Housing Stability Services

The State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services is issuing Request for Proposals (RFP #202603033) to procure Housing Stability Services (HSS) for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness across seven designated geographic hubs throughout Maine. The procurement seeks qualified service providers to deliver comprehensive support including case management, housing support activities, behavioral health crisis intervention, community linkages, and harm reduction services utilizing a Housing First model. Bidders must propose services for a minimum of ten housing units with at least twenty hours per week of in-person support per participant and select a single hub area for their proposal. Key deliverables and objectives include achieving eighty percent lease execution within forty-five days of program entry, maintaining eighty percent lease retention at ninety percent occupancy, limiting housing quality standard inspection failures to less than five percent, and ensuring eighty-five percent of program exits transition to non-time-limited stable housing. Required qualifications include MaineCare provider certification or commitment to achieve such certification within ninety days of contract start, establishment of formal partnerships with healthcare and behavioral health providers, property-based partnerships with housing providers documenting availability of at least ten units, and multidisciplinary staffing teams where all personnel possess at least one year of experience or lived experience with homelessness. Proposals will be evaluated on a 100-point scale comprising Organization Qualifications and Experience (30 points), Proposed Services (40 points), and Cost Proposal and Budget Narrative (30 points, with 25 points for cost and five points for narrative responsiveness). Critical deadlines include an informational meeting on March 27, 2026, at 2:30 p.m. via Zoom; written questions due by March 30, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.; Notice of Intent to Bid due April 24, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.; and proposals due May 4, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. via the Vendor Self Service System.

Bidders must comply with specific restrictions, including prohibitions on owning or maintaining financial interests in properties where HSS services are provided, and must secure letters of commitment from property owners documenting unit availability. There are no specific set-aside designations mentioned for disadvantaged enterprises in the procurement documents. The contract term runs from July 1, 2026, through March 31, 2028, with two optional renewal periods extending through March 31, 2030, and March 31, 2031, respectively. Multiple awards are anticipated with distribution based on available funding across the identified hub areas; however, specific budget ranges or award values are not disclosed in the RFP, with costs subject to negotiation based on proposed service capacity and efficiency. Awarded bidders must participate in the Maine Continuum of Care Homeless Management Information System and comply with extensive reporting requirements including quarterly performance measures reports, monthly operational reports, annual narrative reports, participant satisfaction surveys, and critical incident reporting. All services must align with Housing First principles and emphasis on relationship building and harm reduction, with services tailored to individual participant needs without requiring participation as a condition of housing retention.