RFP: Peer Navigators for the Crisis Intervention Services Unit
| Location: | New York |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Jan 6, 2025 |
| Due: | Mar 7, 2025 |
| Agency: | City of Rochester |
| Type of Government: | State & Local |
| Category: |
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| Publication URL: | To access bid details, please log in. |
RFP - Peer Navigators for the Crisis Intervention Services Unit
Communications
The City is seeking the services of a Consultant to provide assistance with creating a plan for the work of the Peer Navigators in the Crisis Intervention Services (CIS) Unit along with the recruitment, hiring, and supervision of the Peer Navigators. The Respondent’s proposal shall address each of the requested services, using the same identifying language, including any paragraph or section numbers or letters as used in the RFP.
Document
All communications by parties who have indicated an intent to submit or have submitted a proposal in response to this RFP (“Respondents”), including any questions or requests for clarifications, submission of the proposal, requests for status updates about the proposal selection process and any other inquiries whatsoever concerning this RFP shall be sent, in writing, to the following City staff person:
Sarah Fletcher, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Recreation and Human Services
City of Rochester
57 St. Paul St
Rochester, NY 14604
No contact is permitted with any other City staff member with regard to this RFP during the RFP process unless specifically authorized in writing. Prohibited contact may be grounds for disqualification.
Timeline
| Activity | Time | Date |
| RFP Release | 9:00 AM | 1/6/2025 |
| Deadline for questions | 12:00 PM | 1/20/2025 |
| Response for questions submitted | 5:00 PM | 2/3/2025 |
| Proposals due | 12:00 PM | 3/7/2025 |
| Consultant Selection and Award Notification | 3/21/2025 | |
| City Council Approval of agreement with Consultant | 6:00 PM | 5/20/2025 |
| Agreement Start Date | 6/15/2025 |
Attachment Preview
City of Rochester
Request for Proposals
Peer Navigators for the Crisis Intervention Services Unit
Proposals to be received by 12:00 PM
March 7, 2025
Submit Proposals to:
Sarah Fletcher
Deputy Commissioner
Department of Recreation and Human Services
City of Rochester
57 St. Paul St
Rochester, NY 14604
Sarah.Fletcher@CityofRochester.Gov
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The City of Rochester is seeking proposals from a qualified Consultant (“Consultant”) to recruit, hire,
train, and supervise Peer Navigators who will work in the Crisis Intervention Services Unit. Additionally,
the Consultant will assist the City of Rochester in building out the specific work that the Peer Navigators
will perform in the unit (the “Project”).
BACKGROUND
The City of Rochester (City) launched the Crisis Intervention Services Unit (CISU) within the Department
of Recreation and Human Services (DHRS) in the fall of 2020 after receiving calls from the community to
have a different, non-police response to mental health crises. At the time, the Unit was to include the
newly-formed homicide response (HRT) and Person in Crisis (PIC) teams, as well as the Rochester Police
Department’s Family Crisis Intervention Team (FACIT) and Victim Assistance Unit (VAU). The thinking
behind the creation of the original unit was that it would enable DRHS to offer the community non-law
enforcement support during crises as well as a human services approach to assisting crime victims.
Since then, the Unit has been reconfigured and condensed into three teams -- the HRT, PIC, and the
Community Support Team (CST), formerly the FACIT and VAU teams. The goal of the CISU is to provide
comprehensive, community-based response to support victims and families dealing with homicides,
mental health, domestic violence, and other related crises. To find out more about the CISU, please visit:
https://www.cityofrochester.gov/departments/department-recreation-and-human-services/crisis-
intervention-services
The City recognizes that involving peers is a best practice when supporting individuals in mental health
crises, experiencing substance use disorders, or facing similar challenges. With this understanding, in
2021-2022, the City partnered with the Finger Lakes Performing Provider System (FLPPS) and an external
organization to hire four (4) full-time Peers to collaborate with the PIC team. This initiative highlighted
the significant impact Peers can have on the team's work, prompting the City to allocate funding for one
(1) full-time and one (1) part-time Peer Navigator as City employees. These Peers are tasked with
leveraging their lived experiences—such as mental health challenges, substance use disorders,
homelessness, or related issues—to assist during PIC calls and provide intensive case management for
individuals who frequently rely on PIC services. The City has since received grant funding to support
another full-time Peer who could assist youth who have had a death of a loved one from homicide. The
thinking is that the Peer may have lost a close family member to homicide and could use that experience
to provide individual case management and/or support group services to youth going through a similar
grieving process. Currently, the PIC team has one (1) full-time Peer Navigator who supports their work
by going on calls and providing follow-up case management. However, despite a few attempts, the City
has not been able to recruit and hire additional Peers to support the CIS. As such, the City is seeking a
Consultant with expertise in working with Peers to support their recruitment, hiring, and supervision.
