The Harford County Department of Community Services’ Local Management Board is offering Requests for Proposal (RFP) for FY 2023 Trauma Informed Care & Mental Health Services.
Donor Name: Harford County Government
State: Maryland
County: Harford County (MD)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/11/2022
Grant Duration: 12 Months
Details:
The Harford County Local Management Board (LMB) is a program of the Harford County Government Department of Community Services with an active Board of Directors, appointed by the County Executive.
Scope of the Program
It can be challenging for some families to get mental health care for their children. Nearly 1 in 5 children have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, such as anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disruptive behavior disorder, etc. Children with these disorders benefit from early diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, only about 20% of children with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders receive care from a specialized mental health care provider.
A Trauma-Informed Care approach strives to understand the whole of an individual who is seeking services. A system utilizing a Trauma-Informed Care approach realizes the direct impact that trauma can have on access to services and responds by changing policies, procedures, and practices to minimize potential barriers; and fully integrates knowledge about trauma into all aspects of services and trains staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma and thus avoid any possibility of re-traumatization.
Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). Some examples include experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect; witnessing violence in the home or community; having a family member attempt or die by suicide; growing up in a household with substance use problems; mental health problems or instability due to parental separation or household members being in jail or prison. ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance use problems in adulthood. Preventing ACEs and engaging in early identification of children and youth who have experienced these events could have a significant impact on a range of critical health problems.
The program should, if possible, incorporate the following intervention components in the program: interpersonal skills, emotional regulation, alcohol and drug education, mindfulness, problem solving, assertiveness training, and/or stress management. All insurances or families without insurance are accepted; and clients must be actively receiving behavioral health therapy. At a minimum, services must include mental health promotion/education; mental health screening; assessment of mental health needs; direct clinical and psychiatric services and coordination of services with community providers and agencies.
Preference will be given to the following programs and services:
- Programs that are comprehensive, client centered, family centered and receive input from consumers, clients, and community partners.
- Programs that use approaches based on current research and best practices.
- Programs and organizations that provide trauma-informed care and services.
- Programs that address age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and deliver culturally- and linguistically appropriate services.
- Programs/organizations that utilize data as a foundation for changing practices and improving services.
Successful applications to address this population will: a. Increase awareness of ACEs among State- and community-level prevention professionals, emphasizing the relevance of ACEs to behavioral health disciplines; b. Include ACEs among the primary risk and protective factors, if engaging in prevention planning efforts; c. Propose programs/strategies designed to address ACEs, including efforts focusing on reducing intergenerational transmission of ACEs; and, d. Use ACEs research and local ACEs data to identify groups of people who may be at higher risk for behavioral health concerns and conduct targeted prevention efforts.
The program must provide mental health services that meet the appropriate standards of care; follow all state requirements of a mental health service provider as delineated in the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland and/or COMAR; maximize reimbursable sources for payment of mental health services; and provide a mix of services to meet the needs of Harford County mental health consumers.
Terms of Contract
A contract will be awarded for a 12-month period during FY23 from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
Number of Individuals to be Served
The service goal of the Trauma Informed Care / Mental Health Services youth program is to serve a minimum of 50 youth, ages birth – 21 years old.
Eligibility Criteria
- Private, nonprofit organizations organized and operated under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) and agencies of local government interested in providing services to families and children in Harford County.
- Applicant organizations must be legally active and in GOOD STANDING with the Maryland State Department of Assessment and Taxation. The organization’s name in the MD SDAT database must match EXACTLY the organization’s legal name.
For more information, visit Request for Proposals.
