R -- JUVENILE JUSTICE INITIATIVE FOR ONGOING POLICY DIALOGUE RELATED TO EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED YOUTH WITH, OR AT RISK FOR, JUVENILE JUSTICE INVOLVELENT

Notice Date

July 13, 2001

Contracting Office

Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857

ZIP Code

20857

Solicitation Number

Reference-Number-01M008731

Response Due

August 13, 2001

Point of Contact

Jo Lasko, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-443-3589, Fax 301-443-3238, Email jlasko@psc.gov -- Mariann Mink, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-443-9266, Fax 301-443-3238, Email mmink@psc.gov

Description

Sources Sought The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Division of Knowledge Development and Systems Change (DKDSC), through the Division of Acquisition Management, PSC, is going to award a twelve (12) month simplified acquisition. The title of this project is: Juvenile Justice Initiative for Ongoing Policy Dialogue Related to Emotionally Disturbed Youth with, or at Risk for, Juvenile Justice Involvement. =09 Background: Children and adolescents with mental health problems that have not been adequately addressed may begin to engage in activity which places them at risk for involvement in the legal system, particularly those with untreated disruptive behavioral disorders. The magnitude of this phenomenon is significant: several prevalence studies of mental health disorders have been conducted on detained youth over the past two decades, yielding occurrence rates ranging from approximately half to over three quarters of the population studied. In addition to mental health problems, several other risk factors are prevalent among juvenile justice clients, including: low socio-economic status; poor school performance; chronic health problems; family conflict; abuse and neglect; and care-giver substance abuse, legal, or mental health problems. Communities thus face a host of challenges when working with such youth because their special needs can span several systems, including Juvenile Justice, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Special Education, and Child Welfare. At a systems level, there is often tension over which agency or agencies should be legally and financially responsible for attending to the complex needs of these youth. Additionally, many private providers are unwilling to work with such children because of their disruptive behavior. In order for local areas to optimally address these factors, ongoing dialogue and collaboration must take place between lawmakers, providers, advocates, consumers, and public child-serving agencies so as to identify and address needs, barriers, and strategies associated with serving emotionally disturbed youth with legal difficulties. Under a previous contract the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) conducted four Policy Forums on the topic of emotionally disturbed offenders in the juvenile justice system. These forums were hosted by local MHA affiliates in the following areas: Montgomery County, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Niagara County, New York; and Orange County, North Carolina. For each of these Forums, NMHA collaborated with their local MHA agencies to complete the following: 1. identify potential panelists and audience members; 2. prepare facilitator questions; 3. organize and conduct the forum; 4. make available various reference materials for audience, members and panelists to take with them; 5. identify key policy objectives derived from each forum; and 6. follow-up with the communities on on-going efforts to address the policy objectives formulated at the forums. =09 Each forum was structured slightly differently in accordance with the needs and concerns of the local community site. Among the four forums, attendees (either in the audience or on the panel) included: representative of state and local mental health and juvenile justice agencies; teachers; police officers; state and county delegates; providers; advocates; teen consumers; family members; and judges. Some of the policy objectives that were formulated at these sessions include: the need to develop comprehensive aftercare plans for youth leaving juvenile justice facilities; training of teachers and school administrators to better identify youth with emotional problems; support for parent advocacy groups; enhanced data collection on the numbers of youth in the juvenile justice system with mental health problems; and the need for a statewide, integrated system to serve juvenile justice youth. By funding the organization, facilitation, and follow up of these policy forums, CMHS is able to: enhance the Center?s understanding of the challenges faced by diverse local communities in working with emotionally disturbed delinquent children; stimulate dialogue that can have an impact upon local funding and policy decisions; and support the efforts of local regions seeking to address systems-level barriers to service for high-risk youth. Statement of Work: =09 Purpose/General Objective: =09 The purpose of this project is to promote policy dialogues at the state and local level to address the needs of emotionally disturbed youth with (or at risk for) involvement in the juvenile justice system as a means of fostering collaboration and addressing systems level barriers that impede access to services for these children. Specific Objectives: A. Report on the progress generated in the area of addressing juvenile mental health in three communities as a result of Policy Forums held in the Fall of 2000. B. Construct a list of critical topic areas of concern to be addressed in future policy forums and other policy-level initiatives aimed at improving services for emotionally disturbed youth with legal difficulties. C. Organize and facilitate Policy Forums in four additional communities that will enable those areas to identify problems, barriers, and strategies related to systems-level improvements for delinquent youth with mental health problems D. Provide follow-up to the four new forum sites to offer technical assistance and track progress generated as a result of the forums. 