Health-led Community Behavioral Health Crisis

The New York State Office of Mental Health is making 8 million dollars available through the Health-led Community Behavioral Health Crisis Response Pilots Round 2 to expand or create health-led community behavioral health crisis response pilot programs consistent with the Daniel's Law Task Force Behavioral Health Crisis Response report. The procurement is intended to establish at least four pilot programs, including at least one in a rural area, and multi-county proposals are permitted. The pilots are intended to create crisis response systems that prioritize health-led responses, trauma-informed care, racial equity, cultural humility, harm reduction, and meaningful participation by people and families with lived experience. Programs must serve individuals across the lifespan who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Applicants must propose either a Tier 1 Alternative Response Pilot or a Tier 2 Behavioral Health Provider Mobile Crisis Pilot for each pilot area. Tier 1 requires an immediate non-law-enforcement responder such as fire or EMS, dispatched by 911, and must include peer specialists in the immediate response; behavioral health clinicians may also participate, and teams without a behavioral health clinician must have access to licensed clinical support. Tier 2 uses non-law-enforcement teams, generally consisting of two people, with at least one behavioral health clinician and peer specialists, and does not include fire or EMS as part of the standard response. Programs must provide adequate staffing for immediate 24-hour, seven-day response. The pilots must coordinate with 911 and 988 systems, establish community councils, engage local governmental units and other community partners, incorporate lived-experience leadership, provide crisis intervention and follow-up services, and maintain quality improvement, reporting, and data systems. The Office of Mental Health will provide up to 2 million dollars per applicant, with total program funding of 8 million dollars. The RFP states that up to four awards will be made in the amount of 2 million dollars per applicant. Funding is contingent upon continued availability of State appropriations. The contracts will have a three-year term, with an anticipated contract start date of July 1, 2027. The three-year budget must comply with an indirect cost and administrative overhead cap of 15 percent, and Federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements are not allowable. Travel costs must conform to New York State reimbursement rates. Grants awarded under the appropriation may not support expenses of police law enforcement agencies. No cost-share or matching requirement is stated in the RFP. Eligible applicants are not-for-profit agencies with 501(c)(3) incorporation and county-run or municipal entities that have experience providing behavioral health services in the community. An applicant may serve as the lead agency for a group or consortium of providers. Not-for-profit applicants must be registered and successfully prequalified in the New York State Statewide Financial System before they can submit their bid response. Applicants must notify the Local Governmental Unit for each county to be served and upload proof of notification, although this notification requirement is waived when the Local Governmental Unit is the applicant. A letter of commitment from the applicable county chief elected or delegated authority, or the Mayor or delegated authority for New York City, must expressly support development of the pilot. Failure to include the required commitment letter results in disqualification. Eligible service areas are specifically identified New York counties, divided between rural and non-rural classifications, and the City of Rochester is excluded from the otherwise eligible portion of Monroe County. Applications must be submitted through the Statewide Financial System. Mailed, hand-delivered, emailed, or other submission methods are not accepted. Applicants must use the proposal template supplied in the Event Comments and Attachments section of SFS. The proposal template and supporting attachments must be combined into one continuous PDF and clearly labeled by the applicable question number, while the budget must remain an Excel file and be uploaded separately. Required submission materials include the proposal narrative, three-year operating budget, proof of Local Governmental Unit notification when applicable, the required letter of commitment, Provider Contact form, Sexual Harassment Prevention Certification, and Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace Certification. No workplan is required at the application stage. The narrative addresses the population and area of need, implementation approach, implementation, agency and organizational experience, utilization review and quality improvement, diversity and equity and recipient input, and financial assessment. Proposals are evaluated on a 100-point scale. Population of Focus and Area of Need is worth 12 points, Proposed Implementation Approach 24 points, Implementation 18 points, Agency and Organizational Experience 8 points, Utilization Review Reporting and Quality Improvement 8 points, Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Peer Support Language 10 points, and Financial Assessment 20 points. A proposal receiving less than 70 points is eliminated from consideration. In a scoring tie, the proposal with the higher score for the Description of Program component in Section 6.2 is ranked higher. Award sequencing prioritizes the highest-scoring rural Tier 1 proposal, with a rural Tier 2 proposal considered if no rural Tier 1 proposal achieves a passing score. Remaining Tier 1 proposals are then ranked and funded until available funding is expended, followed by remaining Tier 2 proposals if funding remains. The RFP was released September 3, 2026, and a Bidder's Conference is scheduled for September 28, 2026 at 3:00 PM. Questions must be submitted in writing by October 8, 2026 to OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov, and official questions and answers are scheduled to be posted October 29, 2026. Proposals are due November 19, 2026 by 2:00 PM EST. The anticipated award notification date is January 14, 2027, and the anticipated contract start date is July 1, 2027. The designated contact and Issuing Officer is Amanda Szczepkowski of the New York State Office of Mental Health, Contracts and Claims, at OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov. The RFP does not state that this opportunity recurs on an annual, biennial, quarterly, or other recurring schedule.

20-30 hours