Mobile Response and Stabilization Services Regional MRSS Providers for Statewide Expansion for HAS

Part II: Minimum Qualification for Applicants Please Note: All minimum qualifications must be met within sixty (60) days from the date of award resulting from this RFP, unless otherwise specified below. If the applicant (or its subcontractors) does not meet the minimum qualifications by RFA submission date, they must describe how they plan to meet qualifications and include a timeline for meeting the qualifications. Only organizations that meet the following minimum qualifications will be considered for award from this RFP: Within 30 days of award, applicants must be certified by HAS or apply to be certified within 30 days after award, to provide MRSS in accordance with the specifications in HAS rule 5122-29-14 and the MRSS Practice Standards, including any subsequent versions. Please note:
OhioMHAS is in the process of updating both OAC rule 5122-29-14 and the MRSS Practice Standards.  If the selected RMP awardee is unable to become certified, the award will be withdrawn and another RMP will be selected.
Within 30 days of award, applicants must be enrolled as an MRSS provider with ODM or apply to be enrolled. Please note:
Only providers selected through this RFP will be able to receive Medicaid funding and non-Medicaid state funding for MRSS services.
Must contract with Ohio Medicaid ISE plan. Be in good standing with OhioMHAS Licensure and Certification.
Part III: Scope of Work, Functions, And Deliverables 3.1 Designated Service Area Awards through this RFP will be based on currently defined regional service areas (see Figure 3. MRSS Regions). Applicants must identify the region(s) by region number for which they are proposing to provide MRSS care through this solicitation. Applicants may submit proposals for multiple regions but must submit a separate proposal for each region to includes details that meet the needs of that specific region of the state. Preference will be given to applicants who have a current service presence in the region(s) they are seeking to serve. All applicants will be asked to demonstrate how they will establish a presence in the region(s) they are awarded. Preference will also be given to applicants that already provide MRSS services or other mobile crisis services within the state. As described in Section 1.3.3.3, subcontracting may be used to meet regional coverage expectations, and potential RMPs are strongly encouraged to subcontract with existing MRSS providers to preserve existing service capacity. Unless the RMP will be providing full-service coverage to the region without using subcontractors, preference points will be given to applicants who provide letters of intent for subcontracting with current MRSS providers. NOTE: MRSS providers (in regions 11, 17 and 18) that are federal ENGAGE grantee recipients, must either serve as the RMP or as a subcontractor to the RMP in that region. 3.2 Interaction with MRSS Call Center and After-Hours Telephonic Support The RMP must have the ability to receive calls 24/7 from the Statewide MRSS Call Center. Upon receiving a call from the statewide Call Center during the RMPs’ operational hours, the MRSS dispatch team must provide a response in accordance with OAC and MRSS Practice Standards. If the RMP receives a call outside of their operational hours, the RMP will provide telephonic support to the caller, de-escalating the crisis, providing immediate support, and arrange for a mobile response the next business day. The RMP will accept dispatch calls from the MRSS Statewide Call Center designated by OhioMHAS. After a warm handoff from the MRSS statewide Call Center, the regional provider will determine next steps with the caller including potential phone intervention/de-escalation (after hours only) or face-to-face response (immediate or scheduled) for crisis de-escalation services. RMPs shall accept warm handoff calls from the HAS designated MRSS Statewide Call Center as the primary dispatch entity. The RMP may only use the central call-line “888-418-MRSS” in materials promoting MRSS. However, a "no wrong door" approach shall be implemented for crisis support and accessing MRSS, and calls received at the regional or provider level shall be handled in the same manner as if they were received through the MRSS Statewide Call Center.3.3 Initial Mobile Response Team The initial mobile response team will be available in accordance with the proposed changes to the MRSS rule and draft MRSS Practice Standards, including any subsequent versions, to respond to behavioral health crisis situations defined by callers within the region. The initial mobile response team must de-escalate the crisis situation and provide services that are customized to the individualized needs of children, youth and their families and caregivers, specifically addressing individual needs in a manner that reduces or eliminates the behavioral health crisis situation and/or the precipitating factors within the child’s natural environment whenever possible. 3.4 Staffing and Workforce The RMP will provide staffing and workforce support that will directly address MRSS regional access and availability. The overall aim is to maintain a staffing model and schedule that will provide MRSS response capabilities in an RMP’s region (See Figure 2). The RMP may develop and maintain contractual agreements as necessary to maintain MRSS service capacity for the designated region. Such arrangements may include subcontracts with other behavioral health providers to provide staffing to fulfill MRSS functions. Individuals involved in direct delivery of MRSS services must have appropriate training, credentials, and certification as required in the proposed changes to the MRSS rule. The regional model is intended to promote efficiency and ensure access. It is not intended to deter cross-region collaboration or service delivery when necessary.may use any of the three staffing models described in Section 1.3.4.3: Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm: A dispatch location staffed from the hours of 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Friday, including holidays. Outside of MRSS hours, RMPs will be required to deliver telephonic support as described in Section 3.2. 24/7 On-Call: A dispatch location staffed from the hours of 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Friday, including holidays, and staff on-call after hours to provide mobile response. Under this staffing approach, overnight shifts are covered by on-call FTEs. 24/7 At the Ready: A dispatch location staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with staff that are available and ready for dispatch to provide mobile response.
