RFP26006768 - SOW.pdf

2023-1.v2.04222024 RFP – Agency Solicitation Specifications Page 1 of 6 Revised 4/22/2024

RFP26006768 - AGENCY SOLICITATION SPECIFICATIONS

RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND

SECONDARY EDUCATION

TITLE: Request for Proposal-Evaluation Services-RI Psychologists for Caregiving Youth

DESCRIPTION: RIDE seeks the services of an evaluator who will track required Government

Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measures in selected LEAs, track state level measures, work with the program manager to support implementation of work to support caregiving youth across the high need LEAs and to inform continuous quality improvement feedback for efforts conducted by the project partners.

SECTION A. BACKGROUND

The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) received funding from the United States Department of Education’s School Based Mental Health Services

Program. The focus of the funding is recruitment and retention of school psychologists. There is also a focus on respecialization program pipelines for other school mental health/mental health professionals to seek credentialing as a school psychologist. The grant requires that the State identify high need LEAs including criteria used to determine it. RIDE selected caregiving youth as a population in need. RIDE leads the nation in supports for caregiving youth. The American

Psychological Association has recognized caregiving youth as a population of focus and need for school psychologists. American Association of Caregiving Youth is another research-based resource to support the needs of caregiving youth in schools. RIDE recently published Guide for

Understanding and Supporting Rhode Island’s Caregiving Youth. Rhode Island’s Psychologists for Caregiving Youth (PCY) Initiative is designed to address the acute shortage of school psychologists while expanded programming and supports for an underserved population of students: those who are caregiving for their family members at home.

This work will build on RIDE’s existing policy framework for caregiving youth. RIDE’s 2022

Secondary Regulations enabled RI to become the nation's pioneer in formally recognizing caregiving youth through regulatory adoption that defines this population and requires high schools to address their academic needs. In 2024, RIDE developed and disseminated 2024

Implementation Guidance including template policies for LEAs (local education agencies) to implement support for caregiving duties.

RIDE’s partners in the work include Tufts University, public secondary schools and a state higher education partner to establish pipeline programs for school psychology. GPRA

(Government Performance and Results Act) measures for the project include: (a) The https://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/intervention/young-caregivers?tab=2 https://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/intervention/young-caregivers?tab=2 https://aacy.org/ https://ride.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur806/files/2026-02/Caregiving_Youth_Guidebook_FINAL.pdf https://ride.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur806/files/2026-02/Caregiving_Youth_Guidebook_FINAL.pdf

2023-1.v2.04222024 RFP – Agency Solicitation Specifications Page 2 of 6 Revised 4/22/2024 unduplicated, cumulative number of new school psychologists hired for each high-need LEA as a result of the grant. (b) The unduplicated, cumulative number of school psychologists retained in high-need LEAs as a result of the grant.

(c) The ratio of students to school psychologist for each high-need LEA served by the grant, and the numbers of school psychologists and students used to calculate the ratio.

Additionally, RIDE proposed annual targets for the measures including:

1. Increase the number of school psychologists in RI by 20%, by partnering with local universities to recruit and place graduates in high-need LEAs, and offering stipends, tuition aid and loan repayment to candidates committing to serving a minimum term.

2. Empower high-need LEAs to implement a comprehensive, trauma-informed Multi-Tiered

System of Supports (MTSS) framework.

3. Increase supports for caregiving youth in RI schools by developing professional development modules for school psychologists, coordinating referrals with local services, and creating school/district plans for early identification, to ensure these students receive targeted mental health and academic supports.

RIDE will target high-priority LEAs with ≥40% of students caregiving weekly for family members. As such, high-need LEAs are identified using a data-driven approach centered on the prevalence of caregiving students. By this metric, RI’s priority LEAs are Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Central Falls, West Warwick, as shown in Table 1, and 16 charter and state school

LEAs.

Table 1: High Need LEAs. We also include 15 charter schools and a state school included below..

District % caregiving youth # of schools Student:School Psychologist

Providence 48.7 25 754:1 Pawtucket 44.3 7 1044:1 Woonsocket 45.1 4 1281:1 West Warwick 40 3 634:1 Central Falls 45.4 2 1190:1

(SurveyWorks, 2025)

Charter and State schools include: Achievement Frist, Beacon Charter, Exel Academy, Highlander Charter, Learning Community, Nuestro Mundo, Providence Preparatory Charter, RI

School for the Deaf, RI Nurses Institute Middle College, RISE Preparatory, Segue Institute for

Learning, Skip Nowell Leadership Academy, The Hope Academy, Trinity Academy for the

Performing Arts, Urban Collaborative and Village Green Virtual. These LEAs are smaller in size, therefore collaborative approaches will be explored.

SECTION B: SCOPE OF WORK AND REQUIREMENTS

The following goals and objectives are included.

Objective 1: Increase the number of school psychologists in RI by 20%.

Goal. By 2030, RIDE and its partners will increase the number of qualified school psychologists in five high priority LEAs with demonstrated need by 20% (i.e., recruiting and retaining 38 new school psychologists to add to the current 189 statewide). Progress toward this target will be quantified using the federal Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) workforce measures to demonstrate increases attributable to grant funds. Specifically, we will track school psychologists beginning service delivery within 270 days of award and sustaining impacts beyond the grant period through policy integration and local commitments. All workforce

2023-1.v2.04222024 RFP – Agency Solicitation Specifications Page 3 of 6 Revised 4/22/2024 increases supported under this goal will supplement and not supplant existing LEA or state funding.

Objective 2: Empower high-need LEAs to implement a comprehensive, trauma-informed

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework.