9. Tasks to be Performed: Task One: Of the four forums that it conducted in the Fall of 2000 (Montgomery County, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Niagara County, New York; and Orange County, North Carolina.), NMHA will select three to follow-up with a case-study of the on-going efforts and/or progress generated in each location as a result of the forums. =09 Task Two: Develop, vet, and finalize a list of policy topics around which to organize future forums and other policy initiatives related to addressing the needs of emotionally disturbed youth with?or at risk for?involvement in the juvenile justice system. 1. Compile a list of potential topic areas 2. Review this list with appropriate stakeholders, including but not limited to: NASMHPD, OJJDP, NAPAS, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Center for Juvenile Justice, NAMI, and the GAINS Center. 3. Utilizing input and feedback from these stakeholders, finalize a list of priority topics to submit for GPO approval. 4, Document and submit to the GPO the stakeholder feedback process, including a listing of input provided by each organization. =09 Task Three: Organize and conduct four additional policy forums. 1. Solicit the 340 MHA affiliates to submit applications to host a policy forum which will target any of the topic areas compiled in Task Two of this procurement. 2. Narrow the selection down to eight potential sites and, with the GPO, select the four MHA sites to hold forums. 3. Prior to each forum, collect relevant data on the numbers of youth involved in the local juvenile justice system (by offense type, disposition, placement settings, number of arrests vs. number adjudicated, demographic characteristics, and prevalence of mental health and/or substance abuse problems and Special Education needs, as available). Provide this data to panelists and invited guests prior to the date of the forum as background information. =09 4.Assist local MHA?s in the planning, organization, facilitation, resource distribution, and follow-up for the forum. At every forum, the following conditions must be met: ? youth consumers and parents must be involved in this process in a meaningful way; ? individuals who have the authority to make legal, financial, and/or policy decisions related to emotionally disturbed youth with?or at risk for?involvement with juvenile justice must be included on the panel and/or in the audience; and ? at least one (and preferably two) elected officials from the State legislature will be in attendance at the forum. Delegates with relevant committee participation (such as appropriations or judicial) should be selected. Task Four: Engage in follow-up for the four forums 1. Provide technical assistance to the sites on forum follow-up activities for 12 months following the session. 2. Draft and submit to the GPO for approval a process analysis document that reports for each forum observations including but not limited to: strengths and weakness, including ?lessons learned;? panel and audience composition; consumer involvement; topics addressed by the panel; facilitator questions; audience concerns/responses; barriers and strategies identified; policy objectives derived from the forum; follow-up activities; and on-going progress in the community as a result of the forum. =09 Schedule of Deliverables=20 Task One: Completed case study follow-up report on three forum sites conducted in Fall 2000. Due by 09/15/01. =20 Task Two: Develop and finalize a list of critical topic areas and submit a report on stakeholder feedback. Due by 10/15/01.=20 Task Three: Select four new forum sites and assist the local MHA affiliates hosting those forums to plan, organize, facilitate, and follow-up on those sessions. All four forums should be completed by 03/15/02. Task Four: Report detailing the process analysis and aftermath of each of the four forums. Due by 07/31/02.=20 Evaluation Criteria=20 Criteria 1: Technical Expertise ( 50 points) Bids will be evaluated for a demonstrated ability to provide comprehensive technical assistance to local MHA affiliates to plan, organize, facilitate, and follow-up on policy forums (utilizing lessons learned from previous forums), as well as the ability to identify problems, barriers, and strategies related to systems-level improvements for delinquent youth with mental health problems. Criteria 2: Research, Writing, and Follow-Up Skills (25 points) Bids will be evaluated for ability to prepare a progress report from three communities where past forums have already taken place which illuminates th e impact of those past forums on subsequent policy/program/systems change related to the juvenile justice and mental health objectives clarified at the initial meetings .=20 Criteria 3: Past Performance (25 points) Bidders will be evaluated on their past performance on similar projects. This evaluation will include the quality of the work product and the ability to meet deadlines. Bidders shall provide complete contact information for three (3) references. Offers must submit their proposal in writing, one original, plus 4 copies. Closing date for receiving proposals is August 13, 2001 by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010717/RSOL016.HTM (D-194 SN50R8F4)