The vendor is required to provide community-based outreach and advocacy services are designed to actively seek and engage hard-to-reach vulnerable youth and families, to increase access to services by addressing immediate and long-term needs through the provision of case management, integration of social services, and referral for services.
- Advocacy services are equally necessary in improving access and equity to underserved and vulnerable youth and families.
- The overall goal is to mitigate negative youth outcomes by connecting youth and their family to services that address risk factors, build natural supports, and promote resilience.
- Engage community members to actively participate in identifying and prioritizing needs and services offered to ensure the appropriateness of services for the target population.
- Include data or input gathered from the target population and other community-based organizations to justify the needs for the proposed geographical location(s).
- Include rates on social-economic indicators such as illegal substance usage, neighborhood violence, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and other risk behaviors prevalent for youth of the identified community or geographical area proposed to serve.
- Applicants shall assess the community’s readiness for the proposed services, including identifying and justifying the need for services.
- The prioritized group(s) or sub-population(s) and describe how they will benefit from proposed service delivery.
- Problem(s), such as pertinent risk factors, barriers, and service gaps.
- Assets, including protective factors, available services, and resources.
- identify best ways target population can be reached, given the problems and assets identified.
- Goals to be addressed and what needs to be done to reach proposed goals.
- Provide evidence-based trauma-informed practice in service delivery that effectively assist youth to successfully engage in services and achieve short- and long-term outcomes.
- The applicant shall ensure the physical and emotional environment is a youth-centered welcoming place, where both youth and staff feel safe.
- Principles of trauma-informed care include creating a physical and emotionally safe environment, establishing trust and boundaries, supporting youth to be autonomous, and encouraging them to make choices; principles support creating collaborative relationships and participation opportunities and using a strengths and empowerment-focused perspective to promote their resilience.
- Protocols for a trauma-informed environment and responses shall include but not be limited to:
a. Promote a sense of calmness and nurturance.
b. Minimize traumatic stress or re-traumatization.
c. Promote youth privacy from other program participants, when appropriate.
d. Promote emotional healing.
e. Safety practices that minimize risk.
- Provide an inclusive environment for all youth and families; inclusive spaces are safer spaces for marginalized youth, where the physical space is warm and welcoming; beyond the physical space, inclusive spaces create an environment conducive to sharing, learning, and growing.
- Inclusive environment is most responsive when staff are aware of the inequalities faced by marginalized youth, including those with intersectional identities.
- Services and activities shall be sensitive to the unique needs, characteristics, and learning styles of participants; to the extent possible, services should match the social, emotional, and cognitive ability of all youth.
- Provide all youth and families equitable access to services; ensure that all youth, regardless of racial, religious, cultural or language background have access to services; equitable access is an integral part of service delivery that facilitates identification and removal of access barriers, such as preventing people from knowing, using, and participating in services.
- Applicants shall identify creative and non-traditional approaches to engage target population, such as meeting youth and families in the home, shelter, park, beach, or other community locations to enable engagement with hard-to-reach or resistant youth and families.
• Provide outreach services that will increase service access, decrease barriers, and provide benefits and opportunities to the target population.
• Outreach services includes providing information to increase knowledge or skill and advocacy on behalf of the youth and family; the applicant shall describe the types of strategies it will utilize to reach and connect with youth and families, including but not limited to:
1. Flexible schedules (e.g., afternoons, evenings, weekends etc.).
2. Non-traditional settings (e.g., home, park, beach, etc.).
3. Identify cultural barriers and describe how services will be culturally sensitive.
4. Connect with other agencies or individuals who have knowledge and access to proposed population.
5. Program marketing, identify how the services will become visible to the target population and community partners that may serve as referral sources or referral for services.
- Contract Period/Term: 2 years
- Virtual Orientation Date: February 27, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: March 7, 2025