Michigan.gov/MiProcurement Schedule A3 – Statement of Work Request for Proposal No.260000000897 Michigan Peer Warmline This schedule identifies the anticipated requirements of any Contract resulting from this RFP. The term “Contractor” in this document refers to a bidder responding to this RFP, as well as the Contractor who is awarded the contract. The term “Bidder” is used to identify where specific responses to the RFP are required.

The Contractor must respond to each requirement or question and explain how it will fulfill each requirement. Attach any supplemental information and appropriate reference within your response.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO CONTRACTORS/BIDDERS: There are specific requirements for which acceptance must be simply acknowledged through a checkbox(es), and others that require further explanation. Click the appropriate checkbox and complete the entries as appropriate.

BACKGROUND

The Michigan Integrated Crisis and Access Line (MiCAL) is a statewide initiative, intended to provide omni-channel communication methods to provide information, referral, and access to all Michiganders as outlined in the Michigan Mental Health Code at MCL 330.1165. As outlined in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 2025 National Guidelines for a Behavioral Health Coordinated System of Crisis Care, a peer-operated behavioral health warmline provides empathetic listening and peer support to individuals who may be experiencing distress, loneliness, or who are seeking validation from a peer with lived experience. The Contractor(s) must use the State-owned and managed phone system and behavioral health customer relationship management system (BH CRM) for the intake of calls, text messages, and/or chats.

SCOPE

MiCAL will provide comprehensive support for Michiganders through phone, text, and/or chat on multiple call lines. All services will be integrated into broader crisis services systems in Michigan. The Michigan Peer Warmline functions as one of MiCAL’s separate call lines and provides support to individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions. Prospective Contractors must hire and/or employ staff that reside in the state of Michigan. The scope of services for the Michigan Peer Warmline includes the following:

Contractor must operate the State of Michigan Peer Warmline from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week, 365 days a year according to best practice standards. The Peer Warmline is intended to answer calls from individuals aged 18 and older in the State of Michigan.

Requirements General Requirements Operate the Michigan Peer Warmline call line to provide individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions with support from MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialists and MDHHS Certified Peer Recovery Coaches with lived experience.

Contractor must staff this warmline with MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialists or MDHHS certified Peer Recovery Coaches.

Contractor will warm transfer and/or provide resources to those under the age of 18 to lines that are age appropriate.

Certified Peer Support Specialist staff will follow the Certified Peer Code of Ethics and the principles contained within. https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Keeping-Michigan-Healthy/BH-DD/Recovery-and-Substance-Use/Peer_Support_Training_Application.dotx?rev=f7fc0afc99ad48508283ef1c67f16598&hash=C99982143496E43D88A47DDD23E9E21E Certified Peer Recovery Coach staff will follow the Certified Peer Recovery Coach Code of Ethics and the principles contained within. https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Keeping-Michigan-Healthy/Mental-Health/Peer-Recovery/Peer_Recovery_Coach_Code_of_Ethics.pdf?rev=7d29b71cc6a3416a84e855e5463f4740&hash=1ABDB9B299D24EDEA98EB9386A36E8C8 Any work product developed for this Contract, including but not limited to processes, procedures, and training will be owned by the State. All processes, procedures, and training created for this Contract are subject to continuous improvement and are contingent upon approval by MDHHS and potentially DTMB Agency Services, in cases where the work products impact functionality of the Behavioral Health Customer Relationship Management (BH CRM) system.

Contractor must notify the Program Manager at MDHHS within the first hour by email or phone for any line outages or system interruptions.

Contractor must leverage understanding of Michigan’s behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment system and honor the rights and protections afforded to the residents of Michigan per the Mental Health Code.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

Please share your implementation strategy for ensuring the Michigan Peer Warmline is successful in providing support to individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions.

What role should a peer warmline play in the mental health system?

Describe any past experience you have providing support and/or services to individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions.

Please share your past experience working with MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialists and MDHHS Certified Recovery Coaches.

Program Requirements The Michigan Peer Warmline will operate from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week, unless mutually agreed upon in writing by the Contractor and MDHHS.

Michigan Peer Warmline callers will be limited to one call per day.

Contractor must develop and implement policies and procedures in line with state and national peer competencies, including peer crisis practices and warmline protocol. Policies and procedures must be approved by MDHHS.

