Family Urgent Response System

The vendor is required to provide a coordinated countywide mobile response system 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year with child and family well-being (CFWB), behavioral health services (BHS), and probation department to current and former foster youth up to the age of 21, as well as caregivers.
- Provide the services described herein to accomplish the following goals:
• Ensure a live toll-free phone response system is available to receive calls and respond to referrals from the statewide family urgent response system (furs) hotline.
• Provide a mobile response and stabilization team to address situations of instability, preserve the relationship of the caregiver and the child or youth, develop healthy conflict resolution and relationship skills, promote healing as a family, and stabilize the situation.
• Ensure ongoing supportive services are provided to the youth and caregiver to help prevent placement disruptions and terminations, prevent the need for law enforcement involvement and subsequent criminalization of traumatized youth, and prevent psychiatric hospitalization and placement into congregate care.
- Contractor shall achieve the following outcome objectives:
• Respond to 100% of urgent requests within a sixty (60) minute time frame, and not to exceed three (3) hours in extenuating circumstances.
• Respond to 90% of non-urgent requests on the same-day, within twenty-four (24) hours, when requested and scheduled by the youth and caregiver.
• If needed, provide ongoing supportive services to the youth and caregiver beyond the initial mobile response for up to 72 hours.
- Target population and geographic area:
1. Target population: all children, youth, and caregivers who are referred from the statewide furs hotline to the county furs mobile response system, including:
• Caregivers who are responsible for the daily care of a current or former foster child and youth, and who is entrusted to provide a loving and supportive environment for the child and youth to promote their healing from trauma.
• Caregiver is defined broadly and includes individuals beyond a parent who are acting in the caregiving role.
• All current or former foster child and youth residing in county.
• Current or former foster child and youth is defined to include a child or youth adjudicated was served by any county welfare or probation system within state.
a child and youth who has exited foster care to reunification, guardianship, or adoption. former foster child or youth is inclusive of those that have exited as non-minor dependents and another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA).
• A current or former foster child and youth shall be eligible for services until they reach 21 years of age.
• There is no time restriction on when an exit must have occurred for former foster youth.
2. Geographical and regional service area(s) and facility and service site(s)
• Provide in-person, face to face, in-home, mobile family urgent response support and stabilization services countywide.
- Provide a live toll-free phone response system to receive calls and respond to referrals from the statewide furs hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year
- Contractor shall create and maintain a mobile response and stabilization team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year
- Contractor shall utilize a diversity of staff with specialized training in attachment theory, trauma of children or youth, and the foster care system on the mobile response and stabilization team.
- Efforts shall be made to include parent and youth peer partners in the response team, whenever possible.
- Provide an immediate in person, face to face, response based on the individualized circumstances presented during the warm transfer of communication from the state hotline.
• Contractor shall create a protocol for at least two team members to respond to all requests, circumstances or situations when more than two should respond, and exceptions for when only one team member may be needed
• Contractor shall create a process for determining when a mobile response and stabilization team will be sent or when other services will be used based on the urgent and critical needs of the caregiver, child, or youth.
• Contractor shall create a protocol for an in-person simultaneous secondary response, as needed, to support other services when utilized and ensure a trauma-informed response.
• Contractor shall create response protocols for the child or youth in family-based and congregate care settings based on guidelines developed by dept of social services (CDSS), in consultation with stakeholders
• The response protocols shall ensure protections for children and youth to minimize use of congregate care settings, psychiatric institutions, and hospital settings.
• Contractor shall create a plan for the mobile response and stabilization team to provide supportive services in the least intrusive and most child, youth, and family friendly manner, such that mobile response and stabilization teams do not trigger further trauma to the child or youth.
• Contractor shall create a process and criteria for determining responses when new information is known during or after the warm transfer from the state hotline.
• Contractor shall create a process to prioritize and respond to multiple referrals within required timeframes
• The contractor shall establish protocols to be put in place for obtaining interpreter services for limited english proficient and deaf and hard of hearing callers.
• Contractor shall create protocols in place for logging and documenting services and data collection.
