. This information must be available upon MDHHS request.

y. Submit a weekly summary of all face to face contacts including date, time, duration, people present and the Focus, Intervention, Response, Plan (FIRP) to the referring worker for all open cases.

z. Attend trainings/meetings as required by MDHHS.

2). Position Specific Requirements:

a. Program Manager must:

1. Review and provide approval by signing all Service Plans, Updated Service Plans, and Termination Report on Supervisor served cases that would normally be served by a Family Worker.

2. Complete the following if the Supervisor is not available or serving a case:

i. Take program referrals.

ii. Attend meetings held by the referring MDHHS office or Business Service Center as required

iii. Provide back-up, including clinical back-up, for staff.

iv. Supervise the FTBS Direct Workers and assist in coordinating their activities toward family goal achievement.

v. Facilitate bi-weekly team meetings.

b. The Supervisor must:

1. Take program referrals.

2. Provide back-up for staff, including clinical back-up.

3. Oversee program operations related to the family’s entry and participation in the program.

4. Conduct weekly individual, supervision with each FTBS worker. This must be for the purpose of discussing each worker’s families, reviewing individual case progress, and consulting on solution-focused casework plans and documentation. Supervision may occur via HIPAA compliant videoconferencing or phone.

5. Facilitate bi-weekly team meetings (every other week). Each case must be presented to the team for the purpose of feedback and support. The purpose of the meetings is to review individual case progress, consult on alternative casework plans, action steps, and activities needed on cases. Emphasis should be on staffing all active cases and using results to develop weekly plans to achieve client family goals.

6. Accompany staff on home visits as needed. At least once per staff person per contract year.

7. Orient and train new FTBS Direct Workers.

8. Shadow new FTBS Direct Workers on their first assigned case following completion of Core Training during the first two weeks of the intervention.

9. Build a cohesive team and maintain positive staff morale and staff retention.

10. Manage staff work schedules to ensure adequate back-up coverage and 24/7 availability.

11. Monitor to assure the use of required FTBS forms and completion of case documentation and follow-up visits.

12. Review and approve, by signature and date, all required service plans, and termination reports.

13. Review two cases per year per FTBS Direct Worker.

14. Must identify areas of additional support while utilizing the BECCI fidelity tool for each staff person and communicate those needs to their Program Manager to inform topics for Learning Groups.

2) Volume of Service

a. Clients –The bidder must estimate the number of clients on the Schedule B Pricing.

b. Unit Definition(s): One unit equals one hour of contractor’s time providing face-to-face contacts with the referred family, time spent attending required training, travel time spent to and from a face-to-face contact, travel time spent to and from an unsuccessful face-to-face contact, and travel time spent to and from required training.

c. A unit definition states how the service will be measured and documented. The unit of service must be clear, measurable, and capable of being documented. For unit rate contracts the unit definition and rate establish the basis on which the contractor will bill and be paid by MDHHS.

d. Number of Units: Enter the proposed number of units on the Schedule B Pricing.

G. Performance Outcomes During the Contract, the Contractor must demonstrate measurable progress toward the achievement of the outcomes listed below:

The following performance metrics will be tracked as part of contract management activities:

1) 95% of families should not experience a child(ren) removed from the family home and placed in out-of-home care prior to FTBS case closure.

2) 90% of families should not experience an investigation resulting in confirmed abuse or neglect within 6 months after FTBS case closure.

3) 85% of families should not experience an investigation resulting in confirmed abuse or neglect within 12 months after FTBS case closure.

4) 90% of families served should not experience a child(ren) removed from the family home and placed in out-of-home care within 6 months after FTBS case closure.

5) 85% of families served should not experience a child(ren) removed from the family home and placed in out-of-home care within 12 months after FTBS case closure.

6) 90% of families should demonstrate improvement in scores between the Initial and Final Protective Factors Assessments.

7) Utilization rate must be 85% annually and throughout the life of the contract.

2. This amendment is updating the RFP Section 3.1 Reporting to:

3.1 Reporting

The Contractor must submit to MDHHS reports that indicate the status and effectiveness of activities performed under this Contract as indicated:

A. Submit the Initial Prevention Plan (MDHHS-6058) to the referring worker within seven calendar days of completion of the first 30-days of service from the family’s date of referral.

B. Submit the Updated Prevention Plan (MDHHS-6059) to the referring worker once every 30-days within seven calendar days of completion of the report period, except when the termination occurs within ten calendar days of the end of the reporting period, in which case, a single report can be submitted to cover the contents of both the Updated Prevention Plan and Closing Prevention Plan.

C. Enter family information, data, demographics, and statistical information in the Family Preservation Contractor Data and Information Exchange SharePoint. The Share Point must be updated by the 15th of each month and include all required data and information from the previous month.

D. Submit a Closing Prevention Plan (MDHHS-6060) to the referring worker within ten days of the family leaving the Contractor’s service.

E. Submit a monthly data report by the 15th of each month to MDHHS Family Preservation Program Office. MDHHS will provide the report template which is subject to change.

F. Submit the following case reviews electronically as instructed by the MDHHS Family Preservation Program Office before the end of each contract year:

1) FTBS Supervisors review a minimum of two cases per year per FTBS Direct Worker.

2) Program Managers must review a minimum of one case per FTBS Direct Worker and one case per FTBS Supervisor per year.

In situations where the CPS case has closed, the Contractor should keep all reports listed above (a through f) in their files to be provided upon request to MDHHS.

G. Maintain program records and documentation of services provided to each family through utilization of required MDHHS forms reviewed in the MDHHS Family Preservation FTBS Training. This information must be available upon MDHHS request. For each eligible family under this Contract, these case records must include documentation of:

1. Teaching of Infant Safe Sleep teaching and practices for all families with an infant under a year old.

1. An Infant Plan of Safe Care for all substance-affected families with an infant under a year old.

1. Early On referral for all children under three years old.

1. A plan for providing 24/7 coverage on cases staffed by contingent staff.

1. Efforts to make contact with a family prior to withdrawing a case.

The Contractor should keep all reports listed above in their files to be provided upon request to MDHHS, including in situations where the Foster Care case has closed.

3. This amendment is updating the RFP Evaluation Criteria, Category D Program Implementation (Work Plan), Question D2, Evaluator Question to:

Evaluator Questions Has the bidder provided a plan that is adequate to accommodate client needs as listed in D2 (above)? If not a home-based service, is the facility where services will be provided accessible to disabled clients?

4. This amendment is updating the RFP Evaluation Criteria, Category D Program Implementation (Work Plan), Question D10, Evaluator Question to:

Evaluator Questions Did the bidder complete the chart? Using the staffing allocation proposed in the bidder’s response for C2, and the bidder’s response here for D10, is the proposed number of clients and face-to-face units to be provided reasonable?

5. This amendment is updating the RFP Evaluation Criteria, Category D Program Implementation (Work Plan), Question D14, Evaluator Question to:

Evaluator Questions Has the bidder described a plan for use of Specific Assistance funds that is reasonable and appropriate to achieve program goals? Did the bidder address all the questions required in questions 1-5 above?