Employee Assistance Program, including Elder Care, Traumatic Event Counseling, and Substance Abuse Professional Services

The City of Phoenix is soliciting proposals for a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program, including elder care, traumatic event counseling, and substance abuse professional services, with sealed offers due July 10, 2026 by 2:00 p.m. via the City's Procurement Portal. The five-year contract commences April 1, 2027. Written inquiries are due June 22, 2026 by 2:00 p.m., with City responses due July 2, 2026.

Minimum qualifications require at least five years' experience administering an EAP with the specified service components, five consecutive years serving comparable public and private entities, and a minimum of 300 behavioral health professionals within Maricopa County. The contractor must serve approximately 15,000 full and part-time City employees, 1,395 part-time employees, and 10,319 retirees with 24/7 telephonic intake by master's-level clinicians, appointments within five business days for non-emergency cases, and same-day or 24-hour access for urgent situations. Core services include short-term confidential counseling (up to twelve sessions per incident annually), crisis intervention, substance abuse assessment, and grief counseling. Traumatic event counseling for eligible public safety personnel must provide up to 36 sessions per event with licensed mental health professionals, available within 15 minutes by telephone and four hours on-site. Elder care services must encompass telephone counseling, geriatric assessments, in-home assessments nationwide, and transition coordination. The contractor must establish a core account management team, achieve 90 percent or higher client satisfaction, submit quarterly utilization reports, and maintain strict HIPAA compliance. Implementation must be completed within 90 days of award, with all services operational by April 1, 2027. All work must be performed within the United States; offshore subcontracting is prohibited.

Evaluation criteria are method of approach (45%), qualifications and experience (32.5%), and pricing proposal (22.5%). Pricing must be firm and fixed for the entire five-year term, with price decreases permitted without supporting documentation. The City self-bills monthly based on actual employee and retiree counts; no advance payments are authorized. Offerors must provide bonding ability and submit a performance surety equal to 10 percent of the total contract amount within fourteen days of award. Offers remain firm for 240 days from solicitation opening. A Most Favored Nations clause applies, requiring offerors to provide the City with more favorable fee schedules if offered to similarly sized clients. The City reserves the right to award one or more contracts.