Delivering Sources of Strength

The New York State Office of Mental Health, through the Suicide Prevention Center of New York, is offering funding for Delivering Sources of Strength, RFP MH263036. The Office of Mental Health Suicide Prevention Center of New York works to promote, coordinate, and strategically advance suicide prevention to reduce suicide attempts and deaths among New Yorkers. Sources of Strength is a nationally recognized, evidence based, universal school based suicide prevention program that has been supported by the Office of Mental Health since 2010. The program builds protective influences among adolescents, strengthens youth and adult connectedness, promotes healthy coping and help seeking, and reduces suicide risk. This procurement seeks an organization capable of delivering the program to New York State high schools serving grades nine through twelve. The selected organization will onboard new schools statewide and provide in person Adult Advisor and Peer Leader training conducted by certified Sources of Strength trainers. The recipient must establish relationships with school leadership, help schools select diverse peer leaders, coordinate implementation schedules, support peer leaders and adult advisors, and provide ongoing technical assistance. The organization must maintain active implementation in schools trained during the preceding three years and achieve a minimum of five new secondary schools implementing Sources of Strength per year throughout the five year contract. By the third year of support for a participating school, the organization must offer an offboarding process designed to help the school sustain the program independently and encourage continued engagement directly with the national Sources of Strength organization. The recipient must also maintain required records, monitor quality and outcomes, collect and report training and program data, and submit required data to the Office of Mental Health. One award will be made for a total of USD 801130 over five years, with USD 160226 available annually. Funding is contingent upon continued availability of State appropriations. The proposal must include a five year operating budget. The indirect cost and administrative overhead rate is capped at fifteen percent, and Federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements are not allowable. Consolidated Fiscal Report Ratio Value guidance must be followed, with equipment and property excluded from the direct cost base. Travel expenses included in the budget must conform to New York State travel reimbursement rates. Applicants must identify staff by position, full time equivalent, and salary. The source establishes no applicant cost share or matching requirement. Upon submission of an acceptable biannual report, quarterly payment will be made. Eligibility is limited to not for profit agencies with 501(c)(3) incorporation that are located and doing business in New York State. Not for profit applicants must be registered as vendors in the Statewide Financial System and successfully prequalified before they can submit a bid response for consideration. Applicants are advised to begin prequalification early because State review of complete prequalification applications takes time and may take longer when supplementary information or updates are required. Applicants must also send notification of intent to apply to their local government unit and upload proof in the Statewide Financial System. Applications that fail eligibility, prequalification, submission, or required format requirements may be disqualified. Applications must be submitted through the New York State Statewide Financial System. Mailed, hand delivered, emailed, and other delivery methods are not accepted. Applicants must use the proposal template available in the Event Comments and Attachments section of the Statewide Financial System. Supporting proposal attachments must be labeled for the applicable question, combined with the proposal template into one continuous PDF, and uploaded under the applicable response. The budget must remain in Excel format and be uploaded separately. Required materials include the proposal template and applicable attachments, the five year operating budget, Provider Contact form, Sexual Harassment Prevention Certification, Gender Based Violence and the Workplace Certification, and proof of notification of intent to apply to the local government unit. A workplan is not required at application. Applicants must also enter the total amount requested from the Office of Mental Health in the Statewide Financial System Bid Amount field. Proposals are evaluated on a one hundred point scale. Collaborating with and onboarding schools is worth thirty points, Operational Management is worth thirty points, Implementation is worth ten points, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Peer Support Language is worth ten points, and the Financial Assessment is worth twenty points. The technical evaluation is performed by at least three evaluators, while the financial assessment is calculated separately. Final technical scores are averaged and combined with the financial assessment. Proposals receiving fewer than seventy points are eliminated from consideration. In the event of a tie, the proposal with the higher Operational Management score is ranked higher. Awards are made according to proposal ranking, with the highest scoring applicant selected to operate the Sources of Strength program. The RFP was released August 26, 2026. Written questions are due September 16, 2026, and official questions and answers are expected to be posted October 7, 2026. Proposals are due October 28, 2026, by 2:00 PM Eastern Time. The anticipated award notification date is December 2, 2026, and the anticipated contract start date is July 1, 2027. The resulting contract is expected to have a five year term. Applicants are strongly advised to begin their Statewide Financial System application at least five business days before the deadline and submit at least forty eight hours before the deadline to allow time for troubleshooting. Questions concerning the RFP must be directed to Issuing Officer Jeremy Rossello at OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov. Statewide Financial System technical questions may be directed to helpdesk@sfs.ny.gov or, where applicable, the SFS Help Desk at 855-233-8363.

Begin the application at least five business days before the deadline and submit at least 48 hours early. Complete Statewide Financial System registration and prequalification well in advance. Follow PDF, Excel, attachment, and file naming requirements exactly. Direct the strongest narrative detail toward school collaboration and onboarding and Operational Management because each is worth 30 points. Demonstrate a realistic approach to onboarding at least five new secondary schools each year, sustaining implementation for schools trained during the preceding three years, and preparing schools for independent sustainability after offboarding. Ensure the overall proposal can achieve at least the required 70 point minimum score.