• Contractor shall create a process to determine the composition of the responders, including efforts to include parent and youth peer partners, and specialized training in trauma of children or youth and the foster care system on the mobile response and stabilization team whenever possible.
• Contractor shall create a process for identifying if the child or youth has an existing child and family team so that efforts can be coordinated to address the instability, and a plan can be made for ongoing care to support the youth and caregiver relationship in a trusting and healing environment.
• Contractor shall create a process for determining existing and new services that will be used to support the mobile response and stabilization services.
• Contractor shall create a process for identifying whether the child or youth has an existing mental health treatment plan and a placement preservation strategy through child welfare or probation.
• Contractor shall create a process for coordinating response and services consistent with the plan and strategy when known.
• Contractor shall create a plan for utilizing various modes of communication to engage with children, youth, and caregivers
• Contractor shall create a plan to adjust program service delivery to meet the most current state and local covid protocols.
- Transition process
• Contractor shall create a process to transition from mobile response and stabilization services to ongoing services by establishing connections to other county or community-based supports and services to ensure continuity of care.
• Contractor shall establish a follow up protocol so that within 72 hours of the in person, face-to-face response a determination will be made if additional support or services are needed.
• Contractor shall continue to interface with youth and caregiver for up to 72 hours after the initial face to face response to determine if circumstances have changed and a revision of additional services and supports are needed.
- Contractor shall have the capability for future potential medical claiming and adherence to all medical documentation and billing requirements as outlined by the department.
- Staffing: contractor shall hire and train staff to meet the following criteria:
• An adequate number of staff to respond timely to all referrals received
• A combination of professional and paraprofessional staff to respond to the continuum of circumstances requiring an in-person mobile response.
• Individuals with experience working with child welfare, probation, and behavioral health services populations.
• Individuals with experience in crisis management, mediation, de-escalation, restorative justice and attachment and trauma-based teachings.
• Individuals will be gender and culturally responsive, who represent the demographics of clients they serve, developmentally-grounded and strengths-based.
• Utilize individuals with specialized training in trauma of children or youth and the foster care system on the mobile response and stabilization team. efforts should be made to include parent and youth peer partners on the response team.
• Contractor’s employees who work on this contract and work directly with children and youth, shall have clearances to work with minors completed by the contractor prior to employment and annually thereafter.
• Contractor shall implement and maintain a human resources plan that outlines how contractor shall recruit, hire, and retain staff that will be effective with the target population, including, though not limited to, staff that are linguistically and ethnically diverse.
• Contractor shall develop and maintain a cultural responsiveness plan
• Contractor shall identify a process to determine bilingual proficiency of staff prior to hiring.
• Contractor shall hire bilingual and bicultural staff that reflects the culture, ethnicity and language of the client population.
• Contractor shall notify contracting officer’s representative (COR) or designee in writing if a direct service staff position shall be vacant for 30 days or longer
• Contractor shall provide the COR or designee an organizational chart identifying key personnel and reporting relationships within 72 hours of any changes to organizational structure.
• A written plan for program coverage and personnel transition shall be submitted at least 72 hours prior to change.
- Provide in-home de-escalation, stabilization, and support services and supports to include:
• Identifying the underlying causes of, and precursors to, the situation that led to the instability
• Identifying the caregiver interventions attempted.
• Observing the child and caregiver interaction.
• Diffusing the immediate situation
• Coaching and working with the caregiver and the child or youth in order to preserve the family unit and maintain the current living situation, or create a transition plan, if necessary.
• Establish connections to other county or community-based supports and services to ensure continuity of care
• Contractor shall incorporate and utilize a private/public network of resources and services, both internally and externally, for leveraging needed services to families.
• Contractor shall follow up after the initial face to face response, for up to 72 hours to determine if additional supports or services are needed.
• Contractor shall develop a plan for, or community or county referral to appropriate youth and family supportive services
• Contractor shall communicate with behavioral health services regarding service needs of the child or youth and caregiver if the youth is currently under the jurisdiction of county child and family well-being or probation.
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Pre-Proposal Conference Date: March 12, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: March 26, 2025