Outpatient Treatment for Court Involved Children and Families

Dane County, Wisconsin is seeking a contractor to provide outpatient behavioral health treatment services for court-involved children ages 0-9 and their families through a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the Department of Human Services. The procurement targets a program serving children referred by Child Protective Services, Youth Justice Social Workers, or Joining Forces for Families Social Workers, specifically focusing on families experiencing or at risk of court intervention due to child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and related issues. The contract will be effective for one year with potential renewal for four additional one-year periods, with a targeted service delivery of 609 treatment units annually (defined as one hour of client service). Proposal submissions are due by May 30, 2025 at 11:59 pm, with vendor notifications planned for August 2025. Evaluation criteria will assess program overview, strategies and activities, experience and qualifications, quality improvement, and cost, with a total possible score of 105 points. Proposers will be required to maintain a minimum staffing level of 0.8 FTE and limit administrative expenses to 15% of the total program budget.

The RFP does not explicitly outline specific set-aside designations, but does provide a local vendor preference mechanism where Dane County vendors receive an automatic 5-point scoring advantage, and vendors from adjacent counties receive 2 points. The current service provider is Rainbow Project, and the contractor will be expected to seek BadgerCare and other medical assistance reimbursements, with Dane County serving as the payer of last resort. While specific budget ranges are not comprehensively detailed, the cost proposal workbook indicates that pricing will be evaluated with the lowest-cost proposal receiving the most cost criteria points. The program aims to accommodate both court-involved and uninsured children, with final pricing and payment terms to be negotiated prior to contract execution. Vendors must demonstrate organizational capacity to bill for discrete service units and will be evaluated based on cost reasonableness and available Dane County funding.