Contractor must develop policies and procedures to transfer individuals in crisis to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

The Warmline will have training practices in line with state and national peer competencies, including peer crisis practices and warmline protocol, and the Contractor will partner with MDHHS staff in identifying and working toward implementation of best practice standards.

The Warmline staff must have access to a supervisor at all times that is a MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialist or an MDHHS Certified Peer Recovery Coach.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

Describe how the peer support model will be maintained and how delivery of clinical or crisis counseling services will be avoided.

Describe your approach to supporting individuals who try to contact the line more than once per day.

Describe the criteria and procedures used to transfer individuals to crisis services when necessary.

Define the difference between individuals who are considered “abusive” callers and individuals with mental health symptomology and your approach with each population.

Describe how peer staff will be supported during operations, including supervisory oversight.

Describe confidentiality practices specific to supporting individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions.

Quality Improvement Contractor must develop and implement a written quality monitoring and improvement process based on goals developed jointly between MDHHS and the Contractor. Goals will be developed from relevant best practices and call line metrics. Contractor must review sources of information including but not limited to call and encounter monitoring forms, critical incidents, stakeholder feedback, and answer rate. This plan will be reviewed and approved by MDHHS.

Call and encounter monitoring must include ongoing randomized review of interactions. Two call interaction monitoring and two encounter reviews will be conducted on each staff member each month.

All monitoring data must be made available to MDHHS. The Contractor must provide monthly summaries of quality monitoring activity, trends, and correction actions to MDHHS.

Confidentiality The Contractor must maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of client information that is used in connection with the performance of this Contract to the extent and under the conditions specified in HIPAA, the Michigan Mental Health Code (PA 258 of 1974, as amended), the Michigan Public Health Code (PA 368 of 1978 as amended), and 42 CFR Part 2.

All beneficiary information, medical records, data and data elements collected, maintained, or used in the administration of this Contract must be protected by the Contractor from unauthorized disclosure.

Contractor must provide safeguards that restrict the use or disclosure of information concerning beneficiaries to purposes directly connected with its administration of the Contract.

Contractor must have written policies and procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of data, including medical records and client information.

Written policies and procedures related to all applicable privacy and confidentiality laws are to be reviewed and updated annually by Contractor’s designated Privacy Officer.

Contractor’s Privacy Officer must attend conferences and training to remain up to date on changes to laws and keep current best practices.

Contractor must ensure that all staff are trained on all applicable laws respecting individual and consumer privacy.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

Please provide an example of when you made a change to improve quality and how it was determined change was needed.

Please describe the quality monitoring process you would implement for the Michigan Peer Warmline, referencing past experience as applicable.

Describe confidentiality practices specific to supporting individuals living with persistent mental health and/or substance use conditions.

Staff Qualifications, Training and Support The Contractor must provide the following training:

Contractor must ensure all staff have appropriate training, education, experience, appropriate licensure, and liability insurance coverage to fulfill the requirements of the positions.

The manager of the Peer Warmline must be an MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialist.

Must ensure that Peer Warmline staff receive supervision from a MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialist or an individual who holds certification as an MDHHS Certified Peer Recovery Coach.

Contractor must ensure that all employees receive annual training in recipient rights protection.

All employees are required to take at the time of hire and annually thereafter HIPAA training.

Contractor must ensure Peer Warmline staff receive training from an MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialist. Training will include but is not limited to Peer Warmline orientation training, suicide prevention, crisis training, use of self-disclosure, and training on specialty populations.

MDHHS will reimburse expenses related to MDHHS Certified Peer Support Specialists’ continuing education units required to maintain certification. Continuing education must be relevant to current position.

Contractor must develop and implement a training plan for all staff based on needs identified through Quality Improvement, changes in best practices, and cultural sensitivity to foster continued growth of staff skills and abilities.

Must leverage a crisis debriefing and supervision model that aligns with peer support values and competencies.

Any other training required by MDHHS. All trainings utilized will be approved by MDHHS.

The Contractor must provide documentation and training materials to MDHHS upon request.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must explain its training capabilities and any training that is included in its proposal:

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

Describe how staff competency will be evaluated prior to independently handling contacts.

Describe your training approach and the training curriculum you would utilize to train staff for this line. Provide any documentation and training material examples. Please cite any experience you have in training staff on this topic.

