Statewide Recovery Community Organization (RCO) Support Services

The Florida Department of Children and Families, through its Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, is soliciting proposals under DCF RFA 2526 016 to establish statewide support services for Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) aimed at advancing recovery-focused initiatives across Florida. The initiative seeks to enhance public education and awareness around substance use disorder recovery, expand utilization of peer-based and other recovery support services, and strengthen advocacy for individuals in recovery. The contractor will be responsible for delivering peer recovery support training aligned with Florida’s certification standards, developing tools and strategies to provide sustained technical assistance to existing and emerging RCOs, and coordinating statewide public awareness efforts. Performance is expected to occur across the entire state, with key deliverables including annual sustainability summaries, monthly engagement reports, training summaries, and partnership logs. The contract is anticipated to begin on April 15, 2026, and conclude on September 30, 2027, with service periods structured across multiple fiscal quarters to ensure continuous operational support. Proposals will be evaluated based on three weighted criteria: Organization Background and Qualifications (20 points), Financial Capability (20 points), and Approach and Capability (14 points), in that order of priority. Evaluation relies on qualitative adjectival ratings—Superior, Good, Adequate, Poor, or Insufficient—rather than price, using a trade-off approach where the highest-scoring proposal wins regardless of cost. Applicants must meet specific certification requirements, including providing a Unique Entity ID (UEI), submitting certifications for minority, veteran, or Florida-based business status to qualify for statutory tie-breakers, and certifying compliance with drug-free workplace and lobbying prohibitions. Stringent compliance obligations include adherence to HIPAA and HITECH standards for handling protected health information, mandatory cybersecurity and privacy liability insurance, annual emergency preparedness planning, and strict data confidentiality requirements under both federal and Florida law. All submissions must be in PDF format, not exceed 100MB per email, and be delivered electronically via the My Florida Market Place portal by the deadline of June 23, 2026. The Contract Manager serves as the sole authority for acceptance of deliverables, which must meet rigorous performance metrics including 85% participant satisfaction in training, 90% fulfillment of technical assistance requests within 30 days, and 100% accuracy in financial reporting. Any unexpended funds must be returned within 60 days of the fiscal year close, and breaches