In this update:
- NYS and NYC Opportunities
- DOH Issues Funding Opportunity to Support Focus Groups with Parents/Caregivers of Children with Disabilities
- OMH Issues RFPs for Third Round of HBCI Traditional and MH/IDD Teams
NYS and NYC Opportunities
DOH Issues Funding Opportunity to Support Focus Groups with Parents/Caregivers of Children with Disabilities
On January 6th, the New York State (NYS) Department of Health (DOH) issued a Request for Bids (RFB) for funding to conduct focus groups with parents/caregivers of Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities who live outside of New York City (NYC). Feedback from the focus groups will help to identify barriers that these children face in retaining Medicaid coverage. Up to 13 organizations will be awarded up to $8,200 each with a contract period of April 1st through August 31st.
Eligible applicants are community-based organizations located in NYS (excluding NYC) that serve parents/caregivers of Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities. Hospitals, county health departments, and institutions that provide clinical Medicaid services to children with disabilities or who provide residential care are not eligible to apply. Applicants must select the NYS region in which they are proposing to conduct the focus groups.
The RFB is available here. Applications are due on February 3rd. Questions may be submitted to covidhdp@health.ny.gov through January 17th. Answers to questions will be posted by January 24th.
OMH Issues RFPs for Third Round of HBCI Traditional and MH/IDD Teams
On January 9th, the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) issued Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the third round of funding for the following Home Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI) teams:
- HBCI – Mental Health and Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (MH/IDD) Statewide; and
- HBCI – Traditional.
HBCI teams serve children/youth ages 5 to 21 years who are either at risk of entering or returning home from inpatient settings or residential services. The HBCI team is comprised of mental health interventionists and a clinical supervisor, and may include a consulting psychiatric prescriber and/or program assistant. HBCI teams are funded via state aid contracts, as further detailed in the RFPs. Contracts will last for five years, starting January 1, 2026.
The HBCI Traditional RFP will provide funding for up to seven teams in counties where HBCI is currently unavailable in Central and Western New York. The traditional HBCI teams target individuals with only behavioral health challenges. The HBCI MH/IDD RFP will award six organizations statewide to serve individuals with co-occurring serious emotional disturbance (SED) and I/DD, with three teams in rural counties and three teams in metro counties (including Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk, and Westchester).
Eligible applicants are not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations that have experience providing mental health services to individuals with SED. HBCI MH/IDD teams must ensure that all staff have experience providing direct services to children with co-occurring SED and I/DD.
The RFPs are available here. Applications are due on March 13th. Non-binding Letters of Intent must be submitted to OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov by March 6th. Questions may be submitted to the email address above by January 30th. Answers to questions will be posted on February 20th.