The County of Tuolumne, through its Health & Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Department, hereinafter referred to as the “County”, is requesting proposals from qualified private and public organizations interested in providing Outreach and Engagement Services to the Native American population in Tuolumne County to promote mental health and overall wellness, prevent mental illness, and intervene early to reduce the negative consequences of untreated mental illness.

The County intends to award one contract to a successful applicant to this RFP.

California law and federal law provide specific employment restrictions for retirees and/or current County employees that desire to contract with the County.

For CalPERS retirees:if the work you will perform as a contractor is the same or similar to work you performed as an active employee or is work that is performed by active employees, it is most likely subject to the PERS retired annuitant restrictions, meaning the contract relationship is disallowed and the County will not be able to enter into a contract with you.

For current County employees:California and federal law prohibit a current employee from contracting with its employer while being an active employee. If an employee is interested in becoming an independent contractor, the employee must consider separation from employment with the County; , however, should the employee retire, he/she may be subject to the CalPERS retired annuitant laws. Should a current County employee respond to a RFP while in active employment status, the employee must separate from employment prior to award of the contract.

No County time is allowed to be used to prepare for or work on a response to a County RFP.

The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) is divided into seven components, one of which is Prevention & Early Intervention (PEI). The primary objective of PEI services is to prevent mental illnesses from becoming severe and disabling. PEI programs emphasize improving timely access to services, especially for underserved populations, and aim to prevent the suffering that can result from untreated mental illness by focusing on interventions and programs for individuals across the life span, prior to the onset of serious emotional/behavioral disorder or mental illness. The goal of PEI programming is to build the capacity of the community to increase resiliency by decreasing risk factors and increasing the protective factors. Through decreased risk factors and increased protective factors, it promotes positive mental health and reduces the negative impact of mental illness.

Prevention in mental health, reducing risk factors or stressors, building protective factors and skills, and increasing support, promotes positive cognitive social and emotional development and encourages a state of well-being. Early intervention is directed toward individuals and families for whom a short, relatively low-intensity intervention is appropriate to measurably improve mental health problems and avoid the need for more extensive mental health treatment. Early Intervention programs aim to address and promote recovery and related functional outcomes for a mental illness early in its emergence. PEI funding is intended for use for programs and strategies that prevent mental health problems or to intervene early, but not for filling gaps in treatment and recovery services for individuals who have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and their families.

This RFP is intended to promote mental health and overall wellness, and help to increase access to services for the Native American population in Tuolumne County. This will be done by conducting outreach and engagement services targeting youth and their families. The intent of this program is to involve individuals and families in this population by offering programs designed to engage the participants in healthy activities, and offering opportunities to connect with their Native American culture through activities and cultural-specific trainings.

The following priority populations are to be addressed in this proposal:

• Underserved Native American populations of all ages
• Secondary school and transition age youth (TAY)

The following Key Community Mental Health Needs are to be addressed in this proposal:

• Disparities in access to behavioral health services
• Psycho-social impact of trauma
• At-risk children, youth, and young adult populations
• Stigma and discrimination
• Suicide Risk

RFP proposals must account for the following:

• Outreach to help people recognize the early signs of potentially severe and disabling mental illness
• Access and linkage to medically necessary care provided by county mental health programs for those with severe mental illness, as early in the onset of these conditions as practicable
• Reduction in stigma associated with either being diagnosed with a mental illness or seeking mental health services
• Reduction in discrimination against people with mental illness
• Evaluation and program monitoring
• Demographics must be collected