Peer Parent Mentor Services

The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is conducting a statewide Request for Proposals (RFP) for Peer Parent Mentor Services targeting families involved with child welfare. The procurement seeks to identify community partners who can provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed, client-centered, and family-focused mentoring services to parents. These services will support both front-end interventions to prevent child welfare involvement and in-home support to facilitate early family reunification. Proposers must demonstrate expertise in delivering services that help stabilize families, with an emphasis on employing staff with lived experience in child welfare systems. The RFP includes multiple proposal opening dates scheduled for November 13, 2023, February 12, 2024, May 6, 2024, and August 5, 2024, with anticipated Notice of Intent to Award dates two weeks after each opening. Proposers must submit detailed implementation plans, proposed budgets, staff qualifications, referral protocols, and demonstrate capabilities for collaboration with ODHS. The initial contract term is anticipated to be two years with potential renewals up to a cumulative maximum of five years.

The RFP strongly encourages participation from Culturally Specific Organizations and prioritizes proposers who employ individuals with direct lived experience as parents previously involved with child welfare. A specific COBID (Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity) Outreach Plan is required, mandating proposers to describe strategies for soliciting and including minority-owned, woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and emerging small businesses in subcontracting opportunities. The state anticipates awarding multiple contracts across different districts, with recent Notices of Intent to Award already issued to organizations like Morrison Child and Family Services, Next Step Mentoring, Family Tree Relief Nursery, Best Care Treatment Services, and Lifeways, Inc. ODHS intends to provide start-up costs and support training and development for successful proposers. While specific budget ranges were not explicitly detailed, the state will offer an initial start-up payment to cover facility, staff, and supply preparation costs, with monthly invoicing anticipated for ongoing service delivery.