MDHHS - Foster Care Respite Program

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued RFP 230000002224 on June 1, 2023, to procure regionalized Foster Care Respite Program services across 11 service regions throughout Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas. The program seeks to provide temporary relief to foster families, adoptive families, and relative caregivers by delivering six primary services: recruitment of respite families, family support services and community-based activities, initial licensing certification of respite homes, additional licensing assessments, facilitation of respite placements, and in-home support services for qualifying caregivers. Deliverables include monthly comprehensive reports on recruitment progress, licensure status, respite capacity and utilization, in-home support services provision, and support group activities, with pricing structured as one-hour units for recruitment and respite placement facilitation, per-activity pricing for family support, per-family pricing for licensing services, and one-hour units for in-home support. Key performance outcomes include achieving 100% prevention of maltreatment in respite placements, maintaining 90% family satisfaction rates, licensing 90% of prospective families within 180 days, retaining 75% of families annually, and meeting recruitment goals at 20% completion by six months, 50% by one year, and 100% by two years. Bidders must hold a current license as a Child Placing Agency or be in the process of obtaining such licensure within three months of contract award. The RFP required a pre-proposal meeting on June 8, 2023, with bidder questions due by June 14, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and answers posted by June 16, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern; proposals were due July 13, 2023 at 1:59 p.m. Eastern, with an anticipated contract start date of October 1, 2023. Technical evaluation criteria assigned 50% weight to Statement of Work compliance, 20% to a second evaluation section, 15% to a third section, and 15% to vendor questions responses, requiring a minimum score of 80 points to advance to pricing evaluation.

The RFP contains no specific set-asides or restrictions on organizational type beyond the licensure requirement for Child Placing Agencies. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the solicitation documents. Vendors with existing Community Mental Health Service Program contracts remain eligible to respond and may maintain separate CMHSP contracts simultaneously, with the State facilitating coordination between respite service providers and local Community Mental Health Service Programs. The anticipated contract period spans three years with potential renewal for up to four additional one-year periods at the State's discretion, with pricing remaining firm throughout the entire term unless justified by documented cost changes substantiated by evidence such as Consumer Price Index data. Total statewide funding across the three-year initial contract period amounts to $29,935,885.29, with annual statewide expenditures of approximately $9,978,628.43 distributed proportionally across regions based on estimated child population served; individual regional annual funding ranges from $41,895.26 for Region 1a (Upper Peninsula counties) to $2,900,000.00 for Region 5B (Wayne County), calculated to support the procurement and maintenance of 668 minimum respite beds statewide serving approximately 5,090 children. All invoices must be submitted monthly with comprehensive reporting, and the State will pay undisputed invoices within 45 days of receipt via electronic funds transfer, subject to service credits of 5% per invoice for the first five non-compliance occurrences annually and 10% for subsequent failures to meet performance outcomes.