Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) Psychological First Aid Trainings for DBH

MISSION & GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The mission of the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) is to provide statewide leadership of a high-quality mental health and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery system that is effective and valued by all Ohioans. DBH strives to be a national leader in implementing a comprehensive, accessible, and quality-focused system of addiction and mental health care and wellness for all Ohio citizens.   PURPOSE
The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) is seeking proposals from qualified contractors to conduct a minimum of four virtual Psychological First Aid (PFA) trainings and expand knowledge of this evidence-informed approach to behavioral health disaster recovery.)  BACKGROUND
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) (P.L. 117-159) provides supplemental funding for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) to enable states, the District of Columbia, and territories to expand access to behavioral health care. Overseen by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the BSCA supplemental funding seeks to support state behavioral health systems in examining what is needed to address the behavioral health needs in the aftermath of traumatic events and natural disasters within our communities. To address the trauma caused by the massive disruption and loss of life caused by these crises, SAMHSA is recommending that states utilize this funding to strengthen and enhance behavioral health disaster preparedness and crisis response efforts. This funding provides a unique opportunity to develop improved and sustainable public behavioral health systems that are more adept at meeting the needs of vulnerable people, including those with more complex presentations. This opportunity will provide funding to conduct Psychological First Aid (PFA) trainings within Ohio’s communities and expand knowledge of this evidence-informed approach to behavioral health disaster recovery. Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSM) and the National Center for PTSD, Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed approach to helping children, youth, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, natural and/or human-made. Following a disaster or traumatic event, survivors, witnesses, and/or responders may struggle and face new challenges. The NCTSM describes PFA as “designed to reduce the initial stress caused by traumatic events and to foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning and coping. PFA does not assume that all survivors will develop severe mental health problems or long-term difficulties in recovery. Instead, it is based on an understanding that disaster survivors and others affected by such events will experience a broad range of early reactions (e.g., physical, psychological, behavioral, spiritual). Some of these reactions will cause enough distress to interfere with adaptive coping, and recovery may be helped by support from compassionate and caring disaster responders.” (NCTSN, n.d., para. 2)PFA’s core objectives are to provide early assistance within the days or weeks following an event. The eight PFA Core Actions include:  Contact and Engagement – Respond to survivors in a non-intrusive and helpful manner Safety and Comfort – Enhance immediate and ongoing safety needs and provide physical and emotional comfort Stabilization (if needed) – Calm and orient emotionally overwhelmed and disoriented survivors Information Gathering on Current Needs and Concerns – Identify immediate needs, concerns, and assist in gathering additional information to tailor interventions Practical Assistance – Offer practice and reasonable help to survivors in addressing their immediate needs and concerns Connection with Social Supports – Help survivors establish brief and ongoing contacts with support persons including family members, friends, and community resources Information on Coping – Provide information on stress reactions, coping to reduce distress, and promote adaptive functioning Linkage with Collaborative Services – Link survivors with available services needed in the immediate aftermath and/or in the future
           PFA can be used by first responders, incident command systems, primary and emergency health care providers, school crisis response teams, faith-based organizations, disaster relief organizations, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), and Citizens Corps. PFA is designed to be delivered in diverse settings. These core objectives can be delivered in the field, shelters, medical triage areas, emergency departments and hospital settings, staging areas, respite centers, emergency operations centers, crisis hotlines, feeding locations, disaster assistance service centers, family reception and assistance centers, homes, businesses, and a variety of other community settings to meet the needs of the populations affected.            This funding opportunity seeks to hire a qualified contractor to provide a minimum of four virtual PFA training opportunities to Ohio’s communities and disaster response teams in an effort to reduce stress symptoms and assist in health recovery following a traumatic event, natural disaster, public health emergency, or even a personal crisis.  SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES
All work outlined in the Scope of Work and Deliverables must be completed by September 29. 2026. Contractor will provide the following:Trainings Develop content and materials and deliver a minimum of four virtual PFA trainings Supply virtual platform for virtual attendees Manage virtual groups in training activities Work with DBH staff to determine the best and most effective training cadence
Trainings are to be tailored and provided to persons of all backgrounds and experiences thereby increasing a community’s resilience in the aftermath of a disaster/emergency Contractor must educate participants on eight PFA Core Actions within their training. Contractor must be able to provide Psychological First Aid training outlined within the Background section of this RFP The selected Contractor shall be a certified Psychological First Aid trainer Additionally, the Contractor must have prior experience: Conducting large group Psychological First Aid trainings virtually Must have completed Psychological First Aid training and be able to demonstrate their proven ability to conduct trainings on this model Apply principles of Psychological First Aid to mediate the traumatic impact of disasters

Contractor Responsibilities Contractor will complete the Scope of Work within the timeframe given Contractor will provide training materials, staffing, and staffing expenses Contractor must provide previous work and references to demonstrate their experience and ability to provide the Psychological First Aid trainings virtually If training on a specific model of PFA, Contractor must provide description of this specific model and how it will be delivered Contractor will provide a description of their virtual platform they intend to use for the virtual PFA trainings Contractor will manage training registration. Registration must include attendee name, county of residence/employment, email address, job title (if applicable), and place of employment (if applicable) Contractor must use a system that records attendance and completion of the training Contractor must share all registrant, participant, and successful completion information with DBH for future follow-up
Contractor must obtain, provide, and oversee management of continuing educational credits for attendees. This includes obtaining approval for CEUs, reporting course credit hours in a brokerage system, and supplying proof of completion (i.e., certificate of completion). Contractor must describe the registration, CEU, and learning management systems that they will be using to deliver this responsibility
Contractor will engage with training participants, external, and internal stakeholders Contractor will schedule and attend meetings with DBH staff, as necessary, to successfully complete the Scope of Work Contractor will provide DBH with copies of all training materials Travel is not required and will not be covered for this opportunity Contractor will develop marketing for all trainings and share marketing with DBH for distribution Contractor will use and adhere to DBH’ Brand Guidelines when developing materials

DBH Responsibilities DBH will consult with Contractor to determine the best and most effective training cadence DBH will consult with Contractor to determine times and dates for trainings DBH will attend meetings with Contractor to complete deliverables and Scope of Work
 
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTOR
The Contractor must be able to provide the trainings outlined within the Scope of Work section of this RFP. To be eligible to participate in this application process, the proposal must describe the Contractor’s qualifications to conduct the identified scope of work activities, expertise, knowledge, and experience. Experience must include examples of conducting similar or related work. The Contractor will include in their proposal experience with the behavioral health field, in particular county ADAMHS boards, local health departments, emergency management systems, and first responders. Contractor shall not be subject to an “unresolved” finding for recovery under Section 9.24 of Ohio Revised Code.