Describe how peer staff are trained to maintain readiness and appropriate peer role boundaries.

Describe how you would support peer and recovery coach staff in the continuing education and maintenance of their certification.

Describe your crisis debriefing and supervision model and how it aligns with peer support values and competencies.

How do you support call staff when they are working with individuals whose mental health symptomology can be stressful and unpleasant for the call staff?

Describe the process for providing feedback and corrective actions.

Describe strategies used to retain staff and prevent burnout.

Staffing Work Hours The Contractor must provide Contract Activities 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M., seven days a week.

Staffing Levels Staffing levels are determined by MDHHS based on service level need and available funding and are subject to change at the State’s discretion. If staffing expectations change, the Program Manager or designee will provide written notice. MDHHS is aware administrative staffing structure may vary based on organizational structure. Final staffing levels will be determined before the actual contract is finalized.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

With these anticipated staffing levels in mind, please submit your hiring plan as part of the project plan referenced in Schedule A, Statement of Work, 3.1, including details on how you will achieve full staffing levels within the 90-day transition period.

Data Reporting Requirements Contractor will work with MDHHS to enable it to collect the following data, including call volume, average speed of answer, average length of call, call abandonment rate, number of referrals provided. Call data must be collected in conjunction with the State’s CRM.

Service level for the Michigan Peer Warmline will be reported on a weekly and monthly basis in a report that is shared with MDHHS monthly.

Service level is set at a 90% answer rate within 15 seconds.

Service level should never drop below 70% in 20 seconds.

If the rate drops below 70%, Contractor will complete a review protocol preapproved by MDHHS which includes a written explanation on why this metric wasn’t met and steps to improve.

The following items should be reported to MDHHS on a monthly basis:

Number of referrals Number of follow up calls Abandoned calls Interaction monitoring and encounter reviews Average handle time of interactions Staff occupancy rates Employee vacancy and turnover.

If reporting timelines are not met, Contractor will complete a review protocol preapproved by MDHHS which includes a written explanation of why this wasn’t met and steps to improve.

List all exception(s):

Bidder must describe how they comply with the above requirement(s):

Please share your experience which will allow you to be successful meeting the requirements in this section.

Please describe your process for gathering data and compiling reports, citing specific examples from your experience.

Please provide your answer rate for calls in the past year, if applicable.

Please Note: Should bidders require clarification or have any questions with regard to the SLAs, they should submit them during the Question and Answer Period of this solicitation; please see the Proposal Instructions for the timeline.

4. Service Level (SLA) Service Level Agreements for this Contract will be as follows:

4.1 The Contractor will be held accountable to meet the requirements and the service level requirements established in this Contract.

4.2 The State reserves the right to reconsider or amend SLA amounts for split awards should they occur, if a Contract supports more than one SOW.

SLA Metric 1.Call Center Service Level

Service level should never drop below 70% in 20 seconds.

Contractor must notify MDHHS within the first hour by email or phone for any line outages or system interruptions.

1. $100 credit applied to the next invoice or a check to the State of Michigan will be assessed for each of the first five occurrences of non-compliance in a given calendar year.

2. $500 credit will be applied to the next invoice or a check to the State of Michigan will be assessed beginning with the sixth occurrence of non-compliance and on each occurrence thereafter in a given calendar year.

Extenuating circumstances will be reviewed by the Program Manager before any Service Credits are assessed.

3. At the discretion of the State, these credits will be applied toward any payable due to the Contractor or be payable directly to the State. Payments made directly to the State will be completed within 10 days of notice of assessment.

List all exception(s):

SLA Metric 2. Proper Invoicing

All invoices submitted to the State must include a) date; b) invoice number; c) breakdown into personnel expenses, operating expenses, and indirect rate; d) total price

1. 1. $100 credit applied to the next invoice or a check to the State of Michigan may be assessed for each of the first five occurrences of non-compliance in a given calendar year.

2. $500 credit will be applied to the next invoice or a check to the State of Michigan may be assessed beginning with the sixth occurrence of non-compliance and on each occurrence thereafter in a given calendar year.

Extenuating circumstances will be reviewed by the Program Manager before any Service Credits are assessed.

At the discretion of the State, these credits may be applied toward any payable due to the Contractor or be payable directly to the State. Payments made directly to the State will be completed within 10 days of notice of assessment.

List all exception(s):

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