Peer Personnel Training and Placement

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) is issuing Request for Application (RFA) #15-8274 to procure Peer Personnel Training and Placement services for the Public Mental Health System. The primary objective is to fund organizations that will support, train, and place individuals as peer personnel through comprehensive activities including recruitment, outreach, career counseling, training, and placement support. Specific training requirements include instruction in crisis management, suicide prevention, recovery planning, and targeted case management. Contractors must develop programs that are no longer than one academic year or nine consecutive months and achieve an 80% placement rate to receive full payment for placement services. Key evaluation criteria will include the organization's experience in training individuals with lived experience as consumers, family members, and caregivers. The RFA timeline includes critical dates such as a mandatory pre-application conference on April 14, 2016, with written questions due by April 5, 2016, and final applications due on May 17, 2016 at 3:30 PM PDT. The proposed grant agreement period will run from June 30, 2016 through June 30, 2018.

Eligible applicants are limited to counties, community-based organizations, and educational institutions capable of identifying peer personnel needs within the public mental health system. The funding source is the Mental Health Services Act Workforce Education and Training Program and the Budget Act of 2013, with a total minimum funding amount of $2,000,000 and individual grant agreements not to exceed $500,000. Budget allocations are tightly controlled, with specific percentage limitations for each activity category: recruitment/outreach (5% max), career counseling (20% max), training (40% max), financial assistance (10% max), placement (35% minimum), support (20% max), evaluation (5% max), and indirect costs (10% max). Organizations currently holding other OSHPD grants are eligible to apply but cannot co-mingle funds from different awards. The program allows for placements in both paid and volunteer positions, including newly hired employees, volunteer staff, and existing volunteers transitioning to paid roles. The Notice of Intent to Award is scheduled for June 10, 2016 at 4:00 PM PDT, with a proposed grant agreement start date of June 30, 2016.