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Additionally, the Consultant could help refine and expand upon the initial concepts for Peer roles to
enhance their impact on the individuals served by CIS. Ideally, the Peer will share similar lived
experiences with the client they are assisting, using that perspective to guide the client through their
crisis and connect them with appropriate referrals for long-term support. New York State now
recognizes certifications as Peer Specialists, Family Peer Advocate, and Recovery Peer Advocate. To that
end, the City expects that the selected Consultant will have expertise in hiring and supervising peers
with any of these certifications and/or working with those who have personal experience with the loss
of a close family member due to homicide, being a victim of a crime, having a mental health illness,
homelessness or lack of housing, recovery, and/or any combination of those mentioned lived
experiences.
In this Request for Proposals (RFP), the City has set aside $155,000 for a professional service agreement
(PSA – Attachment A) with a Consultant who has the experience and expertise in recruiting, hiring, and
supervising peers. Ideally, the selected Consultant will also have experience with working with peers
with various types of lived experiences and in planning the role of peers in a mobile crisis response
team. The City is expecting that the peers will make a positive impact on the work of the Crisis
Intervention Services Unit by being able to assist community members in crisis, with the goal that they
no longer need the support of the CIS unit.
Activity
RFP Release
Deadline for questions
Response for questions submitted
Proposals due
Consultant Selection and Award
Notification
City Council Approval of agreement
with Consultant
Agreement Start Date
TIMELINE
Time
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
5:00 PM
12:00 PM
6:00 PM
Date
1/6/2025
1/20/2025
2/3/2025
3/7/2025
3/21/2025
5/20/2025
6/15/2025
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The dates shown above may be subject to change within the City of Rochester’s sole discretion and
upon written notification as set forth herein.
COMMUNICATIONS
All communications by parties who have indicated an intent to submit or have submitted a proposal in
response to this RFP (“Respondents”), including any questions or requests for clarifications, submission of
the proposal, requests for status updates about the proposal selection process and any other inquiries
whatsoever concerning this RFP shall be sent, in writing, to the following City staff person (“City
Contact”):
Sarah Fletcher, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Recreation and Human Services
City of Rochester
57 St. Paul St
Rochester, NY 14604
No contact is permitted with any other City staff member with regard to this RFP during the RFP process
unless specifically authorized in writing. Prohibited contact may be grounds for disqualification.
To ensure that all Respondents have a clear understanding of the scope and requirements of this RFP, the
City will respond to all timely questions submitted via e-mail to the City Contact by the question deadline
stated above. Questions and the responding answers will be sent via e-mail to all Respondents who have
provided an e-mail address to the City Contact and will be posted on the City’s web page for this RFP. The
City’s failure to timely respond or provide responses to any questions shall not delay or invalidate the
City’s right to make a decision to award an agreement pursuant to this RFP.
The City will make every reasonable effort to keep Respondents informed about the RFP process.
Notifications about Timeline date changes, amendments to the RFP and other information about the
RFP will be sent by e-mail to Respondents who have provided an e-mail address to the City Contact and
will be posted on the City’s website for this RFP. The City’s failure to provide such information shall not
delay or invalidate the City’s right to make a decision to award an agreement pursuant to this RFP.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
The City is seeking the services of a Consultant to provide assistance with creating a plan for the work of
the Peer Navigators in the Crisis Intervention Services (CIS) Unit along with the recruitment, hiring, and
supervision of the Peer Navigators. The Respondent’s proposal shall address each of the requested
services, using the same identifying language, including any paragraph or section numbers or letters as
used in the RFP.
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1. Review the City’s Peer Navigator job description and provide feedback and recommendations on
what work the Peer Navigators could be doing to enhance their impact in the community
2. Recruit New York State-Certified Peers that may fit the role outlined in number 1 above
3. Interview and hire Peer Navigators
4. Provide the Peer Navigators with frequent supervision and professional development training
5. Ensure that the Peer Navigators maintain their certification throughout their employment
6. Any additional services that the Respondent can provide to the City with regards to the Peer
Navigators working with the CIS unit
PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION PROCESS
Proposals must be postmarked or received by the City no later than March 7, 2025 at 12:00 PM. All
proposals shall be in PDF format and emailed to the address listed below. The email with the proposal
as the attachment shall have the subject as “Respondent’s Name – Peer Navigator Proposal”.
Sarah Fletcher, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Recreation and Human Services
City of Rochester
Sarah.Fletcher@CityofRochester.Gov
This RFP is designed to facilitate the evaluation and selection of a Consultant that is best able to achieve
the City’s objectives. The proposal shall be no longer than ten (10) pages, excluding attachments, with
1-inch margins and 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
All pages shall be numbered including major sections and all attachments shall be referenced in the
table of contents. In order to enable the City to effectively review the information contained in the
proposals, proposals shall reference the numbered and lettered sections of the RFP. The response to
each section shall be clearly indicated and addressed or an explanation provided for why the
Respondent is not submitting a proposal for a specific section or requirement of the RFP.
Each proposal shall be signed by an individual authorized to enter into and execute contracts on the
Respondent’s behalf. Unless otherwise specified in its proposal, Respondent represents that it is
capable of meeting or exceeding all requirements specified in this RFP.
Submission of a proposal shall be deemed authorization for the City to contact Respondent’s references.
Evaluation of proposals will be conducted by the City based on information provided in the
Respondent’s proposals and on such other available information that the City determines to be relevant.
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