PROMISE Mental Health Group Homes

The State of Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to procure professional services for operating PROMISE Mental Health Group Homes in Sussex County, Delaware. The procurement seeks a qualified organization to provide Community-Based Residential Alternative services in a group home setting serving five to ten individuals enrolled in the PROMISE program who have severe and persistent mental illness requiring 24/7 care across Tiers 3, 4, and 5. Deliverables include residential services, psychiatric and clinical care coordination, staffing across multiple tiers with specific full-time equivalent allocations including psychiatrists, clinicians, associate clinicians, nurses, and residential service assistants, and compliance with Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) rules and trauma-informed care practices. Key objectives include establishing quality outcome measures, submitting monthly usage reports detailing emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, staffing adequacy, medication adherence, and community engagement, and maintaining digital accessibility standards. Required qualifications include current Delaware licensure and Medicaid certification, minimum insurance coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$3,000,000 aggregate for Commercial General Liability and Medical/Professional Liability, and compliance with background check requirements for employees accessing state property or serving vulnerable populations. The RFP is being evaluated based on five criteria: Experience and Reputation (20 points), Expertise (25 points), Capacity to Meet Requirements (15 points), Soundness of Approach (30 points), and Sustainability (10 points). Key deadlines include a question submission deadline of May 21, 2026 at 4:30 PM EST, response to questions by May 29, 2026, proposal deadline of July 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM EDT, and estimated award notification of July 30, 2026. Proposals must be submitted electronically through Euna Procurement (formerly Bonfire) at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com, and no pre-bid meeting has been scheduled.

The RFP does not explicitly detail set-aside designations or restrictions on entity types, though vendors must provide diverse vendor certifications as part of their submission package. All responding vendors must submit a notarized Non-Collusion Statement, disclose any federal, state, or local government suspensions or debarments affecting the firm or key personnel within the past five years, provide a minimum of three business references of similar scope, and disclose all proposed subcontractors with corresponding documentation. The contract will be reimbursed through Medicaid funding under the PROMISE Home and Community-Based Services waiver program, and no specific incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the solicitation materials. The contract will be for an initial three-year term with two optional one-year extensions, and the budget worksheet template provided indicates cost categories for staff salaries, fringe benefits, travel and training, contractual expenses, supplies, equipment, and indirect costs, though specific award values or budget ranges are not disclosed in the available procurement documents.