3.5 Community Engagement Community engagement and integration efforts are fundamental to growing a robust and comprehensive crisis response system and to ensuring MRSS is incorporated into each community’s System of Care. Coordinated efforts to strengthen relationships will ensure youth serving systems/partners and the larger community are knowledgeable about and use MRSS in a coordinated fashion with other behavioral health and children’s services. The RMP will establish relationships with child serving agencies in their region to ensure seamless coordination and communication, provision of available services, and linkages to ongoing care. RMPs are encouraged to establish a memorandum of understanding (MOUs) with community partners as appropriate, to support linkage within the local system of care. As further outlined under Table 3: Functions, the proposal must include a plan outlining strategies to initially partner and continuously collaborate with Ohio’s child serving agencies, and other partners, within the region. 3.5.1 Supporting Ohio's Public Children’s Services Agencies MRSS is a key service in Ohio's System of Care for youth, including those served by PCSAs. Ohio’s child serving agencies have committed to developing additional support to ensure all children and youth requiring out of home placement have the supports they need to thrive. There are over 14,500 children and youth who are in protective custody, and many of them experience difficulty when transitioning from their home to a new setting such as a group home or foster placement. As the state works to address challenges with child placement, it is critical that PCSA’s are empowered with supports that promote safe and stable transitions. The RMP will collaborate with all PCSAs in the defined MRSS region to ensure and promote appropriate use of mobile response and stabilization. The Children’s Services system has indicated that they believe MRSS will be extremely valuable to the young people in their care to secure placements, prevent placement moves, and assist when a placement cannot be found for child or youth. While it will take some time to develop full capacity for MRSS in Ohio communities, RMPs must quickly develop partnerships with local PCSAs to support and prioritize the needs of young people served by the child protection system. The RMP will work with each PCSA individually (or jointly with all PCSAs in the region) to develop a MOU to establish roles and responsibilities related to MRSS and behavioral health crisis needs. The MOU will identify target or priority populations (such as youth placed in treatment foster care) and describe how the RMP will help to support foster parents, case workers, and youth in the community, including ongoing training and resources related to crisis de-escalation.The RMPs will provide an annual report to HAS and DCY summarizing key activities and accomplishments in support of PCSAs. The report must follow a format specified by OhioMHAS, and will specify training activity, including the number of foster parents and PCSA case workers reached, and describe lessons learned and recommendations for best practices.  OhioMHAS, ODM, and DCY envision continued development of the RMP and PCSA relationship, including development of a new preventive service with the aim of decreasing instances of behavioral health crisis events involving youth served by PCSAs. Some RMPs may be ready to start working with PCSAs to provide preventive services to young people in custody prior to development of the statewide preventive service. Those that have the resources to start providing this type of care in the first year of regional operations will be encouraged to partner with their local PCSA(s) and the State Team to develop pilot(s) of these types of valuable interventions.3.5.2 Implementation Success CommitteesDriven at the community and regional levels by the County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health (ADAMH) Services Boards, community partners, RMP providers, young people and families with lived experience, along with OhioMHAS and ODM, will establish statewide and regional Implementation Success Committees. ADAMH Boards, as the lead organizations tasked with behavioral health and crisis care planning, will spearhead the committees’ development and quality improvement efforts with ongoing vision and leadership. The goal of these committees is to support and assist the RMP in the local implementation of MRSS, strategic community collaboration, providing strengths-based feedback, and helping to ensure quality service. The committees will support and promote the system of care and the success of MRSS by including leadership from community organizations such as PCSAs, ADAMH and local Developmental Disability boards, schools, and juvenile judges. The RMPs will be expected to participate in regular meetings and share details of their progress and plans for scaling with the Committees.  3.6 Data and Reporting Meaningful use of data and reporting to monitor outcomes is essential to improving care and the systems that deliver that care. In fragmented systems, outcomes monitoring is often challenging. The RMP will work closely with the state and local agencies listed in this RFP, providers, and other entities as needed to monitor adherence to the MRSS model and practice guidelines, improve access and outcomes and carefully monitor and address costs of care.  3.6.1 Data Management System The RMP will lead reporting and monitoring efforts at the regional level, including for any contracted MRSS staffing or services to ensure consistency, accuracy, and meaningful use. This includes reporting related to the MRSS Data Management System (DMS) described in Section 1.3.5.1, COE fidelity reviews, and other RMP-specific data or reporting. Specifically, the RMP will provide oversight of regional MRSS service benchmarks found here and serve as the reporting and monitoring administrator for MRSS services in their contracted region. This centralized reporting and monitoring approach will help reduce administrative burden on direct service providers, allowing providers to focus on service delivery and enhanced quality improvement efforts. Proposals should include descriptions of past success in collecting data on individuals served, and a reasonable plan for data collection across the region, including with subcontractors if appropriate. 3.7 Functions [Responsibilities/Deliverables] The successful applicant will adhere to Ohio’s MRSS rule and MRSS Practice Standards. In addition to meeting the MRSS requirements outlined in the rules and practice standards, the RMP will be responsible for performing the functions outlined below as part of their contracted award. Through the descriptions required in Table 3 below, proposals should demonstrate applicants’ competence in the provision of MRSS for the target population. Further, proposals should demonstrate specific strategies for achieving successful service linkage and effective collaboration with an array of child-serving community services and supports.The applicant must detail in their proposal/workplan how they will fulfill the required functions outlined in this section. If an applicant is unable to fulfill any of the functions outlined below currently, their proposal must describe why they cannot currently meet the functions and explain how and when they will work to meet required functions. Bidders ConferenceThe Bidder's Conference will be held on August 13th, 2024, final details and meeting information will be included at a later date within the "Inquiries" section of the OhioBuys RFP posting.