Goal. By 2030, RIDE and its partners will provide LEAs, with modules for Tier 1 universal screening, evidence-based Tier 2/3 intervention (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy), and trauma-informed care practices. These evidence-based practices will reach 90% of students - approximately 12,000 across high-need LEAs - with early intervention and intensive services. Fidelity will be evaluated annually using the MTSS Fidelity Rubric

(target: >80% scores), with GPRA metrics, tracking 20% annual increases in Tier 2/3 service access and 15% reductions in chronic absenteeism. All expansions will supplement, not supplant, existing LEA or state funding.

Objective 3: Increase supports for caregiving youth in Rhode Island schools.

Goal. By 2030, RIDE and partners will expand supportive services for caregiving youth statewide, focusing on high-need LEAs. RIDE will build and expand training for school psychologists to guide identification and support within existing service delivery structures.

Training will include new professional development modules plus supervision and mentoring, aligned with RI requirements for supervised practice toward school-psychologist certification where applicable.

Vendors are encouraged to align their proposals to the scoring criteria. Cover letters should include the total amount of the request and a brief summary of the proposal. The letter needs to be signed by the principal of the organization as the primary contact.

SECTION C: PROPOSAL

1. Technical Proposal

Narrative and format: Vendors must submit a technical proposal which addresses each of the following elements and is limited to six (6) pages (this excludes any appendices and as appropriate, resumes of key staff that will provide services covered by this request):

A. Staff Qualifications – Provide staff resumes/CV and describe qualifications and experience of key staff who will be involved in this project, including their experience in the evaluation of systems and support for school mental health programs.

B. Capability, Capacity, and Qualifications of the Vendor - Please provide a detailed description of the Vendor’s experience as a school based mental health program evaluator . This would include a description of system processes, tools and supports that enable LEA success in tracking required GPRA measures as well as building LEA specific supports and plans based on identified needs. List a minimum of three

(3) relevant client references, to include client names, addresses, contact names with emails and phone numbers, dates of service and type(s) of service(s) provided.

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C. Work Plan/Approach/Methodology - Please describe in detail, the framework within which requested school based mental health evaluation services will be performed. The following elements should be included:

• Develop an evaluation plan in consultation with RIDE and other stakeholders.

This will include a description of a mixed methods evaluation design to measure progress on goals and objectives related to increasing the number of school psychologists, development of trauma informed MTSS to support all youth with an emphasis on the needs of caregiving youth. Measures, at a minimum would include: life readiness skills, attendance, behavioral measures and academic engagement.

• Describe performance monitoring and evaluating (M&E) activities to guide high quality implementation of mental health programs to reach intended outcomes.

• Development of evaluation tools and protocols.

• Describe the continuous quality improvement methods that will be used to document program content and operations, and monitor ongoing processes and progress towards goals and objectives; as well as student outcomes.

• Describe data collection process and tools including: electronic data collection software that will be used, how often data will be collected; data management, staff that will be responsible for collecting and recording the data; data source/data collection instruments that will be used to collect the data; how well the data collection methods will take into consideration the language, norms and values of the population(s) of focus; how will the data be kept secure; confidentiality and consent protocols.

• Describe experience with GPRA and any customizable data management tools to support this work.

• Presentation of results to grant partners, including publication of reports and recommendations.

• Workplan and Timeline

2. Cost Proposal

Detailed Budget and Budget Narrative:

Provide a cost proposal by year for the four-year period for the required services aligned with the technical proposal , including a brief narrative of labor costs. If any funding is allocated toward other direct costs, such as travel, printing/copying, etc., please provide adequate justification within the narrative and include totals in the cost summary. Proposals will be evaluated on the total amount for the four-year period.

Supplemental Bidder Attestation Form

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See Appendix A on the “Overview” tab in Ocean State Procures™ for information. Vendors are required to complete, sign and submit this form with their overall proposal.

4. ISBE Proposal

See Appendix B on the “Overview” tab in Ocean State Procures™ for information and the MBE, WBE and/or Disability Business Enterprise Participation Plan form(s). Vendors are required to complete, sign and submit these forms with their overall proposal. Please complete separate forms for each MBE, WBE, and/or Disability Business Enterprise subcontractor to be utilized on the solicitation.

SECTION D: EVALUATION AND SELECTION - SOLICITATION SPECIFIC

Technical proposals must receive a minimum of 55 (78.5%) out of a maximum of 70 points to advance to the cost evaluation phase. Technical proposals scoring less than

55 points shall not have the accompanying cost or ISBE participation proposals opened or evaluated; such proposals shall not receive further consideration.

Technical proposals scoring 60 points or higher shall have the cost proposals evaluated and assigned up to a maximum of 30 points bringing the total potential evaluation score to 100 points. As total possible evaluation points are determined , vendor ISBE proposals shall be evaluated and assigned up to 6 bonus points for ISBE participation.

Proposals shall be reviewed and scored based upon the following criteria:

Criteria

Possible

Points

Evaluation Design Quality and Alignment to Need 30 Points

Capability, Capacity, and Qualifications of the

Vendor

20 Points

Evaluation Work Plan/Approach/Methodology

Aligned with Approved Goals and Objectives

20 Points

Total Possible Technical Points

70 Points

Cost proposal

30 Points

Total Possible Evaluation Points 100 Points

ISBE Participation 6 Bonus

Points

Total Possible Points

106 Points

Additional evaluation criteria can be found at:

• For those with an OSP account, see the “Requirements” tab of this solicitation in OSP for additional information on the evaluation and selection process in the

“RFP Standard Specification” section .

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• For those without an OSP account, public access to the full bid can be found at https://ridop.ri.gov/vendors/bidding-opportunities. Search for this solicitation, open the record, click on the “Print/Download Solicitation Summary” button in the upper right corner for all the solicitation requirements and supporting documents are found at the bottom of the page in the “Solicitation Attachments” section.

https://ridop.ri.gov/vendors/bidding-opportunities