FY25-002 Sole Source: Northwestern Univ. Trauma/Behavioral Health Research and CANS Project TP

The State of Illinois, through the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is seeking to award a sole source contract to Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Mental Health Services and Policy Program (NU/MHSPP). The contract will provide a range of services over a one-year term from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, with no renewal options. The services requested cover areas such as the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment, trauma treatment, residential treatment, service provider administration, youth placement, and various evaluation and review programs. NU/MHSPP will provide technical assistance, training, data collection and analysis, research, and other services for 15 DCFS programs. DCFS has justified the sole source award based on NU/MHSPP's unique qualifications, proprietary programs, and decade-long history of providing these specialized services to DCFS.

The total estimated value of the initial one-year term is $3,800,110. DCFS has determined that no other vendor has the requisite experience and expertise to replicate these services at a comparable cost, and that transitioning the work to a new vendor would be time-consuming, cost-intensive, and risk losing critical institutional knowledge. There are no set-aside designations or restrictions on the type of organizations that can respond, as this is a sole source procurement. NU/MHSPP has been the incumbent vendor for these services since 2007, totaling over $55 million in contracts with DCFS.